What is land clearing?
Advantages and disadvantages of land clearing
There are several advantages and disadvantages of clearing your land. An advantage to clearing land is it will be a good tool to create income due to the increase in demand for timber that can be taken from forests. This timber can then be used for furniture, paper and agricultural purposes. An example of this is, using that timber for cattle ranching or plantations.
There are some parts of land clearing that are considered a disadvantage. One of these disadvantages is the rate at which trees grow back is slower than the rate of deforestation. This means that our forests will continue to reduce in size. Deforestation can cause harmful effects on the animals as well. This process can destroy habitats and potentially causing these animals to have to look elsewhere for a potential home.
Land clearing process
There are multiple ways and tools that you can use when trying to clear your land. Land clearing can take more than a year to completely finish. First all trees of value should be removed prior to the clearing process. You should set up a buffer zone near the edge of a body of water, this is important in order to not destroy the fish and wildlife’s habitat.
You will want to clear your land in fall or the beginning of winter when your ground is either frozen or dry. During this period of time you typically will have less precipitation and runoff. When you clear land and the end of the year it helps better manage soil compaction. This also helps to prevent a large amount of soil being introduced into a brush pile. Some of the natural vegetation should be left in order to help retain the creeks and gullies in order to reduce erosion risks.
Your brush and stumps should be piled up by using a brush-rake. After they are piled up they should then be burned. A brush-rake looks like a bulldozer blade that has spikes on the bottom of it. When the burn is not quite completed, you should then pile the brush and stumps up again the next spring. Land breaking can be done the following spring or summer. The roots should be ploughed in order to loosen them. You would after breaking the soil, your roots should be loosened and rakes into a pile and then burned.
Taking into consideration your fields conditions, you may have to remove some rocks, so that you can better cultivate your land. You will need a cultivator to work throughout the summer on your land prior to seeding. At this point your remaining roots and brush can finish burning.
Some methods of land clearing can vary depending on the land. You can use the stumping, grubbing and piling method when clearing land in coastal regions and regions that are mainly Douglas fir, cedar, and hemlock or maple tree rich. When the area has already been logged, your stumps can be blasted out or split.
Walk-down and piling method can be used when in the interior regions. These areas have more of poplar, alder, birch and evergreen trees. You can use a bulldozer and keep its blade two to three feet off the ground to push the trees over. This will expose the roots and then you can rip out and burn the roots.
Cutting and piling can be used in Peace River regions. This is where there is a light growth of poplar and willows. These trees can be sheared and removed at the soil surface.
Some would say to use goats to help clear your land and underbrush. This method is good if the land has been cleared before but not for the first initial land clearing. The goats can’t eliminate anything that is higher off the ground and can be some very finicky eaters.
After you have cleared your land you will want to keep it clear and in top shape. Some ways you can keep your land clear and looking good is by bush-hogging your field at least once every two years. It is better thought to bush-hogging more like once a year. If you want another option you could carefully select an herbicide that kills weeds but will ignore and encourage your grass to grow. Bush-hogging is the cheaper and wiser method to choose.