It doesn’t matter if you have 2 acres or 200, if you find these shrubs/trees on your property, do everything in your power to wipe them out. The native habitat — and your local deer herd — will metaphorically thank you.
Although I’ve experienced tremendous success as a deer hunter in my lifetime, I’ve never had the luxury of owning a large property. In fact, the most acres I’ve ever owned at one time has been less than 10, however, I’ve made the most of every opportunity I’ve had by making the small properties that I’ve owned into whitetail havens. My education on the topic started when I was in my late 20s, and it focussed on controlling native plant, shrub and tree species. If you can wipe them out — or at least try — you will have success in growing native species and making that property oh-so-much better than it was when you first got your hands on it.
I’ve lost count of how many hours I’ve spent eradicating non-native species, but it has to be in the thousands by now (30 years times a heck of a lot of manual labor) on the various properties I’ve owned.
Here’s my unofficial list of the “worst of the worst” when it comes to invasive species that will haunt a land manager, again, no matter how much land they own or control:
1. Glossy Buckthorn
Description: Shrub/small tree.
Threat: Alters soil composition. It forms dense, even-aged thickets, reducing light availability for understory species and preventing native tree regeneration.
How to get rid of glossy buckthorn: Cut and spray larger shrubs with herbicide. Mow seedings in spring
The glossy buckthorn can grow as high as 20 feet tall, and it can have multiple stems coming out of the same base. Be wary of the berries. They look a lot like wild, black cherries. You don’t want to eat them. I telltale sign of this pest is when you cut the stem, the inner portion of the bark is a yellowish/orange color.
2. Black Locust
Description: Tree that grows in clusters.
Threat: It invades forests, prairies, oak savannas, pastures, elds, and roadsides. It forms extensive, dense groves of clones that exclude native vegetation including canopy trees.
How to get rid of black locust: Cannot be effectively removed by cutting or girdling alone if in larger stands. Must be removed via chemical applications.
I had quite a bit of black locust on my first small property (a 7-acre hardwood forest). It was tough to eradicate, but one silver lining was the wood was pretty darned good firewood. Very hard to split. You will need a wood splitter for this one. Also, black locust poles are very good as fence posts when dried.
How to identify black locust: It has alternate, pinnately compound leaves that have blue-green leaflets with smooth margins and undersides that are silvery-gray. The tips of each leaflet may be slightly notched, rounded, or slightly pointed (Ohio Department of Natural Resources).
3. Japanese Barberry
Description: Thorny shrub.
Threat: Nearly out of control in some woodlands. Invades forests, woodlands, oak savannas, and elds; it prefers well-drained soils. •It appears to alter soil pH and nitrate levels, creating conditions that are beneficial for its growth. •Very invasive and widespread in states further east. Infestations in WI are more localized. Cultivars are widely planted as ornamental
How to get rid of Japanese barberry: DO NOT PLANT THIS ornamental shrub! Removal in established areas is extremely difficult if not next to impossible.
I’ve seen numerous cases where Japanese barberry completely took over the understory of hardwood and softwood forests. The low-growing bush has nasty little thorns that will destroy your pants, but the plant itself is way worse on the ecosystem. It will choke out native growth and completely change a forest’s makeup. You could go from a beautiful hardwood stand, then after aggressive logging, see a “junk wood” infestation due to the crowding out of the invasive species. Often grows alongside other invasives like bush honeysuckle.
It should also be noted that Japanese barberry is a magnet for deer ticks. The shrub is the perfect height for ticks to attach themselves to as deer (and humans) walk by. Eliminating Japanese Barberry will decrease the number of ticks which in turn will significantly reduce the risk of Lyme disease (Ecosystem Gardening).
How to identify Japanese barberry: Clustered in tight bunches above spines, the leaves are simple, alternate, small, and oval to spatulate shaped (wider at the tip than the base). Leaves may be green, bluish-green or dark reddish-purple depending on the cultivar (Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources).
4. Eurasian Bush Honeysuckle
Description: Thick bush/shrub.
Threat: Invade forest edges, woodlands, edges, pastures, fens, bogs, lake shores, and roadsides. •They alter habitats by depleting soil moisture and nutrients, and possibly releasing allelopathic chemicals that inhibit growth of other plants. Forms dense thickets that choke out native growth.
How to get rid of bush honeysuckle: Cut and spray stumps with herbicide.
The Eurasian bush honeysuckle got to North America as a “cure all” for erosion control (and in some cases as an ornamental bush). Big mistake, but our ancestors didn’t know. This bush is so invasive and so hardy (thrives here in our wicked Wisconsin winters) that it is very hard to wipe out. The best method I’ve found is to tie orange flagging tap on bushes in later winter or spring (so you know where they are all located on your property), then come in during spring and cut the stems, paint the little stumps with glysophate and follow up later to make sure they didn’t re-sprout.
How to identify Eurasian bush honeysuckle: Opposite, oval or oblong and untoothed. Leaves may be hairless to downy and green or blue-green. Leaf bases are slightly heart-shaped to nearly straight. Leaves come on 1 to 2 weeks earlier in spring and stay on later in fall than the leaves of native trees and shrubs. (Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources)
5. Autumn Olive
Description: Multi-stemmed shrub.
Threat: Invades open and forested areas. Uses more water than native species.
How to get rid of autumn olive: Dig, pull, mow, burn. Herbicide can wipe out young stands.
How to identify autumn olive: This deciduous shrub that can grow to 20 feet high. Leaves are bright green on top and distinctively silver underneath. Spring-blooming cream or yellow flowers have a strong fragrance. Abundant red berries are lightly speckled and easily seen in the fall. (Michigan DNR)
6. Multiflora Rose
Description: Thicket-forming shrub with thorns.
Threat: Multiflora rose invades forest edges, woodlands, oak savannas, prairies, edges, pastures, and roadsides. •It is extremely proli c and can form impenetrable thickets that cast dense shade and exclude native plants.
How to get rid of multiflora rose: Dig, pull, mow, burn. Herbicide can wipe out young stands.
How to identify multiflora rose: Multiflora rose leaves are alternate (come off the stem one at time at each leaf node). Leaves have leaflets that come off the leaf stalk opposite one another and then have a final leaflet at the tip of the leaf stalk (pinnately compound leaves). Leaflets have serrated edges. Each leaf usually has 7 or 9 leaflets but it can range from 5-11 leaflets. (Minnesota DNR)
7. Kudzu
Description: Kudzu leaves look just like a bean leaf. A single trifoliate leaf is comprised of 3 smaller leaflets. The leaves and vines of young plants are often hairy. Trifoliate leaves can be as large as 10” inches across. (Indiana DNR)
Threat: Kudzu out competes native vegetation by shading and using valuable nutrients. It also weighs down trees and increases snow load on trees causing their tops to break. In addition causing tree damage, kudzu mats can be 5 feet deep and impassible leaving many areas unusable for outdoor recreation. Kudzu mats create an ideal environment for rodents and snakes. Finally, kudzu may act as a reservoir for soybean diseases such as soybean rust. (Indiana DNR)
How to get rid of kudzu: Perhaps the safest approach is to cut any kudzu vines just above the ground and immediately treat the stump with one of the recommended glyphosate herbicides using the cut stump method. It is not effective to spray only the lower leaves on a kudzu vine when it has grown up into a tree. (Alabama A&M and Auburn University)
How to identify kudzu:
Leaves: Alternate leaves are compound and are comprised of 3 broad, pointed slightly lobed leaflets with golden hairs. Flowers: Fragrant purple flowers with a yellow middle occur in leaf axils in long upright panicles from June-September. (Wisconsin DNR)