Invasive Plants

Every property is susceptible to different invasive species. Here are the ones I am actively managing and all are considered severely invasive in the state of Maine:

  • Asiatic Bittersweet — Celastrus orbiculatus

  • European Mountain-ash — Sorbus aucuparia

  • Honeysuckle (Morrow’s) — Lonicera morrowii

  • Japanese Barberry — Berberis thunbergii (successfully removed)

  • Japanese Stiltgrass — Microstegium vimineum

  • Winged Euonymus / Burning Bush — Euonymus alatus

I will add notes to these species as I gain more experience with their removal. I am currently in the second round of stiltgrass removal and am interested to see how many passes it takes to have all the latent seeds in the soil finish sprouting.

Mechanical Removal

My preferred control method is “mechanical removal” which means I am manually pulling the plants out instead of using a chemical or product to control them. Earlier in the season I became more adept at identifying the species above and overwhelmed myself with how many were here to remove. There are so many plants to remove that I did my best at slowing their spread for now (trimming before they can strangle trees or produce berries birds will move), but I will need to do a more thorough pass in the future when some return. I have accepted that some of these species will likely not be possible to control through mechanical removal, but as of this writing I have not used any chemicals for controlling them yet.

Solarization

After removing these plants, they cannot be composted or disposed of in a brush pile as these species can continue growth in these conditions. I use my full sun driveway as a means of drying out and killing the plants above with great results. I do not have a means of burning the remaining dried out brush, so I am following the recommendations from state agencies to bag and dispose of certain species to prevent spread to other areas. Not all of them require this, but species such as Asiatic Bittersweet do.

Please visit the official invasive plant list for Maine for a comprehensive list of more plants you may have in your area and to get more information on recommended mitigation practices.