The ongoing challenge of buckthorn

This highly requested webinar will bring together researchers and practitioners to share updates and stories of success on the ongoing challenge of managing buckthorn in restorations. Researchers from the University of Minnesota will share new developments in the Cover it up! program working to understand if native plants can control buckthorn following removal efforts. Practitioners will also share what is working for them in the ongoing battle against this invasive plant.
Presenters
Mike Schuster is a researcher with the Department of Forest Resources at the University of Minnesota. His research broadly focuses on the ecology and management of invasive plant species. Mike is currently one of the lead scientists on the Cover It Up! program, which evaluates how land managers can use native plant species to reduce invasion by buckthorn and other species in Minnesota's forests.
Nicholas Snavely is an Assistant Area Wildlife Manager for the MN DNR. He has focused a great deal of his work on wildlife habitat management in central Minnesota, where has overseen multiple buckthorn control projects carried out by MN DNR staff and contractors on state Wildlife Management Areas in collaboration with conservation partners like Great River Greening, The Nature Conservancy and Wildlife Forever.
Learn more about the Improving Restorations webinar series on our website at z.umn.edu/RestorationWebinars

[@stevengates4437]

I'm now a wizard at destroying this stuff...I cleared 6 acres of very thick buckthorn.....so thick a baby couldn't get through it....cutting things at the right time helps a little but one just has to keep cutting back the suckers back for 2 or 3 years....so.....it's a full commitment...

[@2flannelsfishing895]

I wonder if they’ve experimented with the components of the herbaceous seed mixtures, wild rye is a good fairly aggressive native grass but replacing the rudbeckia with something a lot more aggressive like goldenrod I feel like would have a lot better results as goldenrod self seeds like crazy and also spreads by rhizomes and secretes a chemical that suppresses other plants
Also what about trees that secrete chemicals such as black walnut? Does that suppress buckthorn at all

[@nanettemurray1000]

We purchased home in Brooklyn Center that is over grown with buckthorn. I had never heard of it before. I cut all the female trees down to stumps about 2 feet high so I wouldn’t have to deal with berries this year when I treat them. I wish there were videos about how to deal with the buckthorn in yards. Half the garden centers have no information for me at all.

[@umnextensionnaturalresourc9486]

Hi Nanette! You might want to check out our video on How to Manage Buckthorn at ruclips.net/video/Ti_7LIOZUAU/видео.html. You can also see our website at z.umn.edu/ControlWoodyPlants for information on chemical and non-chemical options for controlling woody plants like buckthorn. Good luck!