Buying New House - Invasives in yard

[tygertygertyger]

Hello! My partner and I are buying a house. One of the things we really liked about the house was the cozy feel of the backyard due to the nice landscaping... on closer inspection though, it seems the sellers loved planting non-native invasives. Most of these aren't a serious concern - but there are at least two different areas where buckthorn is present.

One area has buckthorn as a hedge up against the fence to block the view into the neighbor's yard. The other is sculpted more into a tree shape near the back corner of the house.

We close on the house next week, and while we have other things to do, the buckthorn is preying on my mind. Do we try to dig it out this fall? Do we wait until spring?

If we DO pull it out this fall, do we try to plant something in its place right away, or wait until spring to plant?

We're talking mostly about hazelnut as a replacement - at least for the hedge area - but I'm also open to any other ideas!

ETA: Our new house is outside Chicago - zone 5b / 6a.

[former player]

Invasives are a problem if they spread, so your first task is to understand how the ones you will have spread and whether it's possible to stop them spreading.  For instance, buckthorn has flowers and berries: if you can trim the hedge at the right time you can get rid of the flowers before berries form and it won't spread.  This is contrary to all gardening advice which says to prune/trim after flowering, but is the right thing for your purposes.  The one that's a tree sounds like it's impossible to deal with this way but is easy to cut down.

You've got a bigger problem if the invasives have already spread beyond your land, as you need either to get the other landowner(s) to deal with them or allow you to deal with them.

[tygertygertyger]

Thanks for your response. You offered a perspective that honestly hadn't occurred to me - to keep it in place and just manage it. That would solve my problem of having a large hole where we stare into our neighbor's yard for a couple years until something new grows in.

But, I think there's no way we're going to keep it. Buckthorn has been classified as an "exotic weed" here - it's not for sale anymore. As of a report ten years ago it already constituted nearly a third of trees in our area. I've been watching it creep over forest preserves over the last few years, and I really don't want it around. So I guess my first question was moot anyway! We'll be getting rid of it sooner or later.

You bring up an interesting point about the neighbors. The previous owners lived there for 50 years, so I don't imagine they had lots of issues with their neighbors. But based on some chalk writing along the driveway for the buckthorn-hedge-fence-adjacent house, there's at least some political disagreement between ourselves. I generally think we can get along with anyone who'll let us, so we'll see how that goes.

[Sibley]

My parent's new house has a variety of highly tenacious plants. We've cut down and pulled what we could, which was a massive amount of vegetation. Next up is to work on actually digging out/killing the plants. It's going to be a long term project though. While we work on eliminating the plants, we'll keep cutting down/pulling it out as needed to control spread.

There's one very large bush that is invasive that so far has been left alone. Mom is trying to figure out what she wants to do with it. I suspect that we'll try to control it with pruning, and that will ultimately fail so we'll end up removing it in a few years. That's ok with me. I've got plenty more to dig out.

[tygertygertyger]

It's nice to know we're not the only ones. :-)

We spent Friday and Saturday cutting down the buckthorn and using the power of cleansing fire (firepit) to be done with it. Plenty of berries wound up on the ground, so we'll be doing regular checks for the next few years to pull any newcomers. We do have a few trunks still to pull, but we got the biggest one out, which is good.

We did make one happy discovery. I'd thought the buckthorn mini-grove went all the way to the fence, but actually there's a large lilac bush that had been eclipsed by the buckthorn. Looks like it hasn't been trimmed in at least ten years, but we'll work on that in the spring.

And we did get three hazelnut bushes to fill in one area, so those go into the ground... tomorrow, I think. I'm looking forward to taking a break all winter. Then in the spring we'll see what else we have... there are at least two different tenacious vines climbing over the trees. 

Hope your mom comes up with a good plan! Hope they appreciate all your work too - it's a lot, I know!

[Linea_Norway]

About planting time, I recently heard an expert in a podcast say that plants need a long recovery time after cutting them down or replacing them in the ground. Therefore autumn is a good time to do all that. If you replant something in spring, that plant will probably not florish in spring like it would have otherwise.

It surprises me that you call hazelnut a bush. I call it a tree, even though it has many branches, but maybe I am wrong. I can confirm that it will grow easy and very bushy with lots of leaves. It might attract squirrels, which I find positive. Planting 3 of those trees sounds like you can cover a good part of your view. You will need to trim it sometimes, or it will take over your garden.

[RWD]

It surprices me that you call hazelnut a bush. I call it a tree, even though it has many branches, but maby I am wrong.

Wikipedia says it can be either tree or large shrub, depending on the species of hazel.

[tygertygertyger]

Yeah, I called them bushes because what we bought it perhaps 2-3 ft high, with many many stems and leaves.

My partner's mom bought hazelnuts a few years ago, but hers had a single trunk each, with perhaps two branches, and they were about 5-6 ft tall. 

I think they can be shaped in either direction.

Also, my partner took a Natural Resources class in college, and he remembered having to participate in a tree count in the forest. The rule was, if the trunk split below your height, then it was two trees. However, if the trunk divided into multiple directions above your height, it was a single tree. So it's all subjective, I guess! 

[Sibley]

Good find on the lilac! I've found them to be very hardy, so after it blooms in spring you should be fine to cut it back, though don't do more than 1/3 of the bush or you might accidently kill it. And expect it to come back bushier where you've trimmed it. I have one that is huge, and I need to basically thin it out.

