After two or three years the trees should be dry enough for burning. During the dormant season the trees can be burned without damage to nearby trees. Although the area involved will be cluttered while the trees decay, it is considered an economical way to remove surplus trees. Some method of soil management should be adopted as soon as the clearing is completed or briers, brush and weeds will take over. Clean cultivation in summer followed by a winter cover crop can be used, but any cultivation should be shallow to avoid injury to the pecan roots.
Clean cultivation eliminates much competition with the trees for soil moisture and nutrients.
However, clean cultivation bares the soil surface and predisposes it to wind and water erosion and makes travel through the grove during times of inclement weather difficult. Tracking, ruts and other depressions often created under clean cultivation requires additional soil leveling operations for efficient mechanical harvesting. Conversely, a short, uniform vegetation cover in the grove provides effective mechanical harvesting conditions, although the vegetative growth may compete with the trees for moisture and nutrients during the growing season. Cool season crops, such as fescue, ryegrass, wheat, and rye, are less competitive with the pecan trees than warm season crops that grow during the peak growing periods of the pecan tree. Bermuda, Bahia and alfalfa are crops that are highly competitive with the pecan trees.