Tetradium sp. ....it's satisfying taking one down!

We did cleanup on a marginal area today. Nathan is satisfied. For now. We removed 20-odd loads of fruiting Viburnums, a few Tetradiums, and I cut English Ivy off a dozen or so trees. We have an issue with seedling Viburnums here at the Arboretum because we have so many Viburnums. We're known for Viburnums. After Crape Myrtles they're our most famous product? When I was in Fern Valley we had several projects a year in a futile? attempt to stop their invasion from a Research Nursery that doesn't even contain that many!

On our (Asian) end, Nathan has decided, and he's right, that with our staffing, we have no excuses for unmaintained territory. Henceforth Tuesdays will be dedicated to reconquering our land. We will cut and haul and paint the stumps of our removals with herbicide. I did this kind of work in Fern Valley for two years until I wore myself out. I can only hope that our youthful Asian staff and volunteers can carry me through this process!

The thing is, that once you do this grunt work, it's not so difficult to hold things under control. Herbicide helps. When an area is cleared, you can walk through it once or twice a month with a backpack sprayer and keep things under control. Our plan is to make the Asian Collections and hence the Arboretum a better place one week at a time.