Bush Honeysuckle

  There is one invasive plant we've come to hate: bush honeysuckle.

 We can count on the local deer browsing most of our trees. They especially love the ones we buy at a  nursery. Pines are high on the list. They'll browse saplings in the woods several feet off the ground. But will they touch a honeysuckle? Not on your life.

  The "bush" is insidious. Apparently the berries in the fall are a bird favorite and they broadcast the seeds everywhere in their droppings. The tiny plants are just now coming up for another year. Cut one down, dig one up and a hundred more are ready to take their place.

 Several years ago (2020) we faced a real challenge in our nature reserve area. The honeysuckle had grown trunks several inches in diameter and was choking everything else out. We bought a chain saw (actually two) and began cutting them down and dragging them to the burn barrel where we cut them into manageable pieces and burnt them.

  Two years ago (2021) we continued the project, took the rest of the larger ones down and dug the saplings which were already sprouting to take their place. Last year (2022) we took a year off. Mistake.

 So this year I again began cutting out the newest sprouts. The hardiest were coming up from the old trunks. The things will never die. Saplings were spread everywhere. I took my grandfathers shovel and chopped the largest (the shovel broke about halfway through); I switched to Tom's shovel.

 And lately I've been finishing up another pass, making sure even the smallest starts were gone.  They'll sprout again from the tiny roots left behind, of course, but this has given the honeysuckle a real setback.

 I think the answer is this: review the area every spring, taking out anything which continues to sprout from old wood and digging all the newest saplings. Eventually either the honeysuckle will give up ... or I will. Only my age is working against me.

 Above is a view of the nature reserve from the rear of my property. Weeds will continue to sprout - I want the area to be as natural as possible but without the most noxious and invasive of the vegetation. The area will be deeply green by  early May.

 And from the front half looking back towards Pinehaven. It is a satisfying sight after such a battle to clear it up.

 Tom continues to buy and plant trees from the Arbor Day Foundation. Eventually this will be a wooded area that we'll  allow to be as natural as possible. Arbor Day is the last Friday in April (tomorrow, April 28, 2023) so our timing is perfect to honor the theme by protecting our area dedicated to trees and wildlife.

Credit: Arbor Day Foundation