Alicia Winkler wrote:Intriguing. Thanks Dan. Someone asked me why cut all of ours down, because they are so useful on a homestead, I asked why, but no answer. We plan to cut them down. Originally, my husband was cutting the thorns off to use to firewood, but that is still bothersome. Not sure what we will do when we start cutting again this winter.
I forgot to mention that the wood is fairly dense and has a pretty grain; a lot of woodworkers enjoy working with it. Moreover, like Black Locust it is said to make good long-lasting fence posts.
I do thin the little ones that sprout everywhere pretty vigorously, saving only the straightest and tallest to grow into big trees. But I don't cut the big ones; on balance I'd rather have productive forest than grassland, so established thriving trees of any kind are pretty safe from me, especially if they provide any kind of forage for livestock (which I don't currently have) or wildlife (which I do have, and want more of).