Get a handle on an invasive species and create beauty and biodiversity.
Is there really a gardening season? Any time of year is the right time to tend to gardening endeavors—whether it be planning, planting or pruning.
For those interested in addressing a particular troublesome interloper—buckthorn—now is the time to act. We asked Alison Feik, a professional gardener based out of Excelsior, for guidance.
“As Minnesotans, we love our forests and wild places … Our consistent rains, deep, rich topsoil and long days of sun create [an abundance of growth],” she says. “All this life has been in relative balance, functioning autonomously for thousands of years and is a pride of our region. Yet, like so many facets of modern life, human intervention and the advent of modern practices (such as transporting plants to one bioregion to another) has created a problem, which now requires a concerted effort to reverse. The balance that we have enjoyed in the past is now threatened by an aggressive, noxious, invasive species.” AKA: buckthorn. “[It’s] our number one problem plant affecting the local, natural ecosystems,” she says.
Feik says buckthorn is easy to identify, especially in the spring and fall. “It’s the first plant to produce leaves and last to lose them,” she says. It can be found among shrubs and trees and between adjacent properties that have been left wild for privacy or from lack of attention. “Sometimes, it’s even been planted as a hedge. This is because the species was originally sold at nurseries,” she says.
Did you know that buckthorn is more than a bush? “Many people are surprised to learn that the 20-foot understory tree with a thick gray trunk is not a desirable tree in their yard but rather a mature buckthorn,” Feik says. “The mature trees are the most damaging, as they produce huge amounts of berries, spreading seed throughout their property and neighboring communities.” If you need another reason to rid your property of buckthorn, consider this: The berries act as a laxative for birds and mice, making it easier to disseminate the seeds.
Buckthorn is also a sunlight hog, as it were. Feik says, “They block the sun from the saplings and herbaceous plants we desire, hogging the light and moisture they need to thrive. When buckthorn grows, it creates thick stands that are practically impossible to pass through. Native plants can’t compete, thereby reducing the habitat and food sources animals relay on, as well.”
What is the solution? “We need to eliminate the buckthorn on private property, as well as municipalities, removing it from our parks,” Feik says. “Removing these plants now will make it exponentially easier to protect those ecosystems than if we ignore it and address it in the future.”
Get at it with a saw and an herbicide, Feik recommends. After sawing down the trunk, sparingly use herbicide on the freshly-cut trunk to treat the stump, or cover the stump with a black plastic bag in lieu using the herbicide. “This will keep the plant from shooting up vigorous suckers, growing back from the ground, as the living root system isn’t killed through cutting down the plant alone,” she says. In some instances, the roots can be dug or pulled out of the ground.
Note: You might have to continue removing the saplings from the seed bank (Berries that have been dropped that can remain in the soil for several years before germinating.) for a year or two. “It does take time and effort, however, after your buckthorn is removed, you’ll find you have more of your property back. This gives you an opportunity to plant desirable species in place of the removed buckthorn, creating both beauty and biodiversity,” Feik says.
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