permaculture

["Lawrence F. London, Jr." <lfl@intrex.net>]

Lee Flier wrote:

> I'm trying to clean up a neglected area behind my property, where there 
> are a lot of pine trees and I'm planning to plant some useful stuff 
> around them.  However, right now they are overgrown with a mixture of 
> English ivy and poison ivy.  This is in Georgia, and some of the poison 
> ivy vines can get HUGE... there are a couple of vines growing up the 
> trees that are more than an inch in diameter!
>
> Any suggestions how to deal with this?  The trees seem relatively 
> healthy and I don't want them getting choked off anymore.

Cut off the vines at ground level and again 3 feet up the treetrunks.
Isolate the cutoff stump by removing any material around it. Shove a metal
can over the stump then pour a few bags of redimix-concrete over the can and
over and around the entire root mass where new sprouts can arise and climb 
the tree
again. After the vine is dead remove concrete with sledgehammer.
Or- just dig up the entire stump and roots and as many runners around
it as possible. This is entirely possible without risk. Just wear gloves and 
use
long handled tools heavy enough to remove vines and roots. Wash tools off 
afterward
with strong detergent and long handled brush.

--
L.F.London
lfl@intrex.net
http://market-farming.com
http://www.ibiblio.org/ecolandtech