Honeysuckle trim back from access roads
- Thread starter 9x56MS
- Start date
yoderjac
Well-Known Member
They do make side mount bushhogs that can be lifted and angled, but they are quite expensive. I've also seen sicklebars that can be angled up.
I would consider clearing a few yards back from the actual road. They honeysuckle will bounce back along the wood line where it can climb. You should be able to simply bushhog those road shoulders. This should keep the honeysuckle back far enough so that it does not encroach the road.
It all depends on your situation, what might work best.
I would consider clearing a few yards back from the actual road. They honeysuckle will bounce back along the wood line where it can climb. You should be able to simply bushhog those road shoulders. This should keep the honeysuckle back far enough so that it does not encroach the road.
It all depends on your situation, what might work best.
George
Well-Known Member
Are we talking bush honeysuckle or jap honeysuckle vine? Bush honeysuckle is a terrible invasive plant that should be terminated with prejudice.
G
9x56MS
Member
Bush honeysuckle. The reason I don’t terminate it is it seems my honeysuckle is the areas deer nursery come fawning time. Every doe in the neighborhood heads to my property to have their fawns. Which is why I wait until July and august to trim it back. It also serves as a food supply during hard winters. If you lay on your belly and look under them you wouldn’t believe the animal trails under them.
yoderjac
Well-Known Member
Can you post a picture of the road? It might help us get a better understanding of the issue.
George
Well-Known Member
I have found basil bark with triclopyr and diesel to be ineffective for mature bushes, I would go 20% solution glyphosate cut stump. Bush honeysuckle is very allelopathic and will poison the whole environment to dominate. The berries are empty calories for our birds just to be spread. Good cover to the exclusion of all plants natural? I challenge you to show me a picture of a bird nest in a bush honeysuckle bush.
G
yoderjac
Well-Known Member
I'm not referring to any particular brand. I've seen side mounted bushhogs for a tractor with a counter weight on the other side. They can be lifted and articulated. Clearly not inexpensive. For stuff lower to the ground, I've just lifted a batwing at an angle to trim growth along a road, but that only works for a few feet off the ground. These devices allow you to trim back much higher. I have not operated one of these myself, I've just seen them used.
Eliminate it. Its not good food, its starvation food. If it was good food or somewhat preferred, it wouldn't take over landscapes. The animal trails you speak of are visible because there is no forb/grass component to hide them. There is no reason to promote BH. If we consider ourselves habitat managers we cannot play along with the delusion that BH is great cover and "deer candy." The habitat restoration community has been preaching this for years but we need to stop soft gloving folks that promote these types of invasives. Besides the damage to wildlife, they are promoting the destruction of surrounding properties as well. I am not trying to be rude or condescending, but we have to stop feeding the delusion.
9x56MS
Member
You sir are entitled to your opinion as I am entitled to mine. Please do not try to tell me what I need to do on my property. I am no scientist but I can see what it does in my habitat. I appreciate your feedback but as for me I will keep it in check and utilize it for what it means to the deer on my property.
wbpdeer
Well-Known Member
Each piece of ground has its strengths and weaknesses. Soybeans and clover are excellent food plots but not known as security cover. I know deer bed in soybean fields but not after they are harvested. In mountainous and inaccessible terrain, honeysuckle can serve an important purpose especially when bitter cold temperatures threaten the deer's survival.
In farmland country things are different. I know people that fertilize honeysuckle on their hunting ground because they can't cut mature timber and don't have ag fields. The fields they have are on narrow ridge tops. I live in middle Tennessee and if go East I see one type of land and if I travel west, I see a different type of land structure. Middle TN has some of both East and West features.
If you own 40 acres of hills and hollers in parts of Tennessee, the honeysuckle browse factor can be important. It may be the only bedding cover on your ground.
Not all situations are the same. Additionally, many of us manage land that we don't own, often times it is still owned by the older generation and managed by us.
I have seen hunting ground where the honeysuckle should be eliminated as well. We have to look at the situation we have to know how to improve our habitat.
In farmland country things are different. I know people that fertilize honeysuckle on their hunting ground because they can't cut mature timber and don't have ag fields. The fields they have are on narrow ridge tops. I live in middle Tennessee and if go East I see one type of land and if I travel west, I see a different type of land structure. Middle TN has some of both East and West features.
If you own 40 acres of hills and hollers in parts of Tennessee, the honeysuckle browse factor can be important. It may be the only bedding cover on your ground.
Not all situations are the same. Additionally, many of us manage land that we don't own, often times it is still owned by the older generation and managed by us.
I have seen hunting ground where the honeysuckle should be eliminated as well. We have to look at the situation we have to know how to improve our habitat.
George
Well-Known Member
I got the bright idea, all on my own, to create a wildlife thicket on my 20 acres out of autumn olive purchased from ColdStreamFarm. This was back in 1989, way before Jim Bruaker tried to promote the crap as a terrific wildlife plant. 10 years later I had to work to remove all of the monster.
When I was a kid we let a hay field go feral in Michigan which grew into a dense thicket of bush honeysuckle and glossy buckthorn. We were too uneducated to understand what damage we had done.
I am 98% certain that I have removed all autumn olive and bush honeysuckle from my property in ky.
