Buckthorn, get rid of it!

[Mark Christianson]

Not sure where to put this topic, but it's something a lot of people out there can easily do something about, to curb the spread. That stuff is spreading like wildfire. The nice thing about it, is that its easy to find and remove. If its late October, and you see a small tree with green leaves, it's most likely Buckthorn. It's hard to describe in text, but once you see it, you will know it. Get rid of it.
Here is a post from another forum that I liked:

This is a reminder to all landowners to keep an eye out for
buckthorn and do your best to remove or control it. I believe as of 99 it was placed on the Dept. of Ag's noxious
weed list. Last summers aphid outbreak was another reminder
of how invasive exotics can cause economic problems. However, it is more than a nuisance, it will disrupt our environment by displacing indigenous plants.

[scotty18]

biglakeba$$, I live in big lake also. I have a hedge row that is buckthorn. I didn't know it was a problem. All I was told by the city was I couldn't plant anymore. During the 7-1-97 storm , we lost some in the wind. I kinda like it because it keeps the kids from cutting though our yard.

scotty

[Mark Christianson]

Funny you mention the Big Lake area.
I live north of town on 43.
The woods are FULL of buckthorn just north of the Elk River. Every time I drove by there this fall, I looked at that stuff.

Its not good stuff. It's choking out native species that are good for the environment and wildlife.

[icehousebob]

I run a part-time tree service in Tonka and its seldom that I find a yard here that doesn't have Buckthorn. Its hard on saws and chipper blades. Just cutting won't kill it. Spray the stumps with Ortho BrushBGone. The active ingredient is called Triclopper[sp?] The airisol version has less that 1%, but the liquid in pint cans has 9%, so I buy the liquid and use it in a plastic squeeze bottle. Once you've killed it all, keep watching your yard. The new shoots keep moving in. Some of my customers kid me that I have a personal vendetta against Buckthorn. They're right.

[Lunker]

Orginizations like Friends of The Miss., DNR, and certain neighborhood groups run volunteer programs to remove the stuff. Through school I worked on the Mississippi valley above pool 2 to get rid of this exotic garlic weed dump out but havent done the buckthorn. We have a couple of them in my back yard we cut down and poisened, but those things just don't wanna croak~!

[scotty18]

I never really thought much about my buckthorn hedge. The thing that really bugs me is my yard is full of creeping charlie. Any ideas on how to get rid of that? My neibors yards are full of it too.

[scotty18]

biglakeba$$, If you drive though the old part of our city you'll see a lot of buckthorn used as privacy hedges. My house was built in the 40's and they used it alot back then. It's the 40's version of the old "mote around the castle"

Scotty

[Mark Christianson]

icehousebob

Can you effectively kill the plant if you cut it and spray the stump in the winter?
Just wondering if the fact that the tree is dormant, that the effectiveness of the spray is less.
Or is it the same effectiveness year round when trying to kill this or any other noxious plant?

Happy sprayin!

[This message has been edited by biglakeba$$ (edited 01-25-2004).]

[Lunker]

BigLB, I would wait till spring if it were me, although just spraying probably wont do the trick if it is a decent sized trunk. What I did with ours is after it was cut down to teh stump I took a big drill and bored big holes down through the stump as far as I could go down into the base and roots, then poured the most powerful stuff I could get down the holes, then covered the stump with a flower pot until it was obvious that all the runners had been killed and weren't going to come back, then removed the stump.

As far as the creeping charlie question, we had the stuff all over at our old house. I think the only way to get rid of it would involve getting rid of all the grass too and replanting. We just left it be but I hate the stuff.

