ABOUT US
Ed's Buckthorn Control was created from a seedling of a thought, which grew into an oak-sized goal to take on the persistent and nefarious menaces that are quietly and aggressively taking over our natural landscape: buckthorn and other invasive plants. Ed spent many quiet strolls and adventures through the woods studying and mulling this problem and realized that while this is a monster of a mission, he was up to the task. Moreover, he realized that he wanted to be able to help others in this battle to bring back the native landscape in all its beauty. It all started in his own backyard.
The defining moment, after spending multiple carefully planned seasons tackling an unfortunately healthy buckthorn problem in his own wooded backyard, was the discovery of a tiny raspberry plant. At first, it was only one puny cane. After the buckthorn was gone, and the sun streamed through the newly-opened canopy, the raspberries took off in a hurry. The next spring, it became a whole raspberry patch, which burst into a thriving crop of black raspberries later that summer. The hard-earned reward was beautiful, sweet, and delicious!
Since that day, Ed has shifted his career focus to his passion: the care and discovery of the native Minnesota landscape. Buckthorn crowds out the understory of the forest and prevents many species of good plants from growing. It's hard to fight, grows aggressively, hurts our hands to handle, and many people don't have the time or the manpower to successfully overcome the buckthorn. That's truly why Ed's Buckthorn Control was created. If we don't take care of our woods today, then there will be no native landscape of raspberries, chokecherries, elderberries, oak trees, and wildflowers for future generations to enjoy tomorrow.
A message from Ed: "I love our forests. I love the magnificence of the formations, the colors, the sounds, the feeling of being in the woods, the animals that inhabit them, even the tiny details of the mushrooms and mosses. We each have pieces of the big wonderful native landscape we all share, and it is our duty to protect it all from certain death by fighting against the buckthorn and other invasive plants, and encouraging and planting native desirable plants.
We and our environment need each other."
