BUCKTHORN

Buckthorn can be found in Central U.S., along the East coast and a tongue of states running South to Missouri. See the Map from the National Park Services... map. It likes a shady area but has been know to devastate wet lands as well as wooded areas.

Buckthorn is the first of the plant life to "green out" in the spring and the last to "brown out" in the fall. This provides a canopy (terms again... I dislike terms...see blog) or shade to all the other plant and tree growth that is to start growing later that spring. This causes severe problems with other growth on the forest floor. Other plant and tree life have trouble obtaining enough sunlight to germinate and if they do, enough to continue to grow healthy enough to beak through the thick growth of Buckthorn.

The Buckthorn plant produces many bunches of berries each year that are eaten by birds but are not digested. When the seeds are excreted by the birds they grow where they land. So many berries are produced, a fraction are eaten each year and the rest fall to the ground under the plant/tree. This ensures the following year that many more sprouts of Buckthorn will race out of the ground ahead of all the other plant life to again attempt to crowd out the future generations of the forest.

Existing members of the forest are not immune to the buckthorn attack either. The buckthorn will grow all around the base of a tree consuming need nutrients and water the tree needs. The Buckthorn plants will intertwine with the tree as if it were trying to literally "strangle" the tree. Eventually the wooded area is left as a tangled, thorny, impassable undergrowth lacking vegetation to support wildlife, impassable and undesirable for use.

This process is measured in years not decades.

When our colonist came to settle in the U.S. one of the things they thought they needed from home that was missing here was the hedge row. So they brought over the plants to create hedge rows with. Quickly it spread from of a cultivated plant to a wild "weed" and started to take over the country side.

It is illegal to import, sell, or transport buckthorn in Minnesota, however, there are many varieties of Buckthorn. Some are native species and not on the control list like the small low growing bush form of the Alder buckthorn . The Carolina buckthorn, similar to the black cherry is also a native species. As with everything, there are always exceptions.

Sometimes it seems like "if its green and in the woods, its buckthorn". But we all know that's not really true... almost. Unfortunately in more and more areas it is getting to be sadly the case. Most of the pictures taken on this web page were taken within a hundred feet of my own house.

There are two types of Buckthorn, Glossy (A) or Common (B).

Leaves:

● teardrop (Glossy A) or egg shaped (Common B)  

● curl backward or are folded

● veins arching from the spine to the tip of the leaf (top third... usually ... not always)  (Glossy 8-9 veins or Common 3-5 veins)

● rough but not sharp edge Common (B); smooth edges Glossy (A).

The Branches:

● almost across from each other.

The bark:

● younger plants is light Common (B) to dark brown Glossy (A) with white lines (or dash marks) in it

● Older trees have a very rough bark similar to cherry or plum trees but more extreme

● Yellow sap wood with orange heartwood

The picture at the right is a very good example of a typical Buckthorn plant that contains berries in the late summer time. These berries will remain on the bush well into the winter. You can click on this picture to see more detailed information about the identification of Buckthorn plants. The most defining feature of buckthorn is the THORNS. Sharp spikes that don't seem too threatening on the sides of the branches, but if you work with it, these spikes can penetrate leather gloves. Be prepared with plenty of Band-Aids.

For more pictures on identifying Buckthorn, click here.

As a side note: When I first bought my current house before getting into the tree business, I had a cherry tree I as very excited about. We had cherry trees on our country home as a child  and I loved the cherries. It was a childhood memory and I babied this tree to get it to produce but the fruit was sour and not very big. After starting our tree service and completing our arborist training we had been in business for some years when my son, Aaron said "When we going to cut that Buckthorn tree down you been saving all these years?".

In my defense you need to enlarge the picture at the left to see for yourself. The tree on the left is a Cherry tree and the one on the right is a buckthorn. OK, sure when they are side by side they do not look at all alike, but you have to admit if you had not been given all this great information, you too might have mistaken the buckthorn for a cherry tree.

Mature Buckthorn can grow to a diameter of up to 10 inches according to the DNR website. However if you look at the picture at the right of Aaron on a job site, he is standing next to a Buckthorn that measures over 12". If we were able to come across a "record breaking" specimen, I am sure Buckthorn can easily grow to greater diameters. The wood of a buckthorn tree is unique and has definite pungent smell. The outside bark is dark and ragged. This particular Buckthorn tree was granted amnesty due to the fact that we started with a wooded area and ended with a hill with a handful of trees. This was a bit confusing for us as we were there to remove the buckthorn and poison the stalks, but we left the biggest, oldest and most potent old bugger of the bunch to continue to produce grandchildren.

The bark of a mature Buckthorn is rough, sharp and dark. When the wood of the mature buckthorn is cut the center is colored from a light orange to a deep red. There smell of the wood has a distinct pungent smell. A smell I associate with a weed or junk wood rather than what I would term "real wood". I term it this way only because I see Buckthorn as a plant more than a tree.

Getting rid of Buckthorn is next to impossible, like another of my favorite topics - Dutch Elm and Emerald Ash Bore eradication (see my blog). But what we can do is work within our own property to try and keep under control. To start with the area needs to be clear cut of all the standing Buckthorn (see Carlson job). This is the easy part but probably the most painful. The problem that remains is tri-fold.

1. The roots will still sprout additional plants

2. There are a multitude of seeds layering the ground throughout the area

3. Birds in neighboring areas will eat berries and excrete the seeds back into the cleared area.

To get rid of your Buckthorn you have a limit choice of weapons. You can use:

1. Chemicals

2. Fire

3. Hard Work

CHEMICALS: These can be used in two ways:

1. For the mature or large Buckthorn stumps apply a liquid poison. This poison will be absorbed into the root system and kill more of the re-sprouting. This process should be repeated several times after cutting the mature Buckthorn.

2. Buckthorn is the first plant to "green out" in the spring and the last to "brown out" in the fall. It can be sprayed on the plants in the late fall when everything else is in hibernation. This will kill the Buckthorn without, hopefully, killing the other foliage.

FIRE: Fire is an effective way to remove buckthorn, however as you might guess it also removes everything else. But even this method will require re-burns for another 4-6 years.

HARD WORK: Cutting down, spraying and burning were ever you need to for control of Buckthorn on your property. Do not let Buckthorn get a foot hold in your wooded areas.

NOTE: For use of chemicals check with the DNR or your local nursery for suggested products and their use.