All we can do is try to help aspiring land managers.
G
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yoderjac
Well-Known Member
Not all non-natives are equal. AO is a great wildlife plant, but not to the exclusion of many native plants. They introduced it many, many years ago at Quantico MCB for wildlife. Spread greatly over the years by bird droppings, the base is now spending millions to do their best to eradicate it. It is an example of a quite invasive non-native.
Bicolor lespedeza is another non-native that I've personally used for wildlife. It can become invasive under some conditions, so far it has not been a problem in my area, but we never know the future. It is clearly a risk.
Crabapples were our only native apple trees. All of the domestic apples we have are non-natives. We have seen no indications that they have a negative impact on native plants.
I don't see non-native species as inherently bad or good. Over time, nature moves many species into areas where they have never been before. Most non-native species don't fair well in a new environment, but some flourish. This is usually because they have some competitive advantage. Perhaps the lack of a particular predator that keep them in check, but it could be a variety of things. Sometimes these non-natives have more or less wildlife value than the plants they outcompete. There are cases where they could particular native plants but they usually reduce them to small numbers. In the long-run, nature seems to find a balance. The abundance of a new plant in an area often increases species that use it which in turn control it. This can take generations.
Best we can do is to use our best judgement and weigh the risks when we make management decisions. When we try to control non-native species, we are usually just slowing the advance allowing nature more time to respond and establish a new balance.
Bicolor lespedeza is another non-native that I've personally used for wildlife. It can become invasive under some conditions, so far it has not been a problem in my area, but we never know the future. It is clearly a risk.
Crabapples were our only native apple trees. All of the domestic apples we have are non-natives. We have seen no indications that they have a negative impact on native plants.
I don't see non-native species as inherently bad or good. Over time, nature moves many species into areas where they have never been before. Most non-native species don't fair well in a new environment, but some flourish. This is usually because they have some competitive advantage. Perhaps the lack of a particular predator that keep them in check, but it could be a variety of things. Sometimes these non-natives have more or less wildlife value than the plants they outcompete. There are cases where they could particular native plants but they usually reduce them to small numbers. In the long-run, nature seems to find a balance. The abundance of a new plant in an area often increases species that use it which in turn control it. This can take generations.
Best we can do is to use our best judgement and weigh the risks when we make management decisions. When we try to control non-native species, we are usually just slowing the advance allowing nature more time to respond and establish a new balance.
I think its a fair reminder that some of have acquired properties covered in the stuff. While doing due diligence to not promote more, it’s also no one’s dream to own a property for battle with invasives on our dirt and skipping every property that has them means inevitable perpetuation anyway.
These can be massive undertaking with effort (and finance) to which I have learned so much first hand this year. Hoping to gain some ground while also improving my hunting experience, which is why I bought my problem child in the first place, enough to stay engaged in the process. To a previous posters comments, we can’t be upset with what we felt was good in the past…heck a lot of these species were government suggested at one point. We all know smoking used to be allowed on planes and in hospitals as well.
This thread is about special approaches, engagements and equipment for keeping this crap at bay…which is a big swallow in itself. I just got a quote for $560an aerial sprayed acre and often feel overwhelmed. So is backpack spraying my trails the best thing? Likely not, but it is what I can do, and am doing.
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These can be massive undertaking with effort (and finance) to which I have learned so much first hand this year. Hoping to gain some ground while also improving my hunting experience, which is why I bought my problem child in the first place, enough to stay engaged in the process. To a previous posters comments, we can’t be upset with what we felt was good in the past…heck a lot of these species were government suggested at one point. We all know smoking used to be allowed on planes and in hospitals as well.
This thread is about special approaches, engagements and equipment for keeping this crap at bay…which is a big swallow in itself. I just got a quote for $560an aerial sprayed acre and often feel overwhelmed. So is backpack spraying my trails the best thing? Likely not, but it is what I can do, and am doing.
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Unfortunately, many landowners are going to be in your boat. Spending thousands to combat a plant that some folks still promote. Even on the properties where people claim honeysuckle is the best species for deer because of some other circumstance, such as those laid out above, you have to remember that while that may be the best option for deer (debatable) it certainly isn't for any species that requires succulent plants or sunlight.
I don't have much issue with any non-native plants that aren't invasive, your property, your choice. However, invasive non-natives are problem for everyone. I battle reed canary grass over large portions of my property every year because someone upstream thought that was a good idea to plant.
I also realized I never answered OP's question regarding the best way to trim BH, I would recommend cutting it to three inches off ground and lightly spraying stump with Triclopyr/Imazapyr mix (I jest).
9x56MS
Member
We have cleared several patches of it and so far the only sure way I have found to keep it from coming back is to cut the bush down and dig up the root system then burn both.I hope to replace it all with native berries fruit and nut trees but that may not be possible in my lifetime. My son and grandson will continue the battle after I am gone. For now we try to contain the patches the deer are using.
After finally getting the aerial quote, I am out. Hoping the drone world has something to offer in the near future.
I’m “tapped” with this place and in general. The real reason I would want to clear the BH is for better browse for deer and not having the chit spread further. It appears to be great cover and I bought this place for deer… not ecological warfare via checkbook.
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