Exotic Bush Honeysuckle

To be clear, when I've mentioned honeysuckle so far, this is mainly the stuff I'm talking about:

 

Lonicera morrowii (Morrow's Honeysuckle) - mid September

There are a number of species of non-native and invasive honeysuckle in this part of the country, including:

• Amur honeysuckle (Lonicera maackii)
• Bell's (or Pretty) honeysuckle (Lonicera x bella) (hybrid of Morrow's & Tartarian)
• Dwarf (or European fly) honeysuckle (Lonicera xylosteum)
• Fragrant honeysuckle or Sweet Breath of Spring (Lonicera fragrantissima)
• Morrow's honeysuckle (Lonicera morrowii)
• Standish's honeysuckle (Lonicera standishii)
• Tartarian honeysuckle (Lonicera tatarica)

I think that most of what we have on our lot is Morrow's honeysuckle.  Studies have shown that this plant is negatively allelopathic, in that besides blocking light and soaking up nutrients to take over an area, it is also toxic to certain other plant species.  What I have seen bears this out -- the areas with the thickest honeysuckle infestation are pretty much bare dirt once the honeysuckles are removed.

Some references that I've found helpful for identifying and controlling honeysuckle are:

• http://www.na.fs.fed.us/fhp/invasive_plants/weeds/bush_honeysuckle.pdf
• http://www.invasive.org/eastern/midatlantic/loni.html 
• http://www.dcnr.state.pa.us/forestry/invasivetutorial/bush_honeysuckles.htm
• http://www.nps.gov/plants/alien/fact/loni1.htm
• http://www.ipaw.org/invaders/honeysuckle/Honeysuckle.pdf 

Not all of these agree.  For example the Invasive Plants Association of Wisconsin (IPAW) says that they don't recommend pulling up loose honeysuckle, preferring that all bushes be cut and treated with herbicide so that the soil is not disturbed, which would encourage weeds.  My thinking is that something needs to replace the honeysuckle anyway, so I'll take a chance and see what comes up there.  If it's a maple or black cherry tree seedling, that's good.  If its garlic mustard, more honeysuckle, or other invasive, that's bad and someone will deal with it eventually, or not.

Front edge of back woods looking North.  Large bush in center is honeysuckle.  01-Jan-2009

 Same view today with Honeysuckle and buckthorn removed.

That was a segue into garlic mustard, which is another invasive exotic that I have seen on our lot, both in the woods and in newly seeded areas of the lawn.  It doesn't survive repeated mowing, so the lawn infestation was only temporary, and I also mowed down the patch in the woods.  But now that the woods is getting to be more open (even a bit damn sunny), I'm anticipating a problem with it next spring.  I am tamping down all the soil that I disrupt when pulling buckthorn and honeysuckle, but I'm sure that some garlic mustard will show up next year.

Garlic mustard in the woods. May 2007