clearing alder groves

[cannuck]

New to the site, so don't know my way around yet. Hope this is the best place to post.

I recently bought a D5H (1995) to take a piece of unbroken land from scruffy to workable. We will put shop and home there, most is covered by native grass but need to take some existing groves of alder out...permanently. The trees are not very large, but my son-in-law tells me that they are all one single plant linked by a root network. Will the blade alone likely do this job, or am I needing some deeper intervention?

The end result is that we are expecting to grow Saskatoons (Serviceberries) and/or Evans dwarf sour cherries. As you can imagine, this is not a one-season project, but fairly long term. Just need to get the show on the road and don't want to have to do things a second time.

 

[Delmer]

How big is not very large? under an inch? 2-4"? and how do you want the soil prepared to plant the Saskatoons? Like are you going to kill off all the grass and plant between the rows, or cultivate between the rows? I'm sure the alders I'm familiar with are different than the stands you have, so can't help much without more info.

 

[RZucker]

Saw the alders off and paint the stumps with undiluted roundup. I.ve done this with poplar trees before, kills everything. Give it 2 weeks before you mess with the roots.

 

[cannuck]

RZucker solution seems like job 1. I was going to doze the trees (mostly around 6" at trunk), but my worry was that I wouldn't kill the roots. A good drink of our favourite defoliant (fresh out of agent orange these days) should do just fine if I don't splash it around.

Delmer: Not sure what we are going to do with the soil yet, as I have not had a chance to dig a hole and see what is there. If the alder roots are into subsoil, I am a bit worried about using a rake to pull them up as I will mix in so much with topsoil. If I could kill the roots and just leave them there, that would leave topsoil undisturbed. I don't think there is any reason to take out the native grass in between, as this is the exact condition of wild Saskatoons. Still a long way from learning enough about both crops to know what is going to be best way to treat the soil/root issue.