Thorn Trees

  Work continues on the outside, especially cutting down and killing the thorn trees.  Some thorns are 3 inches long and the young shoots and trees are covered in thorns of various sizes.  You can't just cut the tree down or it sends out roots that sprout new trees.  I have been digging up small shoots about finger size around and pulling or digging up the thorn shoots roots which grow horizontally just under the ground.  I dab Tordon on the end of any root I can't remove .  Each shoot or tree grows off one main root.  Once a tree starts growing, it can put out one root in a different direction.  You have to use a special treatment that causes the tree to try to grow so fast it kills itself.  I am drilling holes in some of the larger roots I find and pouring the Tordon inside the hole.    I am sure this will be an ongoing project as we have a farm with 30 years of neglect to turn around.  We have hundreds of various sized cedar trees we will cut down to allow the large oak trees more breathing room and open up more areas for pasture.  We will still leave hundreds of cedars along the fences and in the upper areas as a forest mixed with hardwoods.