[icehousebob]

Big Lake, Lunker is right about the best time to kill it. You can cut it now, but the Brush-B-Gone won't work when the Buckthorn is dormant. In the spring, just spray the stumps because it has to be drawn down to kill the roots.A couple warnings about brush killer..When the plant draws it down to the roots, any plant whose roots are intertwined with it may also be killed. And cats are sometimes attracted to it the way dogs are attracted to antifreeze. Try to keep critters away for a few days. Some people use Roundup on brush but I've had good luck with the Ortho Brush-B-Gone, so I've stayed with it. The price can vary on it and I've found the cheapest by far is Fleet Farm. The directions say to dilute it, but I use it straight and just give each stump a couple of sprays from a plastic spray bottle. If you're clearing a large area, you have to keep watching for new shoots. I tell my customers to take a walk through the area after a heavy rain when the ground is soft and pull out any new shoots they find.

[bigg edd]

If you are going to cut it and drag it out of the woods make sure you do it before the seeds ( berries ) are ripe or you will be spreading it like wildfire. There is a big problem with it in a area of duluth. It's in a city park and it's beyond control. I have hear that birds wil eat the berries and pass the seeds also

[First Ice-Mike]

If everybody makes an effort to get rid of buckthorn it would be great. The soybean aphid, which is beginning to cause major problems for farmers uses buckthorn as a wintering host. Buckthorn is the only host for the aphids to my knowledge so we can do everybody a favor and get rid of it.

FI

[TNT4ME]

One question, is it called Buckthorn,
or is it really Hawthorn?
I thought it was Hawthorn that the aphids over wintered in.
tnt

[Mark Christianson]

Anybody know about this Hawthorn/Buckthorn question above?

All I know is, get rid of Buckthorn!
Again, if you are deer hunting in November, and as you sit in your deer stand and notice small trees/bushes with green leaves; burn it/cut it/bomb it!!!!
Its non-native Buckthorn.
Get rid of it.
It is so easy to identify, because there is nothing left in the woods that is green once November comes around, except this dump. Look at some of the above posts for info on removing it permanently. Its not tough.

[Hotspotter]

Aphids overwinter on the Common Buckthorn (Rhamnus cathartica) which is not to be confused with the Hawthorn. There's various Buckthorn species, as well as Hawthorn, and they're similar in that they have the protruding stickers. The common buckthorn's are typically 1/2 as long, and aren't as obvious (or nasty) as those of the hawthorn. The leaves of the common buckthorn are typically glossy on top with curved veins that are pretty indicative of that species. Do a general web search on common buckthorn to get good pictures of them for ID.

Great tips on getting rid of them, cutting rarely works without spray....and pulling rarely works unless you're anal about getting most of the root system.

Joel

[Powerstroke]

Lots of good info here and I just want to bring this back to the top.

Just for reference, I've spent 6 months with the DNR and the non-profit Great River Greening, doing GPS surveying of buckthorn sites and setting up volunteer events to remove it along the St. Paul side of the Mississippi. I've been working for the last 3 years at a metro tree company (Davey Tree) and buckthorn erradication is one of our most common jobs around Lake Minnetonka.

http://www.nps.gov/plants/alien/fact/rhca1.htm
This is what the buckthorn looks like. Cutting it down now is great. IF you want to do the most damage, cut it down in mid-late spring once the leaves are fully emerged. Then cut it and treat with herbicides. The tree is weakened because it wasted all its energy putting out leaves and is now relying on the new leaves to gather energy from the sun. It will also be easier to identify for most people once the leaves are out. WHen treating the stumps its most important to coat the outer edges of the stump. This is where the growing tissue is.

For people who think that the buckthorn is doing some sort of good in your yard, you couldn't be any more incorrect. There are so many native plants that are better for the environment and the ecosystem that look better and require less maintenance. Talk to a garden shop. Dogwoods are great.

Another thing to think about....if your tree has berries then you are a bigger problem then most. Birds eat the berries, but they are like a laxative and cause the birds to dump them out. So they fly to the neighbors yard etc, and plant some seeds there.

[This message has been edited by Powerstroke (edited 03-15-2004).]

[This message has been edited by Powerstroke (edited 03-15-2004).]