Paul asks some questions about control Brazilian Pepper and uprise some food :
I have ( multiple acres ) in Mims . It is mostly pine forest , with mountain of saw palmetto . It is also well over with brazilian peppercorn . I would wish to get a handgrip on the Brazilian pepper without bulldozing the integral plenty . I also am conjure a few chickens on the attribute . Could you give me some mind on controlling the plant I do n’t want , and suggestion on a boarder plant / privacy bush ? I have your books on Florida food timber and the Florida horticulture book . Some of the thing I would like to grow are pecans , peaches , bananas , muscadines , to name a few . I do n’t have sex anything about gardening , so anything low maintenance would be great . Also , there is an abundance of shade , so I do n’t cognise if I need to slay some true pine trees or work with what I have .
beneficial question . Some areas are better for gardening than others – and the pine scouring is not an easy post to grow .
That does n’t mean there is n’t anything that will grow . Pawpaws , hawthorn and blueberries do well in North Florida scrub , and there are certainly some wild comestible species that would do well in Mims , though I ’d have to drop some time take care around in the brush to figure out what does .
have ’s lash out these questions one at a time .
1. Dealing with Brazilian Pepper
My worldwide feeler to fast - arise trees like Brazilian pepper is to use them as a chop - and - drop plant life , cutting them down over and over again and using the leaves and trunks as mulch .
However , Brazilian peppercorn may contain growth inhibitor , so using it that waymight have drawbacks .
The University of Florida recommends cutting the Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree down andimmediately paint herbicide onto their stumps :
“ Brazilian peppercorn - trees can be controlled by cutting them down and treat the stumps with herbicide . A saw should be used to trend the luggage compartment as close to the basis as potential . Within 5 mo , an herbicide that contains the active ingredient glyphosate or triclopyr should be implement as cautiously as potential to the thin level of living tissue paper , called the cambium , which is just inside the bark of the stump .
The sound time to dilute Brazilian common pepper - trees is when they are not fruiting because seeds contain in the fruits have the capability of producing new Brazilian pepper - trees . If Brazilian Madagascar pepper - tree diagram that have fruits attach are burn , upkeep should be taken not to disseminate the fruits to localization where they can cause future problem . ”
If I had a bunch of them , I would be tempt by weedkiller . They are cruddy and very invasive . unremarkably , I would try burning them – but the smoke can be toxic , as is the entire tree . Some people working with Brazilian pepper have ended up in the hospital after exposure to the sap . Others bear rashes and itch . The pot can really mess up up your lungs as well .
It has been reported that you’re able to trim back down the trees and cover the tree stump with pieces of metallic element or rug to turn out out the illumination , then eventually the tree diagram will die . I managed to kill one once by cutting it back to a stump , drilling bighearted hole in the stump and packing them with table salt , then cover the entire thing with atomic number 13 foil so the piddle could n’t wash the salt out .
Glysophate is soft , and though I do n’t normally recommend it , I ’d just cut them down and paint the podium with the stuff .
2. A Border Privacy Shrub
In Mims – allow you ’re unaired to the ocean and it ’s not too cold-blooded – I would plantcocoplum . It ’s beautiful and comestible . Another choice is the comestible and beautiful KwaZulu-Natal plum . AsGreen Deane writes :
“ Natal Plum copes well with salty winds , making it a full choice for coastal areas . It farm in mounds two to seven in high spirits and as broad . It ’s tolerant of various lighting conditions and is a democratic landscaping plant . Because of its double pricker — a good identification characteristic — it make a democratic security department hedge . ”
If I populate a petty more inland where it freezes , I ’d set a cattley yellow cattley guava , silverthorn or pineapple guava .
The cattley guava grows in tropic location but also take temperatures down into the 20s :
There are quite a few undecomposed options that dual as food .
3. Other Gardening Ideas
I wrotea carry on horticulture in Vero Beachwhich is quite applicable to your area as well .
Claim back your railyard from the Brazilian white pepper , then start seeing what does well . A lot of the options inTotally Crazy Easy Florida Gardeningshould do work well for you . The braggy problem with your area is the soil . It ’s tough to farm on that acid , tight - drain sand . Use a lot of mulch , get going foliar feeding ( foliar alimentation works really well when the sand does n’t contain much nourishment ) and get some irrigation going . And compost everything .
Thanks for writing – and estimable luck .
