Turning a Tangled Woodland into a Meadow

Orientals have an old saying "labor now, enjoy later." This is especially true with the creation of a woodland field or meadow. Turning a tangled mass of thickets, thorns, vines and timber into a beautiful piece of wildlife habitat most certainly qualifies as labor. The beauty begins not just at the completion of the work but in the imagination of the worker as it is being transformed. It is nearly an impossible task to make such a transformation using only manual labor and tools, but with a tractor equipped with a front end loader and a backhoe it is entirely possible. There is no need to hire an expensive dozer and operator to do the work if you are so equipped.

Begin the clearing by using the front end loader to push off bushes, small undergrowth, decayed stumps, fallen limbs, logs and the like. These can be pushed to an area that is somewhat central to the acreage being cleared. In this way the length of the pushes, which equate to time and fuel, can be minimized.

After all of the "loose" material has been moved it's time to attack the smallest of the trees. By working these next you are opening up space that can be used to fell the larger trees and provide clear area for them to fall on. Dig up these trees using the back hoe. The smallest ones, small being relative term, can usually be dug up without having to relocate the tractor. These also can be pushed away with the front end loader without the necessity of cutting them into smaller pieces with a chain saw. If you have a use for the wood, such as for fuel, then they can be cut up and hauled away to dry.

The larger trees can now be attacked. This usually involves moving the tractor more than once to get at all of the roots. Moving the tractor and setting up at multiple locations obviously takes more time and effort than that required for the smaller timber. After a tree has had its roots severed by digging all of the way around it the tractor can be used to simply push it over. For much larger trees they may need to be felled with a chain saw and then have the stump dug out. Once in the recent past dynamite was used to remove unwanted stumps, but the current world situation makes explosives of any kind difficult to obtain for the average Joe.

Once a large tree has been felled either by pushing it over or by using a chain saw, it is de-limbed and bucked to log lengths that are suitable for lifting with the tractor front end loader. Larger wood will lend itself to use as fire wood but it is better to leave it in logs so that it can be moved to some out of the way location for future processing. After the usable logs have been removed, only the tops and the stump with its roots remain to be dealt with.

The tops can be pushed to the same area that received the undergrowth and small trees. The stumps can be shoved to another location reserved just for them. The backhoe should be used to remove as much earth as possible from the stump before pushing it away. This will assist in making the stump smaller and lighter for moving with the tractor. This is an important step since stumps can be quite massive for some trees. How all of the fibrous material that has been moved is dealt with depends on the land. If there is surrounding woodland or other unused space, the debris can be wind rowed there and either allowed to decay naturally or burned at an appropriate time of safety during the winter or other wet period.

With the site now devoid of all undergrowth and trees it is time to begin the finishing process. The front end loader is used to push loose earth back into the stump holes that were made while digging up trees. Using a set of agricultural disks behind the tractor go over and over the site. This will further fill holes and low spots and will help level out high areas. It will also help cut some of the multitude of small surface roots that cover a newly cleared piece of ground. After disking a heavy harrow should be drug over your clearing. The harrowing will drag out loose roots, small debris and will assist in leveling of the land. After going over the area again and again it should now be suitable for its first planting. Fertilize and seed your creation according to the season and the type of growth that you want. It can either be planted with a perennial or annual seed. For the first time planting an annual or seasonal seed might be considered so that future removal of roots and other remaining underground debris can be dealt with.

It will take time, labor, money and above all dedication to change a sow's ear into a silk purse but the results will be lasting and beautiful. One of the benefits will be that you have made an environmentally friendly place that is attractive and beneficial to wildlife.