I Hate Green Briars!

[Baymule]

This morning my husband and I worked in this pasture for a couple of hours. We trimmed the branches off the dead cedar and cut it up. We made a pile of branches and briars in the back of the Kawasaki Mule and made many walking trips to the burn pile, dragging branches and wads of briars. He wanted to chain onto the trunk and drag it out, but I made him quit. We were both soaking wet to our knees, hot and tired. In this heat, a couple of hours is about all we are good for. And the burn pile grows....

 

[canesisters]

hahaha - I hear Garth singing "And the burn pile grows...."

 

[Blue Sky]

I will never complain about cockle burrs again. You put in some very hard work.

 

[Baymule]

hahaha - I hear Garth singing "And the burn pile grows...."

That is hilarious!!! I will be humming that....thanks for the ear worm!

I will never complain about cockle burrs again. You put in some very hard work.

One of these days, this place will have nice pastures! Anytime you get to griping about cockleburs again, just read this and count your blessings!

 

[Mike CHS]

And the burn pile grows I finally got my biggest one started last week and the coals were hot for a week.

 

[Baymule]

This morning we hit it again for a couple of hours. We dragged out 3 logs, and two loads of briars and sticks. We cut and dragged out a LOT of green briar vines. We left them along the fence for our new ram to eat and enjoy. There's probably another 2 loads of briar vines after he cleans them up. My husband found a wasp nest and they swarmed and stung the top of his head three times. We ran to the house and put his head under the kitchen faucet and let the cold water run over his head. It helped take the sting out. We sat down to cool off and kept ice on his head for awhile. We went back out and finished up what were doing. Since the wasps were in an area that we are going to be working in, my husband sprayed them with wasp spray. I watched him VERY closely for any signs of allergic reaction, but he was fine. We took showers, collapsed in our recliners and took naps.

 

[greybeard]

I've gotten rid of lots of green briar, but I gave up grubbing it out long ago--it only takes a single rhizome left in the ground to bring the whole patch right back. Spray once, with a mix of 50/50 mix diesel (or crop oil) and Remedy Ultra or diesel Chapparal mix. Spray foliage and stems. You can expect a 90% kill rate the first spraying. Return 90 days later and re-spray anything that isn't brown.

I have also had good luck with a relatively new herbicide called Sendero (Dow product) It was formulated specifically to kill mesquite but TAMU Agrilife Extension tests showed good result on greenbriar as well. (Sendero is less expensive than Chapparal but more expensive than Remedy Ultra)

Herbicide mixed with water will not affect greenbriar--it's foliage and stem are waxy and the diesel/crop oil is necessary to penetrate the waxy outer covering. The same holds true for any invasive with a shiny waxy appearance to foliage and stem.

 

[Baymule]

Any new sprouts, the sheep or horses will nip off and eat and keep it under control. I have some pretty severe chemical sensitivities and try my best to stay away from chemicals. I can't even walk down the soap aisle at the grocery store without a reaction. So, a-grubbin' I go! Our sheep LOVE green briars and eat everything they can reach. When we pull down the vines, we leave them for the sheep to eat all the leaves and tips off, then pick up the vines for the burn pile.

Property that we had in Livingston was cleared first by cattle, then horses and there wasn't much green briar left after that. I did use Remedy on those @$%%^$# Chinese Tallow trees though.......

 

[Baymule]

Well, we had to take off during the worst of the heat this summer. But we still managed to get a few loads cut out and to the burn pile. We stepped it up the last few weeks and what a difference! We still have a couple of areas to trim up, and a dead tree on the ground to drag out, but we are almost ready to sow winter rye!!!!

 

[Baymule]

FROM THIS
winter picture

AND THIS
spring picture (after sheep have ate up as far as they could)

TO THIS

AND THIS