Folks walking by as I was cutting invasive Honeysuckle along Browns Trace asked if cutting it down would kill it. The answer is no. It will surely resprout. However, cutting a bush ten or twelve feet high and just as wide will stop it from spreading seed for a few years, and make the maintenance of cutting it back much easier in the oncoming years.
The keyword here is maintenance. It is too late to expect to be able to eradicate this invasive on a large scale. However to do nothing is to allow it to spread, and spread it does (by seed) at a very fast pace.
As my mentor, Sean Beckett, Director of Natural History Programming at North Branch Nature Center reminds me "It's imperative that we protect our biodiversity. Ecologically, we are indeed waging a war to remove plants that are devastating our local ecology."
An Ohio study showed that after 2 years bee abundance and species richness increased after invasive honeysuckle removal. Cunningham-Minnick MJ, Peters VE, Crist TO. Bee communities and pollination services in adjacent crop fields following flower removal in an invasive forest shrub. Ecol Appl. 2020 Jun;30(4):e02078. doi: 10.1002/eap.2078. Epub 2020 Feb 26. PMID: 31971650.
Paul Revere* of 2021 will continue to call out the alert, the invasives are here, and they will overtake us if we do not at least attempt to slow the spread.
Perhaps more folks will join in the next Invasive cut down on Jericho Town land.
This from Lisa Walker, Jericho, Tool Loan Pilot Program Continues with Plans for Growth: In an effort to increase access to invasive plant management tools, the FPR [Forest Parks and Recreation] Essex Junction office started a pilot program in 2017, loaning out weed wrenches to local organizations, municipalities, and private landowners. FPR’s Invasive Plant Program communicates with participants and organizes pick-up and return dates. The loan program was used 12 times throughout 2018. The plan is to create a similar arrangement at FPR’s Rutland Office, to provide this service to a broader audience.
Contact Elizabeth Spinney, 802-477-2134
FPR, Agency of Natural Resources
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*Read the Paul Revere post at https://jerichovermont.blogspot.com/2021/06/paul-revere-rides-again-this-time-in.html
See this post for a list of nonnative honeysuckles and a list of native honeysuckles. https://jerichovermont.blogspot.com/2021/05/are-we-giving-up-without-fight.html
After cutting
Bernie
Observing life in nature.
Connecting Vermont's historic habitat and wildlife, with our community.
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