Invasive Species
MO Field Guide
MO Bee Guide
- English Ivy Hedera helix Invasive
- As aggressive as English Ivy can be growing horizontally as a groundcover, it cannot reproduce unless it climbs a vertical surface like a fence or tree. Once it reaches a sufficient height and flowers and fruits, birds will eat those fruits, fly away, and deposit them to parks, common grounds or other yards.
- For small areas of English Ivy, consider simply pulling the plants up by their roots. They have an extensive, but rather shallow root system. The work is made easier when the soil is moist after a soaking rain. Monitoring in future seasons will be required as some root pieces may re-sprout.
- Bush Honeysuckle Lonicera maackii Invasive
- Bush honeysuckle is one of our most pervasive non-native invasive plants in the region. Where allowed to thrive, it crowds out nearly every other native plant. Its early green-up prevents almost anything native from growing beneath it, often leading to bare dirt and erosion issues. The same behavior also prevents native trees from re-sprouting, eventually leading to the decline of our forests and woodlands. While birds eat bush honeysuckle fruit in the fall, the nutritional content is not helpful, being nearly all carbohydrates when the animals need fat for fall migration or to prepare for winter. There is even evidence that tick-borne diseases which affect humans are more prevalent where bush honeysuckle is dense, due in part to the dense shelter it provides white-tailed deer.
- For small numbers of bush honeysuckle, consider chemical-free options like digging the plant out or cutting it at ground level, watching for re-sprouts and cutting again. This approach forces a plant to draw on the food reserves in its roots and eventually starves it, killing it in place. To be effective, the cutting of the re-growth must be frequent enough to prevent leaf-out and recharging of the roots. You might also be interested in a technique called “root docking” whereby the roots are cut away from the root collar. See this primer video for more information on this method.
- Japanese Honeysuckle Lonicera japonica Invasive
- Many woody vines like Japanese Honeysuckle have significant tap roots and can be very difficult to remove mechanically, especially more mature plants. For just a few plants, you might try repeatedly cutting to try to starve the plant, but keep in mind a vine may have stems and leaves that you don’t see or have access to, making the exercise somewhat futile. Unfortunately, herbicide is often required to kill these plants.
- Sweet Autumn Clematis Clematis terniflora
- Sweet Autumn Clematis is very aggressive and we encourage its removal. There are parks and roadsides around town in early fall where white “blankets” of the clematis cover the underlying woody vegetation. This plant is notoriously difficult to clear from a landscape once established as it cannot be pulled up by the roots. We recommend cutting it to ground, letting it re-sprout and spraying the new leaves with herbicide. The key is to spray them before the leaves develop their thick, waxy cuticle. Some plants may die back and still re-sprout, but generally, we have seen success with this approach. See the linked reference for additional details.
- Wintercreeper Euonymus fortunei Invasive
- As aggressive as Wintercreeper can be growing horizontally as a groundcover, it cannot reproduce unless it climbs a vertical surface like a fence or tree. Once it reaches a sufficient height and flowers and fruits, birds will eat those fruits, fly away, and deposit the seeds in parks, common grounds or other yards. We urge you to at least clear any vertically growing portions to reduce their spread beyond your landscape.
- For small areas of Wintercreeper, consider simply pulling the plants up by their roots. They have an extensive, but rather shallow root system. The work is made easier when the soil is moist after a soaking rain. Monitoring in future seasons will be required as some root pieces may re-sprout.
- Even large areas of Wintercreeper can be addressed without chemicals by pulling the plants up by their roots. It may take several seasons, and you might work in specific sections to help ensure you can see your progress.
- For large vertically growing plants on trees, you do not need to remove the growth from the tree. Simply cut 1-2 foot sections from each vine close to the ground and apply a concentrated herbicide on the cut surface of the rooted piece. The portion left in the tree will die and slowly decay, eventually falling off.
- To clear large vertically growing plants on a fence, simply cut 1 foot sections from each vine close to the ground and apply a concentrated herbicide on the cut surface of the rooted piece.