Cedar Removal and the Impact to Deer Herds

[DeepDownSouth]

Cedar Clearing

A TPWD biologist came and reviewed our new land last week, had a lot of good info for us to follow in improving it.
The land's cover is very diverse in mostly bottom-land environment but he strongly suggested removing most of the cedar pockets and thickets. As he pointed out, the ground under heavy cedar will be bare because of the lack of sunlight. That is not what you want. Yes, a few deer may hide in them but the grass and other plants/forbes that would then grow from clearing them would provide bedding, plus food as well. Plus, the bare ground in cedar areas will also erode very quickly. He also recommended leaving the few large cedars as they looked to be very old.
He helped us discover many other benefits and types of good trees we were not aware of but since this post is concerning cedars, I'll stop here unless someone is interested.

Please PM or post if you would like on the other sentence above ^. Would be much appreciated

[Grayson]

Do you guys treat the cedar stumps or just cut them down? Or are you digging them up by the roots?

[Puncher51]

Do you guys treat the cedar stumps or just cut them down? Or are you digging them up by the roots?

The Hill Country has Ashe Juniper which can be killed by removing all green vegetation, therefore no need for chemical or uprooting them.

[DUKFVR]

I have started removing some cedar from our place. It will be work,but plan on clearing all my better soil areas & leaving the pockets in areas. Thanks for the info on the big mature cedars. The biologist never mentioned that about leaving some. I will leave some of them & concentrate on the smaller stuff . My ultimate goal is to keep the bigger pockets contained & go from there. The TPWD biologist suggested I leave them where they fall. Grass will sprout through them & get a good start.

[bgleaton]

Great information

[bgleaton]

If they are blueberry cedars you can cut the stump and it will die without the need of any chemicals as long as you remove all the green growth. If they are redberry cedars you will need to use chemicals or bulldoze them to remove the roots.

It's also very beneficial to cut the cedars and let them lay on the bare ground. They will add organic matter (i.e. needles), prevent erosion, keep the soil cooler, and will act as a grazing enclosure while grasses and forbs start growing underneath.

There was a study done somewhere in the texas edwards plateau and they found some of the most fertile soils in areas where cedars are cleared due to the amount of organic matter from the needles, branches, etc. This was obviously a bottomland area and not a rocky hillside.

We mulched clearings of cedars and now have a lot of great grasses, forbs and browse growing in these clearings only after 1 year.

[JeffJ]

If they are blueberry cedars you can cut the stump and it will die without the need of any chemicals as long as you remove all the green growth. If they are redberry cedars you will need to use chemicals or bulldoze them to remove the roots.

It's also very beneficial to cut the cedars and let them lay on the bare ground. They will add organic matter (i.e. needles), prevent erosion, keep the soil cooler, and will act as a grazing enclosure while grasses and forbs start growing underneath.

There was a study done somewhere in the texas edwards plateau and they found some of the most fertile soils in areas where cedars are cleared due to the amount of organic matter from the needles, branches, etc. This was obviously a bottomland area and not a rocky hillside.

We mulched clearings of cedars and now have a lot of great grasses, forbs and browse growing in these clearings only after 1 year.

We cut at ground level with a shear and let them lay until they are completely brown and dried out. Trying to burn green cedar can be frustrating. Also, I have seen that letting them lay for a few months protects the grass underneath them from grazing. When we stack the dried cedar its not uncommon to have little stands of grass 2-3x taller than the rest of the grass in the area.

While I've never read the benefits of the organic matter breaking down in to the soil it does make some sense.

My new theory on clearing is as follows.

We cut cedar in:

- Flat areas that we feel native grasses have a good chance of returning to and flourishing.

- Areas of gentle drainage towards ponds and creeks.

- Areas around ponds and creeks where we don't see future erosion as a result being a possibility

- Everything within 50' of a road.

- Everything from under and around oaks equal to 2x the oak canopy.

[Top Of Texas]

There’s a million factors involved. Our property is in Mason County, has rolling hills and draws, and about 10 other shrub and trees. We cut as many cedars as possible and have removed around 350 Acres so far which is about 1/3 of the ranch. We also use rotational grazing and prescribed fire, therefore we have great grass cover. We have not seen any decrease in deer numbers and surveys are actually showing that we have more deer now than before. We now have more food available for deer and livestock because of the removal of juniper. If it were up to me I’d remove every one on the property, but that isn’t feasible. We will continue to leave those thickets in the roughest rockiest terrain.
That being said, if you have a flat property without much other woody species you can really decrease deer numbers by removing too much juniper. So keep that in mind.
If you have any questions I’ll do my best to answer them.

Well done

[tdwinklr]

I have started removing some cedar from our place. It will be work,but plan on clearing all my better soil areas & leaving the pockets in areas. Thanks for the info on the big mature cedars. The biologist never mentioned that about leaving some. I will leave some of them & concentrate on the smaller stuff . My ultimate goal is to keep the bigger pockets contained & go from there. The TPWD biologist suggested I leave them where they fall. Grass will sprout through them & get a good start.

Didn't know that about letting them lay, I would think that would choke out any grass? If that works, sure will be easier on me rather than gathering them all up and burning or creating brush piles.
One thing I left out about the big cedars and leaving them, he also suggested removing the lower limbs so at least some sunlight could get to the ground.

[Puncher51]

Didn't know that about letting them lay, I would think that would choke out any grass? If that works, sure will be easier on me rather than gathering them all up and burning or creating brush piles.
One thing I left out about the big cedars and leaving them, he also suggested removing the lower limbs so at least some sunlight could get to the ground.

The grass will grow up through the cut cedars. If you have cattle, the cut cedars protect the grass from grazing, so it grows taller and creates excellent microclimates for song birds and other wildlife.

[sectxag06]

Ashe Juniper is not an invasive species in Central Texas. keep your old growth. keep knocking back the young stuff.

[bgleaton]

Very cool video about cedar removal:
[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fuuw9GEVcEs"]Hill Country Land Trust - Managing Cedar (Ashe Juniper) - YouTube[/ame]

Around the 5:00 mark is where he talks about how cedar and how it improves organic matter OVER TIME. You will see that they leave all the cedar lay where they cut it and talk about the reason for doing this.

[Puncher51]

Excellent video! That pretty much sums up what everyone has been discussing

[JeffJ]

Very cool video about cedar removal:
Hill Country Land Trust - Managing Cedar (Ashe Juniper) - YouTube

Around the 5:00 mark is where he talks about how cedar and how it improves organic matter OVER TIME. You will see that they leave all the cedar lay where they cut it and talk about the reason for doing this.

Great video. Didn't get to finish it but he makes a compelling reason to let them lay. Question: did he talk about eventually stacking and burning? I'm all for letting them lay for a period of time where the leaves break down and enter the soil and provide a shield for grass growth, but leaving them forever wouldn't be very visually appealing.

[TxAg15SCSC]

Very cool video about cedar removal:
Hill Country Land Trust - Managing Cedar (Ashe Juniper) - YouTube

Around the 5:00 mark is where he talks about how cedar and how it improves organic matter OVER TIME. You will see that they leave all the cedar lay where they cut it and talk about the reason for doing this.

Thanks for sharing!