Rural Reflections

I think Lisa and I are to the point in our lives that we are content with our home. Lisa and I are homebodies, so we have made a lot of effort to make our home comfortable and low maintenance. There is very little else for us to do, except for one activity. That activity is to plant trees. Much of our current tree planting was spurred by cutting down one type of tree, buckthorn. This invasive species can take over a forest and shut out any diversity in species of trees. We cut the buckthorn then sprayed herbicide on the remaining stumps. On two separate occasions, we have hired a professional with a large forestry mulcher mounted on a skid steer loader to perform largescale buckthorn removal. Even with help, this is a slow process, and my advice is to take on buckthorn one area at a time and prepare for a long-term process.