Winter Buckthorn Work

Winter is in full swing, and many people do not think of their trees during the cold months when everything looks relatively lifeless outdoors.

Actually, the winter dormant season is the best time of year to be doing some maintenance on your property, including tree pruning and buckthorn removal.

Removing buckthorn in the winter is smart, because it is easier to move the brush without leaves, there is no risk for stepping on sensitive herbaceous plants (your precious flowers!) and if the snow isn't a problem, driving on the frozen lawn will allow for easier access to some areas without compacting soil and creating ruts. If the temperature is too low, treating with chemicals may not work this time of year, but getting the brush removed, and coming back at a warmer time to make the final cuts and treatments is an effective strategy. Since we are so busy in the spring with planting native species and removing garlic mustard, winter is the last chance to remove buckthorn before the rest of the berries fall to the ground.

How do you identify buckthorn in the winter? Look at the ends of the twigs. If you see any hoof-like bud pairs with a thorn hiding in the middle, it is indeed common buckthorn!

Bonus to winter buckthorn removal: buckthorn produces chemicals that are toxic to other plants and seeds. Removing buckthorn in the winter stops the production of these allelopathic compounds, which increases the chances of naturally germinating new native plants in the spring!

Photos by Stephanie Snell

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Buckthorn Berries are Ripening

Around the beginning of August each year, invasive European or "common" buckthorn (rhamnus cathartica) berries begin to ripen. As seen in these photos, the females produce dense clusters of fruit, which change from green to purplish black. Once the drupes are ripe, they are viable and ready to spread. Buckthorn colonizes by dropping its seeds straight down to form a thicket, and creates new infestations using birds. Unfortunately for the birds, there is no nutritional value in the berries, and it causes diarrhea, further ensuring its viability after digestion.

Once ripe, some berries can remain on the twig until the following spring, making it available to birds for more than half the year.

This is a good time to remove female buckthorn, because they are easy to identify, the unripe berries hang on better than ripe ones, and unripe berries do not cause purple staining on hard surfaces and equipment like the ripe ones.

If you would like help identifying, removing, or replacing buckthorn, or if you could use some guidance for your DIY project, please call 612-564-5771, email edsbuckthorncontrol@gmail.com, or submit a request on our website.

Garlic Mustard

Garlic mustard (alliaria petiolata) is a harmless-looking menace that silently takes over the forest floor, much like buckthorn bullies the sub-canopy tier of the woods. In the spring to early summer, garlic mustard is flowering and developing seeds to spread before it dies at the end of its 2-year life. Chemicals can be used in the early spring and late fall, when it is the only green ground cover, and there is low risk of spraying desirable plants. Otherwise, the best control method is to uproot them by hand, destroy/dispose of the seed pods, and hang them, roots up, to dry out.

For more information about garlic mustard, please visit the MN DNR webpage: https://www.dnr.state.mn.us/invasives/terrestrialplants/herbaceous/garlicmustard.html

DUE TO GARLIC MUSTARD SEASON, BUCKTHORN PROJECTS ARE ON HOLD UNTIL MID-JULY TO EARLY AUGUST. WE ARE TAKING NAMES FOR BUCKTHORN REMOVAL TO BE SCHEDULED AFTER GARLIC MUSTARD SEASON HAS ENDED. THANK YOU FOR YOUR PATIENCE AND UNDERSTANDING!