Invasive species in our backyard: Terrestial plants, part 1
They come to us in many innocuous ways, from packages from overseas, to clinging onto the bottom of our fishing boats. They are the invaders that cause so much trouble when they go unchecked. I am talking about invasive species. From the long-horned asian beetle to the goby, from giant hogweed to feral swine. These non-native, introduced species of fish, plants, mammals, and insects have come from overseas and without any natural checks to keep them from populating our waters and woods at a very fast rate, causing alarming damage. Most of which goes unchecked and unseen until it is at the point where the invasives are out of control.
While there are thousands of invasive species in the United States, I am just going to cover the most common and destructive found here in our area of New York, including some in my own backyard. Here, I will introduce you to the critters and alert you to the damage they have done and will continue to do if they are left to populate without our intervention. I will give you a brief history of how they got here, what they look like, what damage they have done and what is being done or what you can do to eradicate them from our area.
In this first of a series, I will start out with the terrestrial plants. One invasive that can be found in most woodlots throughout the county is the garlic mustard plant. Garlic mustard is an invasive herb that has spread throughout much of the United States over the past 150 years, becoming one of the worst invaders of forests in the Northeast. Garlic mustard originated in Europe and parts of Asia. It is believed that it was purposely introduced into our country for medicinal purposes and food. The earliest known report of it growing in the United States dates back to 1868 on Long Island, NY. These three foot tall plants are biennials. The first year they form a low growing rosette that most probably overlook. The second year the plant forms a three foot stalk that contains the seed pods that help it spread. Each pod contains up to 28 seeds, with 22 pods present in most plants...Thus easy math will show you that one plant can produce about 600 seeds and obviously spread quite rapidly.
Garlic mustard has the potential to form dense stands that choke out native plants in the understory by controlling light, water, and nutrients. Garlic mustard is one of the plants able to dominate the understory in forests. Altering plant diversity can cause a change in leaf litter on the forest floor, potentially impacting salamanders and snails. Insects, including some butterflies, may be affected through the lost diversity in plants. Garlic mustard may also affect the tree composition by creating a selective barrier that some seedlings may not be able to overcome.
It doesn't appear that deer and woodchucks eat much of this. I have not seen any predation by herbivores on my property, where the garlic mustard grows along my drive and other trails through the woods. So, removal of the plant has been by pulling it by hand. They are very easy to pull out and I toss the stems and roots in a pile to compost, but do not use this compost in any of my gardens. In my research, it has been said to pull the plants before the seed pods form and to continue to do so yearly, as the seeds can lay dormant in the ground for up to five years. It is cumbersome, sometimes back breaking work, but it is the only way to eradicate the plant inexpensively. One story I heard is that inmates in Pennsylvania are used to pulling the plants, then the plants are taken back and cooked like mustard greens. I tried it, they are not that bad tasting if you use the smaller, younger leaves.
Chemical applications can be effective for controlling garlic mustard, particularly in areas too large for removal by hand. Glyphosate-based herbicide such as Roundup can be an effective. Unfortunately, glyphosate herbicides are non-selective, so you could wind up killing a lot of native plants and cause more damage to than good. The best method for controlling garlic mustard, or any other invasive plant, is to prevent its establishment.
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Several species of honeysuckle found in NY are characterized as invasive, including, Morrow’s, Tatarian, Amur, and Japanese. All four species have a similar range of habitats, including, abandoned fields; pastures, early successional, open canopy, and planted forests; along the edge of woodlots; floodplains; highway, railway and utility rights-of-way; open disturbed areas; vacant lots; edges of lawns; and, gardens. All four grow best in full sun.
These honeysuckles, natives to Asia, Russia, Japan, and Korea are believed to have been introduced into North America as early as the 1750s. The honeysuckles found in my woodlot were all planted with the advice of the DEC back in the late 1970s and early 1980s. I was told by the foresters that they were good plants that provided food for different bird species. I bought hundreds of honeysuckle plants every year from the DEC nursery in Saratoga Springs and planted them throughout my property thinking I was doing a good deed. These honeysuckles are now considered a weed, an invasive pest and in my forest management plant. The DEC now says to cut them all out. Most honeysuckles though have been planted as ornamentals, and are easily spread by birds that eat the berries as a last food resort.
Three of the honeysuckles are perennial shrubs, with Japanese honeysuckle being a perennial woody vine. The shrub forms range from six to 15 feet in height, while vines can reach 30 feet in length. The egg-shaped leaves range from 1 to 3 inches in length and are arranged oppositely along stems. Invasive honeysuckles begin flowering from May to June and bear small, very fragrant tubular flowers ranging from creamy white through various shades of pink to crimson. Bright red to dark black berries are produced throughout the summer and into the fall. Stems of all four are hollow.
