what about a chainsaw ..

i would be leary of introducing an invasive species to a non native area .... yikes...

ken

Mistletoe is a parasitic plant that is often spread in trees by birds. It is very detrimental to trees and is very difficult to control. Given time it will kill a tree. Find something else to occupy your time.

EXTREMELY BAD IDEA! once the mistletoe escapes, it will start killing your neighbors trees, trees in the woods, etc. You do NOT want to intro a tree parasite into your area! If you don't like the trees, cut them down.

If you want to grow mistletoe, grow Phoradendron leucarpum, which is native in OH, and also occurs on Silver Maple (tho' more often on Red Maple).

Resin

Here is a link that might be useful: Phoradendron leucarpum: not always bad!

American Mistletoe is abundant on the DelMarVa Penninsula especially Dover and south. It is really only noticeable in Winter when the host tree is bare. I have only seen it growing on Red Maple. From a distance it could be mistaken for a squirrel's nest. It seems to always be high up, one would have to harvest it with a rifle. Phoradendron flavescens is larval host to the Great Purple Hairstreak.
It should be an Ohio native, ask local botanists or native plant groups, or entomologists.
American Mistletoe does no damage to Red Maple.
I can't speak for other Mistletoe species or other host plants.
Sam

If I wanted to grow mistletoe on a tree, I think I would stick to a native one. It grows here, mostly on oaks, but I can't say for sure what species. In winter some trees are almost entirely green, with many clumps, but most have only one or two. While I don't chose to deliberately infect a tree with it, I wouldn't necessarily remove it, or try to do so, if it were only one or two. If it were many, I might make an effort - although I might also wonder what it was about that tree that made it so hospitable - and I might opt to remove the tree.

I think I might be more inclined to cut down the trees if I really didn't like them - it would seem that a death-by-mistletoe would be a slow one. And I agree with those who protested adding an "exotic" tree parasite to your local ecology, on general principal - I don't know where that mistletoe is native, so may be mistaken.

Thanks pineresin for the other species. I will try to find that one since it is native.