permaculture

["L.Santoyo Designs" <santoyo@earthflow.com>]

Daimen,

I was able to get rid of small areas of Spirea (in Eastern Washington 
it must have been S. douglasii) and other rhizomatous woody shrubs 
with good ol' fashion pig-tractor techniques.  I used three, 10ft 
long, heavy metal gates, wired together and anchored with T-metal 
stakes -forming a triangle that I slowly flip-flopped-around the site 
as the pigs rooted everything.

They made a big mess in the wetter spots -that really took me a long 
time to repair (use caution -maybe start later in the summer?) -in 
about a month the pigs were able to get the rest of the area to a 
point where I could eventually manage it.

I have since used Spirea successfully in erosion control and riparian 
restoration.

good luck


Larry Santoyo,
EarthFlow Design Works
San Luis Obispo, CA
805.459.0452
http://www.earthflow.com/consulting.html


> Hi everyone,
>
> any suggestions for removing large thickets of Spirea tomentosa 
> (Hardhack)?  Until now I've been removing the subterranean suckers 
> by hand, hard work.
>
> Daimen

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