[RetiredAt63]

Good find on the lilac! I've found them to be very hardy, so after it blooms in spring you should be fine to cut it back, though don't do more than 1/3 of the bush or you might accidently kill it. And expect it to come back bushier where you've trimmed it. I have one that is huge, and I need to basically thin it out.

Exactly.

If it is really big and woody, a good way to bring it back to a smaller size is to cut a few (no more than 1/3, preferably fewer) of the largest stems right at the base.  Give it a year or 2 to adjust and then cut the next few thickest.  Over a few years all the old stems will be gone, replaced by younger, more vigourous stems.

Patience is really important in pruning,  It once took me 5 years to get a badly pruned tree into a good shape, because I did it a bit at a time.  The tree never showed any signs of stress.

[gavint]

Hi, interesting topic.

I know and hate European Buckthorn, it is ravaging the forests of my previous home (Southern Ontario) as it is yours too.  Funnily enough, I live in Europe now and have not once in 10 years seen that plant here.  I've had lots of experience dealing with that particular pest and other invasive woody plants, I'd be happy to share what works. 

There is a difference between non-native (exotic) and non-native invasive.  The Hazels that have been mentioned in this post are non-natives to North America - they also come from Europe and are quite weedy here.  There are lots of native plants that would form a nice informal hedge or shrub border in the Upper Midwest.  Nannyberry, aronia, winterberry, various sumacs and dogwoods to name just a few.  Thuja occidentalis or Juniperus virginiana for a more formal hedge.  Lilacs were mentioned too, they are also exotic to North America - they come from the Balkan peninsula originally.

[RetiredAt63]

Hi, interesting topic.

I know and hate European Buckthorn, it is ravaging the forests of my previous home (Southern Ontario) as it is yours too.  Funnily enough, I live in Europe now and have not once in 10 years seen that plant here.  I've had lots of experience dealing with that particular pest and other invasive woody plants, I'd be happy to share what works. 

There is a difference between non-native (exotic) and non-native invasive.  The Hazels that have been mentioned in this post are non-natives to North America - they also come from Europe and are quite weedy here.  There are lots of native plants that would form a nice informal hedge or shrub border in the Upper Midwest.  Nannyberry, aronia, winterberry, various sumacs and dogwoods to name just a few.  Thuja occidentalis or Juniperus virginiana for a more formal hedge.  Lilacs were mentioned too, they are also exotic to North America - they come from the Balkan peninsula originally.

Wild sumac is a massive spreader here in eastern Ontario and western Quebec.  You see huge stands of it by the roadside, and they are all the same plant, spreading by underground runners.  I've dealt with it and it is not fun, because new plants can pop up 20-30 feet from the parent.  Nurseries sell plants that are supposed to be less invasive, but that would be very expensive for a hedge.

[gavint]

@RetiredAt63 , you're right, sumacs can be aggressive spreaders, especially staghorn and smooth sumac.  They are generally okay until their roots are disturbed, then they get the signal to start taking over the neighbourhood.  Another good one though is fragrant sumac - check it out, nice plant with good fall colour.  I stand by the sumacs - even though they're aggressive, they are also beautiful in all seasons and valuable for wildlife.  I think it depends on the scenario - for an informal shrub border at the back of the yard, why not? 

I do enjoy seeing them over here in Europe taking a corner over - a little Schadenfreude along the lines of 'Yes!  We're getting them back for buckthorn!'. 

And those roadsides in Ontario with sumac colonies that you mentioned - Picture a sunny early October day, the sumacs are in full colour almost hot pink, and the New England asters in full bloom in purple in yellow beside them, goldenrods going off in yellow, with the sugar maples in crass orange behind them, interspersed with white pines in green and the grasses in yellow brown - absolutely jaw-droppingly stunning.  I miss it.

[RetiredAt63]

@RetiredAt63 , you're right, sumacs can be aggressive spreaders, especially staghorn and smooth sumac.  They are generally okay until their roots are disturbed, then they get the signal to start taking over the neighbourhood.  Another good one though is fragrant sumac - check it out, nice plant with good fall colour.  I stand by the sumacs - even though they're aggressive, they are also beautiful in all seasons and valuable for wildlife.  I think it depends on the scenario - for an informal shrub border at the back of the yard, why not? 

I do enjoy seeing them over here in Europe taking a corner over - a little Schadenfreude along the lines of 'Yes!  We're getting them back for buckthorn!'. 

And those roadsides in Ontario with sumac colonies that you mentioned - Picture a sunny early October day, the sumacs are in full colour almost hot pink, and the New England asters in full bloom in purple in yellow beside them, goldenrods going off in yellow, with the sugar maples in crass orange behind them, interspersed with white pines in green and the grasses in yellow brown - absolutely jaw-droppingly stunning.  I miss it.

I am an apartment dweller now, so no sumac.  I did battle them (staghorn species) in my vegetable garden a few houses ago, and know how invasive they can be.  I'm not against people planting them if they know what they are getting.  Or if they can find a more domesticated version.

And yes, in the fall the red fruit heads and red leaves are magnificent in the sun.  They rival the sugar maples.

I have read in gardening magazines that English and European gardeners have taken our goldenrod and turned it into a well-behaved garden plant.  Have you seen any in captivity?