All species can form very dense populations that can out compete and suppress the growth of native plants. These dense stands suppress the growth of other native plants and tree. The vigorous vine growth of the Japanese honeysuckle can cover trees and the weight of the vine growth can bring down weak trees. By decreasing light availability to the understory, these invasive honeysuckles can alter habitat.
So how do you get rid of these? My very time consuming solution was to chainsaw all the larger bushes down, then go back and apply Roundup to the remaining stem and "stump." Cutting the shrubs down before the berries are present helped to keep the birds from spreading any seeds, and from the dead limbs losing the berries to other areas on the ground. They say that in the early stages of growth you can pull out the honeysuckle by hand Yeah, good luck with that. I think a winch might be a better idea! For invasive honeysuckles growing in open habitats, prescribed burning may be an effective control alternative, if allowed.
******
Multiflora rose, native to eastern China, Japan and Korea. It was introduced to the U.S. from Japan in 1866, as rootstock for grafted ornamental rose cultivars. The spread of multi flora rose increased in the 1930s, when it was introduced by the U.S. Soil Conservation Service for use in erosion control and as living fences, or natural hedges, to confine livestock. It was also discovered to provide effective habitat and cover protection for pheasant, northern bobwhite, and cottontail rabbit ,and food for animals such as songbirds and deer. Its extensive, pervasive growth was soon discovered as a problem on pasture lands and fallow fields.
Multiflora rose is a vigorous perennial shrub. The red to green twigs may have numerous recurved thorns occur frequently in the eastern United States. Multifora rose shrubs can grow to a height of 10–15 feet and a width of 9-13 feet. Clusters of showy fragrant white to pink flowers, bloom in late May or June. The flowers produce copious quantities of sweet pollen. Six to 100 hips develop in summer and turn red by middle September. Roots are wide-ranging and capable of resprouting. In addition, stem tips that contact the soil surface are capable of rooting to form new plants. Extensive thickets are formed this way.
Multiflora rose is extremely prolific and can form dense thickets, excluding native plants species. This non-native invasive rose invades open woodlands, forest edges, early succession pastures, and fields. Multiflora rose thrives in full and partial sun with well-drained soils. Studies show it cannot tolerate winter temperatures below -30F, but when was the last time you have seen it under thirty below? While it grows most vigorously in full sun, it can also grow in the shade, and will persist for many years under a tree canopy although it may not flower or fruit very heavily.
To control plants, seedlings can be pulled by hand (wear gloves!). Small plants can be dug out or larger ones can be pulled using a chain or cable and a tractor. Frequent, repeated cutting or mowing for two to four years, has been shown to be effective in killing off the plant. In a research paper I read, some success has resulted from the use of goats in controlling multiflora rose. I prefer my brush hog.
Next week I will address a few more invasives that we find around our area.
For more information or to contact Franke, email him at george_franke@yahoo.com
While there are thousands of invasive species in the United States, I am just going to cover the most common and destructive found here in our area of New York, including some in my own backyard. Here, I will introduce you to the critters and alert you to the damage they have done and will continue to do if they are left to populate without our intervention. I will give you a brief history of how they got here, what they look like, what damage they have done and what is being done or what you can do to eradicate them from our area.
In this first of a series, I will start out with the terrestrial plants. One invasive that can be found in most woodlots throughout the county is the garlic mustard plant. Garlic mustard is an invasive herb that has spread throughout much of the United States over the past 150 years, becoming one of the worst invaders of forests in the Northeast. Garlic mustard originated in Europe and parts of Asia. It is believed that it was purposely introduced into our country for medicinal purposes and food. The earliest known report of it growing in the United States dates back to 1868 on Long Island, NY. These three foot tall plants are biennials. The first year they form a low growing rosette that most probably overlook. The second year the plant forms a three foot stalk that contains the seed pods that help it spread. Each pod contains up to 28 seeds, with 22 pods present in most plants...Thus easy math will show you that one plant can produce about 600 seeds and obviously spread quite rapidly.
Garlic mustard has the potential to form dense stands that choke out native plants in the understory by controlling light, water, and nutrients. Garlic mustard is one of the plants able to dominate the understory in forests. Altering plant diversity can cause a change in leaf litter on the forest floor, potentially impacting salamanders and snails. Insects, including some butterflies, may be affected through the lost diversity in plants. Garlic mustard may also affect the tree composition by creating a selective barrier that some seedlings may not be able to overcome.
It doesn't appear that deer and woodchucks eat much of this. I have not seen any predation by herbivores on my property, where the garlic mustard grows along my drive and other trails through the woods. So, removal of the plant has been by pulling it by hand. They are very easy to pull out and I toss the stems and roots in a pile to compost, but do not use this compost in any of my gardens. In my research, it has been said to pull the plants before the seed pods form and to continue to do so yearly, as the seeds can lay dormant in the ground for up to five years. It is cumbersome, sometimes back breaking work, but it is the only way to eradicate the plant inexpensively. One story I heard is that inmates in Pennsylvania are used to pulling the plants, then the plants are taken back and cooked like mustard greens. I tried it, they are not that bad tasting if you use the smaller, younger leaves.
