A most unwelcome guest arrives

Gambol and I were searching for Oriental bittersweet (which is itself an unwelcome guest) on the eastern property line, spraying multiflora roses and barberry as we came upon them, when we came upon a bark mulched area, impossible because we were deep in the forest.  As I looked at the tree, I knew the Emerald Ash Borer (EAB) had arrived at the Barony. 

We did find the Bittersweet that I was looking for.  Some had stems 2-3" in diameter. They are no more.

Spring clean up

We've made a bit of a mess in the forest by taking down most of the aspens near the shed and the leaner sassafras on the west side of the house. They've been bothering me since we moved in.  Paul has the lavender bed renewed and ready for a new layer of oyster shells; the Panicum is shaved down as well. The daffodils across from the house are blooming and free of weeds.  The mountain ash have all been clipped.  2/3 of the meadow trees/bushes have been raked and are ready for a dose of Roundup and compost.  And we continue the war on invasives by hacking (and squirting) olives on the meadow edge.  Bring on some rain.
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Ailanthus project nears completion

Only 2 stems have yellow leaves; the rest are brown and crunchy.

The ailanthus project proceeds with some yellowing on all trees.

Ailanthus Project

Sept 22, 2008
From the Baron:

Late last summer we discovered a grove of Tree of Heaven (Ailanthus altissima) growing about 150 yards behind the house. We talked with our extension forester and he said that we should wait until mid- to late- summer and use a herbicide called Garlon 4 in a basal trunk application to kill off the root system that generates all the Ailanthus sprouts. After some inquiries we found that for a basal application you need to mix Garlon 4 (Triclopyr) with an diluting product to keep it in contact with the trunk until the herbicide is absorbed. There is a pre-mixed Garlon 4 product called Pathfinder II, with a naturally occurring, non-petroleum substance for the diluent. By the way, both Garlon 4 and Pathfinder II are sold in 2-2.5 gallon sizes and they are both rather expensive. I managed to find 2.5 gallons of Pathfinder II on the Internet for about $175, shipping included.
While waiting for the Pathfinder to arrive and for the optimal mid-summer timeframe to use it for maximum effect so that the seasonal plant action of moving sugars down into the roots also moves the Pathfinder there too, I went out and tied a plastic ribbon on all the Ailanthus stems to mark them for the herbicide application. The stems range in size from only 0.5 inches to slightly over 6 inches in diameter. We have not seen any flowers or seeds, so we suspect the 6 inch tree is the father of this all-male colony. At 6 inches, it is at the maximum size for Pathfinder to work effectively with a basal application, so we will probably give this stem a double treatment, one basal application and one hack and squirt later on. The area around the stems was overgrown with multiflora rose and raspberry canes--lots of thorns, so it was a project in itself to clear the area around each stem so I could access it later with the Pathfinder. I didn't make an exact count, but I think we have close to 50 stems in the colony. There were also about a half dozen new sprouts this year, only 12-24 inches high, so those were also on my list to hit with the herbicide, just enough to paint their leaves and stems.
Once the Pathfinder arrived I had to decide whether to use a hand sprayer, a bottle sprayer, or some kind of a paint brush applicator. I had a very small foam roller, like a miniature paint roller, so I opted for it to keep the overspray to a minimum. Today I went out with about a pint of the Pathfinder in a jar and the foam roller. I wore thick rubber gloves, my muck boots, and a rain jacket to cover my arms. Over the period of about an hour I painted each stem at least 12-18 inches of the lowest part of the trunk, sometimes even down to the start of the roots. Once I painted a stem, I added another plastic ribbon on the trunk near the first ribbon to show me where I had completed my work. I may have missed on small 1.0 inch stem that I had not marked before and was still surrounded by thorns, so that will be left for a second visit, when I also plan to perform the hack and squirt on the 6.0 inch tree.
before
I took some pictures--before and after--although the before shots are in better focus, so I will get some after shots when I return for the second visit tasks. The roller worked well and I used the top of the jar as a way to carry the roller when it was full of herbicide to avoid drips. There was some dripping when using the roller of the herbicide, but it was dripping down into the roots or the surrounding soil, so that was acceptable. Also there were some plants that were still close enough to the stems to get hit by the roller, so a few grape vines, multiflora rose, and raspberry will likely succumb to the herbicide, but most of the raspberry canes were spared.
We will be taking weekly shots of the colony for the next few weeks to see how the applications are working. All in all, a fairly easy project and the Pathfinder herbicide is not difficult to handle--relatively low level of toxicity to humans. Even mixed with the diluent it is as fluid as gasoline, looks a lot like gasoline, but has hardly any odor, so it is easy to use. Pathfinder is supposed to be very effective in killing off the Ailanthus tree and the root system--the only herbicide that has been shown to be effective at both, so we have high hopes we have knocked off this colony. If we have been successful, we will release an area of about 900+ square feet from this invasive species. Stay tuned for future updates.
after

Grape Ardor or is that Arbor?

A couple of weeks ago the Baron planted red, white, and blue eating grapes high along the back hill. Then he dug deep holes and sunk 4x4 posts; last week he dug more holes and sunk the anchors. Today we strung the first wires; one at 3’ and one from the top of the 4x4s to the anchors in a very nice 45°- 45°- 90° triangle. Several hours later, everything is still standing straight. We’ll do the top wire at 6’ later. Then we went off into the forest to cut grape vines that are shading, weighing down and deforming the trees. Some of these vines were 4” diameter. I’ve heard that the difference between a flower and a weed is the side of the fence it’s growing. The ones we cut were on the wrong side of the fence.
I'm also on a rant against invasive and alien species, specifically but not limited to mustard garlic. Last year we were too late in the year to prevent seeding but this year we've collected lots of flowers and burned them. They'll not be seeding my hillside. We had a beautiful bouquet of Dame's Rocket, AKA wild phlox. This one has 4 petals and is invasive, so when I picked the bouquet, I yanked the roots too. We also have a grove of ailanthus with we've marked and will paint with poison later in the summer.
The Big Girls (chickens) are still laying 3-4 eggs daily even in our pre–summer heat. They haven’t molted yet so they pant a lot. We’ve put dishes of water around their favorite spots to help. I’ve finally figured out how to tell these 4 apart: their combs are noticeably different. One has a backward pompadour and one has just a tiny little red thing that suggests a comb. That one seems to be the morning layer. I’m trying to figure out which one lays light colored and eggs so large that they don’t fit easily into the standard egg cartons.
The Little Ones (don’t know how many are girls yet) are in the tractor now. They huddle up at night in a pile of pine shavings but we haven’t been below 50° and they are almost fully feathered. It's fun to watch them practice their dominance strut; They'll breast butt each other, mosh pit style, and try to stand taller and stare down the others. In their nighttime huddle, they all seem to have favorite places. One left out will walk across the backs of the others to get to that preferred spot.