Yesterday, the home school Biology class I teach went on a fieldtrip to Raven Run Nature Sanctuary here in Fayette County. It is a beautiful place just a short drive from Lexington. While we were there, one of the naturalists there took us on a hike to look at spring wildflowers and trees. He talked a lot to us about the Janpanese Honeysuckle which used to be a popular landscaping plant.
I have known for quite a while that honeysuckle is an invasive species here and has taken over many habitats but did not understand the significance of this. Woodland wildflowers bloom here in late February to early April. They bloom, seed and take up food stores before the leaves come out on the trees which is usually late April to early May here. Honeysuckle leafs out early. It shades out these woodland flowers and then they are not able to get the sunshine they require to store reserves for the rest of the year. When they can't get there food stores, they die.
In addition to crowding out woodland wildflowers, honeysuckle spreads very easily. Birds eat the seeds than fly somewhere else. The seed is not digested and spreads through their excrement. As you can imagine, it is hard to control the bushes spread. The naturalist said that honeysuckle is no longer allowed to be sold here in Kentucky. He asked if anyone had it growing in their yard if they would replace it. It is hard to kill. It must be pulled up by its roots because cutting it down to the ground will not destroy it. He said if the roots can not be completely pulled, that the only way to kill it is to put poison just on the roots.
Unfortuantely, when we moved into this house many years ago, there was an established honeysuckly hedge that surrounds two sides of our backyard. I thought it was OK to leave it since it was already here. Sounds like we need to consider replacing it so we are not adding to the problem. Looks like a big job ahead of us.
I have known for quite a while that honeysuckle is an invasive species here and has taken over many habitats but did not understand the significance of this. Woodland wildflowers bloom here in late February to early April. They bloom, seed and take up food stores before the leaves come out on the trees which is usually late April to early May here. Honeysuckle leafs out early. It shades out these woodland flowers and then they are not able to get the sunshine they require to store reserves for the rest of the year. When they can't get there food stores, they die.
In addition to crowding out woodland wildflowers, honeysuckle spreads very easily. Birds eat the seeds than fly somewhere else. The seed is not digested and spreads through their excrement. As you can imagine, it is hard to control the bushes spread. The naturalist said that honeysuckle is no longer allowed to be sold here in Kentucky. He asked if anyone had it growing in their yard if they would replace it. It is hard to kill. It must be pulled up by its roots because cutting it down to the ground will not destroy it. He said if the roots can not be completely pulled, that the only way to kill it is to put poison just on the roots.
Unfortuantely, when we moved into this house many years ago, there was an established honeysuckly hedge that surrounds two sides of our backyard. I thought it was OK to leave it since it was already here. Sounds like we need to consider replacing it so we are not adding to the problem. Looks like a big job ahead of us.
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