Chemical applications can be effective for controlling garlic mustard, particularly in areas too large for removal by hand. Glyphosate-based herbicide such as Roundup can be an effective. Unfortunately, glyphosate herbicides are non-selective, so you could wind up killing a lot of native plants and cause more damage to than good. The best method for controlling garlic mustard, or any other invasive plant, is to prevent its establishment.
---
Several species of honeysuckle found in NY are characterized as invasive, including, Morrow’s, Tatarian, Amur, and Japanese. All four species have a similar range of habitats, including, abandoned fields; pastures, early successional, open canopy, and planted forests; along the edge of woodlots; floodplains; highway, railway and utility rights-of-way; open disturbed areas; vacant lots; edges of lawns; and, gardens. All four grow best in full sun.
These honeysuckles, natives to Asia, Russia, Japan, and Korea are believed to have been introduced into North America as early as the 1750s. The honeysuckles found in my woodlot were all planted with the advice of the DEC back in the late 1970s and early 1980s. I was told by the foresters that they were good plants that provided food for different bird species. I bought hundreds of honeysuckle plants every year from the DEC nursery in Saratoga Springs and planted them throughout my property thinking I was doing a good deed. These honeysuckles are now considered a weed, an invasive pest and in my forest management plant. The DEC now says to cut them all out. Most honeysuckles though have been planted as ornamentals, and are easily spread by birds that eat the berries as a last food resort.
Three of the honeysuckles are perennial shrubs, with Japanese honeysuckle being a perennial woody vine. The shrub forms range from six to 15 feet in height, while vines can reach 30 feet in length. The egg-shaped leaves range from 1 to 3 inches in length and are arranged oppositely along stems. Invasive honeysuckles begin flowering from May to June and bear small, very fragrant tubular flowers ranging from creamy white through various shades of pink to crimson. Bright red to dark black berries are produced throughout the summer and into the fall. Stems of all four are hollow.
All species can form very dense populations that can out compete and suppress the growth of native plants. These dense stands suppress the growth of other native plants and tree. The vigorous vine growth of the Japanese honeysuckle can cover trees and the weight of the vine growth can bring down weak trees. By decreasing light availability to the understory, these invasive honeysuckles can alter habitat.
So how do you get rid of these? My very time consuming solution was to chainsaw all the larger bushes down, then go back and apply Roundup to the remaining stem and "stump." Cutting the shrubs down before the berries are present helped to keep the birds from spreading any seeds, and from the dead limbs losing the berries to other areas on the ground. They say that in the early stages of growth you can pull out the honeysuckle by hand Yeah, good luck with that. I think a winch might be a better idea! For invasive honeysuckles growing in open habitats, prescribed burning may be an effective control alternative, if allowed.
******
Multiflora rose, native to eastern China, Japan and Korea. It was introduced to the U.S. from Japan in 1866, as rootstock for grafted ornamental rose cultivars. The spread of multi flora rose increased in the 1930s, when it was introduced by the U.S. Soil Conservation Service for use in erosion control and as living fences, or natural hedges, to confine livestock. It was also discovered to provide effective habitat and cover protection for pheasant, northern bobwhite, and cottontail rabbit ,and food for animals such as songbirds and deer. Its extensive, pervasive growth was soon discovered as a problem on pasture lands and fallow fields.
Multiflora rose is a vigorous perennial shrub. The red to green twigs may have numerous recurved thorns occur frequently in the eastern United States. Multifora rose shrubs can grow to a height of 10–15 feet and a width of 9-13 feet. Clusters of showy fragrant white to pink flowers, bloom in late May or June. The flowers produce copious quantities of sweet pollen. Six to 100 hips develop in summer and turn red by middle September. Roots are wide-ranging and capable of resprouting. In addition, stem tips that contact the soil surface are capable of rooting to form new plants. Extensive thickets are formed this way.
Multiflora rose is extremely prolific and can form dense thickets, excluding native plants species. This non-native invasive rose invades open woodlands, forest edges, early succession pastures, and fields. Multiflora rose thrives in full and partial sun with well-drained soils. Studies show it cannot tolerate winter temperatures below -30F, but when was the last time you have seen it under thirty below? While it grows most vigorously in full sun, it can also grow in the shade, and will persist for many years under a tree canopy although it may not flower or fruit very heavily.
To control plants, seedlings can be pulled by hand (wear gloves!). Small plants can be dug out or larger ones can be pulled using a chain or cable and a tractor. Frequent, repeated cutting or mowing for two to four years, has been shown to be effective in killing off the plant. In a research paper I read, some success has resulted from the use of goats in controlling multiflora rose. I prefer my brush hog.
Next week I will address a few more invasives that we find around our area.
For more information or to contact Franke, email him at george_franke@yahoo.com
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