I've been riding around my property (7 acres) on my ATV. We moved here in March. I'd like to put a shooting range in and I've found a few spots that may work.

But this plant is covering almost all of my property in the woods. Looks like some sort of rhododendron to me. I can cut it down but it's a pain in the ass. Too thin for a chain saw and too thick for loppers on some spots. Plus lopping these down will be a ton of work. Any advice?

See if you can bring in some goats.

I'm totally serious.

Maybe there is a nearby person with some goats that would let them graze on your property.

Goats will clean that up quickly.

They look like Mountain Laurel to me. I wish I could get them to grow like that here. The state flower of Connecticut.
Wait until spring, they have nice flowers.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kalmia_latifolia

Crossbow herbicide. Kills anything and everything. Almost as good as Agent Orange.

It is some variety of rhododendron.
I would contact one of the Rhododendron society members and see what they say as to variety.
It would be a shame to cut them down because they are slow growing.

https://www.rhododendron.org/locations.htm

Have you seen them bloom?

DR Brush Mower or a Billy Goat brush mower. You might be able to rent one locally.

I don't understand why you care about them out there in the woods.

My wife, advanced master gardener and something of an arborist, also asked "Why?", when I told her you wanted to get rid off it.

You know what it is. It's benign. Get rid of it and something far less pleasant may take it's place. Poison ivy, for example.

ETA: She concurs that it appears to be some variety of Rhododendron.

1) Don't assume that just because there are a lot of them and they're doing well, that they are invasive. You'd want a positive ID before deciding to do anything drastic.

RE: Identification. Blooms would be very helpful for ID but it doesn't sound like you've been there an entire year so you may not have been there for the bloom cycle. But maybe your county extension agent could take a shot at a tentative ID if you bring in a branch and your pictures.

2) If it does well in your yard, there's a reason. Quite possibly a native plant that is well adapted for the soil/climate. And, if so, they're probably doing something positive - keeping soil from washing down slopes, providing cover/food for birds in winter, etc.

Looks like mountain laurel to me.



They are great native cover to have. It’d be a real shame to kill it off. As above, I’d love if it could grow in my yard, especially if it replaced all the damn honeysuckle bushes.

It does look like mountain laurel. I’ll check when it blooms in spring.

To clarify; I don’t want to clear it all. I just want to clear a shooting range and some trails for hiking and riding the quad.

ETA: After some research I found that mountain laurel is in the rhododendron family. It’s native and contains toxins that can kill animals. So goats are not an option. It also outcompetes other plants and trees.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: frayedends,

My tractor with a rake attachment on the loader works very well for brushy growth like that.

We have that stuff all around our area, and all over our 4+ acres. The only way I know to "control" it is to cut it off at the ground level and apply brush killer.

I would not kill it all, just the lanes where you want to shoot. It is pretty in the spring when it blooms.

Small chain saw works well. Something like a small Poulon or battery powered would work well.

I've looked up more information on the subject. Your location shows as Mass. so you may want to pay particular attention to pace two of this article. Killing it may be illegal in your state (imagine that).

Also noted from other pages that the stuff in the northeast is different than the Texas variety.

https://www.mass.gov/files/doc...016/08/tm/rhomax.pdf

quote:

Originally posted by 220-9er:
I've looked up more information on the subject. Your location shows as Mass. so you may want to pay particular attention to pace two of this article. Killing it may be illegal in your state (imagine that).

Also noted from other pages that the stuff in the northeast is different than the Texas variety.

https://www.mass.gov/files/doc...016/08/tm/rhomax.pdf

It is always good to get a positive ID before whacking away, but one should be aware that the above restriction only applies to one particular species of rhododendron - the Great Rhododendron - a huge shrub which grows to 33 ft and has 3-8" leaves.

From the OP's picture, assuming those are established, mature plants, I don't see any really tall shrubs. Most likely not a "Great Rhododendron". Again, a positive ID would help.

quote:

ETA:...that mountain laurel is in the rhododendron family. It’s native and contains toxins that can kill animals.

Except white tail deer. They will eat Mountain Laurel when easier food supplies are not available i.e. in the case of heavy, deep snow. It's also the state flower of Pennsylvania.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Pizza Bob,

This stuff is definitely not endangered. If it were I could repopulate the state. I’m just gonna clear what I need cleared. I’ll bring the chain saw and loppers. It would be difficult to get any large equipment back there. I’ll have to just take it slowly.

quote:

Originally posted by frayedends:
ETA: It’s native and contains toxins that can kill animals.

And for this reason, you do not want to burn the cuttings.

quote:

Originally posted by Pizza Bob:

quote:

ETA:...that mountain laurel is in the rhododendron family. It’s native and contains toxins that can kill animals.

Except white tail deer. They will eat Mountain Laurel when easier food supplies are not available i.e. in the case of heavy, deep snow.

Geez, I wonder if we were to plant a bunch in our woods, if it'd choke out the poison ivy and the gorram wild grape vines, and maybe give the verkakte whitetail an alternative to my wife's gardens?

I don't hunt, but the whitetail are getting so bad around here that, if the township would allow it and it were safe (it would not be), I'd seriously consider camping out on the patio and thinning the population with my .308 Win.

Those damn wild grape vines... grow like weeds, climb the trees and choke them out. I cut it off and pull hundreds of feet of it out of the trees every spring. I've lopped vines as thick as my wrist out there.

Weedeater with a blade attachment ?

quote:

Originally posted by oldbill123:
Weedeater with a blade attachment ?

That’s a great idea. I should have thought of that. I have a nice echo trimmer that takes attachments