Hi there, Permaculture newcomer here looking for wisdom and suggestions regarding quacking aspen clones that have overtaken our lot.
I have an acre of land in Fairbanks, Alaska. We live in the hills, so we’re in a solid Zone 3 facing south east, no permafrost. Most of the lot has good sun and drainage, but much of it is heavily treed with big quacking Aspen as well as lots of aspen suckers that have popped up over the years. I’ve only lived here a couple of years and have no idea how old the fully grown trees are.
I discovered permaculture about 2 months ago and just learned about Aspen clones and how easily they propagate through their roots whenever they’re disturbed. I was originally planning to wood chip the small trees, cover the cleared ground in cardboard, straw, newspaper, etc to help rot out the roots/kill weeds, and then plant companion plants next summer. Knowing what I know now about aspens…this doesn’t appear to be the right way to go.
So what are my options here? If I decide to start thinning them out, am I destined to years of continuous mowing down of suckers in hopes that they’ll eventually give up? Would planting over them with a fast growing ground cover help or hinder them from coming back? Should I girdle some of them this spring and wait a few years for them to die before cutting down? Should I leave them be and just plant whatever companions I can around them? I don’t wish to clear cut all of the grown aspens, but would love to be able to utilize the land!
