Coastal & Phragmites Management terms

A rotary cutting attachment that takes down standing brush, briar and saplings. An industrial brush cutter such as the BRX418 handles thick multiflora rose, autumn olive and reed that a mower cannot.

See Land clearing

A small tracked machine with loader arms at the front that carries interchangeable attachments: mulchers, brush cutters, grapples and buckets. Rubber tracks spread its weight, so it can work slopes, soft fields and lawns that wheeled equipment would rut. Huntly runs a Cat 285XE.

See Equipment and attachments

A public program that pays part of the cost of qualifying land work. DNREC’s cost-share program covers 87.5% of aerial herbicide treatment for qualifying Phragmites stands (landowner pays 12.5%), applied by helicopter in late summer and early fall over a three-year commitment, for stands of 5 to 200 acres.

See Phragmites programs

The Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control, the state agency responsible for wetlands, waterways and the state Phragmites cost-share program.

See Permits on coastal ground

A mulching attachment built around a horizontal rotating drum fitted with fixed teeth. The drum is lowered onto standing vegetation and reduces it to chips in a single pass, which suits brush, saplings and small trees.

See Forestry mulching

Clearing brush, saplings and small trees by grinding them where they stand with a mulching head on a tracked carrier. The chips stay on the ground as a layer that holds soil and slows regrowth, the roots stay in place, and nothing is burned or hauled away.

See Forestry mulching

How much weight a machine puts on each square inch of the ground it stands on, usually given in pounds per square inch (psi). Wide tracks lower it. Lower ground pressure means less rutting and compaction on paddocks, lawns, marsh edges and wet rights-of-way.

See Pasture reclamation

Ground and brush clearing standing reed and brush along the upland edge of a marsh with low-ground-pressure equipment, usually on firm or frozen ground in winter. On Phragmites it is one step in a program that pairs cutting with treatment.

See Marsh-edge ground and brush clearing

The non-native form of common reed, an invasive grass that forms dense stands along marsh edges, ditches and shorelines and can grow well over 10 feet tall, closing off water views and crowding out native marsh plants. Its rhizomes can spread more than 30 feet sideways and about 3 feet deep (DNREC). Ground and brush clearing alone does not control Phragmites; programs pair cutting with treatment.

See Phragmites programs Phragmites management

An underground stem that runs sideways through the soil and sends up new shoots. Plants that spread by rhizome, like Phragmites and bamboo, come back from the roots after the top growth is cut, which is why cutting alone rarely ends a stand.

See Phragmites programs

A strip of land along a road, utility line, drainage ditch or trail that the owner of the right has the legal right to use and maintain. Keeping it clear of woody growth keeps access, drainage and sightlines working.

See Drainage and right-of-way clearing

The strip of trees, shrubs and grasses along a stream, river or pond that filters runoff and holds the bank. Buffer ground is flagged on the site walk and left alone or worked by hand unless the scope and any permits say otherwise.

See Water, slopes and permits

A private walk of the property with the owner before anything is priced or scheduled. It records access, what stays, water and wet ground, and the finish wanted, and a written scope follows it.

See Plan a site walk

In Delaware, a drainage ditch system run by an organization of the landowners it drains, who share the upkeep. Ditch banks and rights-of-way need regular ground and brush clearing to keep water moving.

See Ditch and right-of-way ground and brush clearing

Marsh flooded and drained by the tides. Activities in Delaware wetlands generally require a DNREC permit (7 Del. C. § 6604), with some exemptions, so work in or beside tidal marsh is confirmed with DNREC Wetlands and Waterways before any cutting or spraying.

See Permits on coastal ground

A sightline opened through trees or brush so a house, terrace or road looks out to water, a field or a landmark. It is cut selectively, so the frame of trees around the view stays.

See View corridors