posted 11 years ago
@John Elliot, thanks for the reply. There are several reasons we cant dig out the roots, 1) The soil is old forest floor and has an intact fungal network we do not want to disturb. 2) The shrubs are so abundant that it would take months and months to dig them out, just cutting them back takes 2 people weeks. 3) Pigs are an option for some areas, but again, they would destroy the mycorrhizal fungi living in the soil. We do plan on having a few pigs at some point, and rotating them through an area we want to keep more open.
@ Tom OHern, thank you for your reply. The shrubs are very very woody and would take a very long time to brake down. I guess we could run it through a chipper first and then use it as mulch ourselves. We have very sandy soil and could certainly use the structure. This is kinda what we have been doing until now, but the workload associated with cutting all the brush back every year is intense, and even after two years, it does not seem to hamper the growth, only provide air for new fresh growth. Bear in mind that there are a lot of trees outside of our property and seeds will keep dropping from birds, so a more long term solution is required. Competing plants spring to mind, but we have not found anything that can compete with the growth of the black cherry.
@ Bob day, thanks for your reply. This is a great idea, and one that we have thought a lot about, after a little research into the prunus family, it turns out that not only cherries, but also almonds, apricots and even some forms of pears might be compatible with black cherry grafting. We will definitely try this on some of the older, more established trees. Our problem is with the young shoots that keep appearing every spring, either from old cuts or new saplings.