Controlling cedar trees

Eastern red cedar trees are native to the central part of the country but also considered an invasive weed when they choke out pastures or grow adjacent to hardwood forests. They compete for nutrients and deplete plant diversity. The seeds are spread by birds.

Adam Smith is the forestry and fire bureau chief with the Nebraska Forest Service. He says the control method you use depends on how tall the tree is. Trees that are shorter than the surrounding grass are easiest to kill using prescribed fire. 

“Low-intensity fire that can engulf and consume the entire tree is ideal. That’s when we should be managing for these trees because it’s safe and cheap. As the trees get bigger, the conditions have to change for the prescribed fire where you need more fuel on the ground; it probably needs to be a little bit hotter, maybe a little bit more wind to get to those trees,” says Smith. “And at some point, the trees get so big that fire is not the easiest methodology to try and manage them.”

Once the trees get too tall, fire may not reach the top of the tree which is what needs to be killed for fire to be effective. 

The next option is mechanical control. This includes cutting the trees out with a skid steer and tree shears or grinding the trees in place. And they won’t grow back.

“It’s fairly simple. As long as you cut below the lowest branch to where there’s no green foliage left on the stump, it’s done,” he says. “It’s a very easy application of management, just cut below the lowest limb. The biggest problem is then you’re often left with the top of the tree that you have to find some way of disposing or utilizing.”

It can be less expensive if you get some value out of the larger trees. Smith suggests using them for wood shavings or as biochar.

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