As spring is rapidly approaching I'm finishing up my plans for what I'd like to accomplish this season. One of my primary goals is to continue to control and eventually eliminate the invasives. Most management strategies call for eliminating to satellite populations first to control spread and then work toward the center. Based on published guidelines such as from the US Forest service, I'm using the following techniques:
- Stilt grass, Microstegium vinineum, by managed mowings, timed pulling in late July or August and displacement with natives/manageable species.
- Oriental bittersweet (Celastrus orbiculatus), wineberry (Rubus phoenicolasius) and autumn olive (Elaeagnus umbellata) by mowing or cutting then treating the stumps with glyphosate at 20% concentration. (Herbicide treatment is more effective in late summer and fall.)
- Japanese honeysuckle (Lonicera japonica) and multiflora rose (Rosa multiflora) by pulling, or cutting back and treating the stubs with glyphosate.
- Garlic mustard (Alliaria petiolata) mostly by pulling when the ground is soft, making spring a good time to work on this. However, I will do a foliar spray with something like glyphosate for massive infestations. Later in the season remaining plants will get cut and bagged to prevent seed dispersal.
Here's how that area looked last September. The dominant plant here is wingstem, Verbesina alternifolia. which is a very common native in this area. |
I am managing a meadow conversion with early mowing and adding more native shrubs to the back edges, like Eastern red cedar (Juniperus virginiana) and gray dogwood (Cornus racemosa). Invasives to target in this area are oriental bittersweet, Japanese honeysuckle and wineberry. This is an area that I also seeded with some native annuals and perennials I had growing elsewhere on our property.
I initially cleared this area in spring 2014 and have been cutting back undesired shrubs each spring. |
At the beginning of March the elderberries are beginning to leaf out. |
In the middle of an open lawn we have a mature butternut tree (Juglans cinerea). It has a nice upright form and open canopy that works well in the middle ground. It's easy to walk under and you can get glimpses of the distance through the branches, even when the leaves are out. Unfortunately this tree, like many other butternuts in North America, is in decline. This is likely due to a fungal infection that currently has no treatment. Since this tree is still producing fruit I will try to keep it for a few more years. But, since I know it will fail before too long, it's time to look for a replacement. After considering a number of possibilities, I have settled on trying a Sassafras tree (Sassafras albidum).
Here's the butternut in fall of 2013, it's lost a couple of branches since then. |
The Sassafras has a similar upright form and is of moderate size (30-40') so it will not monopolize the space. Also, like the butternut, it has an open canopy. Instead of nuts, the sassafras is a berry producer. If I am lucky enough to get a female tree, I should get berry production for the birds, since there is a nearby native population of these trees. My plan is to put in a small specimen a few feet to the south of the butternut to let it get started before I have to take the butternut down.
Here's a mature Sassafras at Mount Auburn Cemetery. Not only does it have a nice open form, it has great fall color. |
Other invasives that are easy to spot and pull now include multiflora rose, garlic mustard, wineberrry and Vinca minor. I've already put in some smooth sumacs and Persimmon trees. This year I'll add some gray dogwood and bushy St Johnswort, Hypericum densiflorum. As I fill this area in with native shrubs and perennials that provide full season benefits for the native fauna, I can start eliminating the butterfly bushes that are of limited use to wildlife.
The green leaves on the Japanese honeysuckle make it easy to target in late winter, before the other plants begin to leaf out. |