crazyt Posted February 19, 2019 Share Posted February 19, 2019 (edited) Stewards are girdling ligustrum in walnut creek to slow down the invasive trees. "zebra mussels" of the plant world. any idea why they girdle instead of cutting them down? https://www.kvue.com/article/news/community/invasive-tree-species-in-austin-is-considered-the-zebra-mussel-of-the-plant-world/269-c87fba74-14d6-440b-b2ef-0cb3a7ec5c9e?fbclid=IwAR3RSIX_KGbdfgXUJgsHP7RAKgVJS0eBUjF96eC2f4pVVK5f_nu_f8s0YFU Edited February 19, 2019 by crazyt Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chongo Loco Posted February 19, 2019 Share Posted February 19, 2019 Chardog posted an interesting article on mojo a while back. They just regrow if you cut them. Girdling starves them and they actually die.Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
4fun Posted February 19, 2019 Share Posted February 19, 2019 Can I start a club that goes after the ash juniper like this! I would say they are the true zebra mussel of the tree world! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crazyt Posted February 19, 2019 Author Share Posted February 19, 2019 according to the article ligustrum can strangle and kill ash junipers.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crazyt Posted February 19, 2019 Author Share Posted February 19, 2019 does anyone have a faster way to girdle a tree? like with a chainsaw? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bamwa Posted February 19, 2019 Share Posted February 19, 2019 I would think that cleavers or air-plant as I call it is the zebra mussels of the world. Rake now or forever throw out socks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mattlikesbikes Posted February 19, 2019 Share Posted February 19, 2019 They girdled a bunch of them in our neighborhood park. Clearly the second + time, as you could see the last girdles 8ft up. This was last summer and they are all alive and well. So not sure if it only works on some, or some of the time, but just cut that shit down. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cxagent Posted February 19, 2019 Share Posted February 19, 2019 (edited) There are several reasons to girdle instead of cut them down. First, girdling kills the whole tree including the roots. Second, The ligustrum dies slowly so there is time for other trees to fill in. If it is just cut down, it leaves a hole in the canopy. Third, It is SSSSOOOOO much easier that cutting it down and then digging up the roots. It takes me about a minute a stem to girdle a ligustrum. Once it is dead or nearly dead, I can push them over by hand and the remaining roots come up. There are some tricks to making it work. The cut(s) has to be deep enough and wide enough or it just heals over. Large stems (>3") are likely to need two or three times to kill the tree. It amazes me that the stuff we want to kill is so hardy it has to be girdled repeatedly. But the stuff we want to keep is so fragile that we cannot walk or ride too close to it or we will damage its Critical Root Zone. Edited February 19, 2019 by cxagent 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ridenfool Posted February 19, 2019 Share Posted February 19, 2019 (edited) Can't we just build a wall to keep Ligustrum out? Edited February 19, 2019 by Ridenfool 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Seths Pool Posted February 19, 2019 Share Posted February 19, 2019 Just now, Ridenfool said: Can't we just build a wall to keep Ligustrum out? who's supposed to pay for it? the money trees? 2 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cxagent Posted February 19, 2019 Share Posted February 19, 2019 We will get the homeless to build the wall and pay for it. 😉 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ridenfool Posted February 19, 2019 Share Posted February 19, 2019 6 minutes ago, cxagent said: We will get the homeless to build the wall and pay for it. 😉 Wouldn't it be better to just hire some illegals on the cheap and get higher quality work done? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cxagent Posted February 19, 2019 Share Posted February 19, 2019 55 minutes ago, Ridenfool said: Wouldn't it be better to just hire some illegals on the cheap and get higher quality work done? I think both the Democrats and Republicans have been doing exactly that. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ridenfool Posted February 19, 2019 Share Posted February 19, 2019 4 minutes ago, cxagent said: I think both the Democrats and Republicans have been doing exactly that. Guess we could just hire some more to replace them too and realize the same overall positive effect. 😌 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chongo Loco Posted February 20, 2019 Share Posted February 20, 2019 Damn foreign trees coming in and taking jobs from God fearing local trees. Sure they killed off all the native grasses first, but this is ‘merica dammit!Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
June Bug Posted February 20, 2019 Share Posted February 20, 2019 (edited) Should we declare a park emergency and take $$$ from the ARR trail maintenance budget? We don't really need to do that, but it would get the girdling done faster. And I forgot to mention: Ligustrum must die. Edited February 20, 2019 by June Bug Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bamwa Posted February 20, 2019 Share Posted February 20, 2019 Can you girdle Live Oaks to get the tasty syrup out? (Not during oak wilt season of course.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tree Magnet Posted February 20, 2019 Share Posted February 20, 2019 I hate the invasive species but I have to give them credit for being the superior survivor. They out compete the native plants and we kill them for their success. Poetic justice.I was up in Seattle this summer and the locals were complaining about the ‘non-native’ orca pods. Apparently they were thriving while the native pods were dying because the natives couldn’t figure out how to eat anything but salmon. I was stoked to see a killer whale and didn’t care. Some people are stoked to see a tree instead of concrete so they don’t get why we want to kill invasive species. Strange world.Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Logan Posted November 30, 2020 Share Posted November 30, 2020 https://conservationcorpsofayw.blog/2017/02/28/girdling-ligustrum-on-the-green-belt/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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