Jump to content
IGNORED

girdling ligustrum in walnut creek


crazyt
 Share

Recommended Posts

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

 

NZt7lX0.jpg

Edited by crazyt
Link to comment
Share on other sites

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 by cxagent
  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

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

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 1 year later...

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

 Share

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...