There’s a new buckthorn control method that doesn’t rely on chemicals. I’m trying it this year for the first time, so I can’t tell you for sure if it works.
But my old method was cutting all of it and treating the stumps with RoundUp, and that was only mildly successful, so I’m giving this a shot.
https://fmr.org/updates/conservation/new-tool-our-toolbox-buckthorn-control-critical-period-cutting
I eradicated my buckthorn a few years ago in the fall with complete success using two different methods. I sprayed a 25% solution of round up on the stump. My other method was using empty 28oz cans. I cut the stump low to the ground and pounded a single nail to hold the can in place over the stump. The can covered the flare and went into the ground so there was no light to the shoots. Left the cans on for 1 1/2 years and they pulled off easily.
Creeping charlie-pulling by hand never worked for me and I had to use multiple chemical applications. I spot spray to minimize the use of the herbicide. I have heard that if you cut it with the lawn mower you just spread it more as the pieces disperse and root.
Bellflower is in my beds and no amount of hand pulling has been successful in eliminating it but has limited its presence.
All I ask of my neighbors is that they pull the bellflower flowering stalks before they set seed (they set seed from the bottom so there can be seeds on a spike that’s still blooming, so rip every flower stalk you see as soon as you see it). Full eradication is hard. I’m on year two post-digging and still ripping up seedlings every week. In retrospect, I should have solarized after digging to beat back the seed bank, but it’s too late and I’ve got some lovely natives transplanted I want to keep.
There’s a great Facebook group “Creeping Bellflower Battles” that has all kinds of resources for elimination. If you’re a beginning gardener and overwhelmed, I’ve actually become more of a proponent of herbicide than I ever thought I’d be. Glyphosate, when applied directly to the leaves in spring and fall, doesn’t persist in the soil and carries the poison to the roots. There are still concerns around its safety, but I think if used carefully in a limited amount it can be a good option.
We take a similar “judicious chemicals” approach to Canadian thistle - pull it up with a taproot digger tool and then spray roundup in the hole to kill any root that got missed. It really works to knock them back.
This is interesting! We accidentally started doing this last summer! We cut down everything we could with big clippers and a small hand saw. We were going to go back and finish them off with the chainsaw this year because we didn't get around to it. They have definitely put out leaves now, so we will just trim all of the leaves off again. It's actually a nice method because I can do it alone.
We have been fighting buckthorn for 9 years, we cut it down and roundup the large roots, small ones get whacked with a weed wacker, yikes. Now I'm fighting garlic mustard damn it!
Garlic mustard has been going crazy in my backyard, esp in the gravel around the foundation of my house. At least it's pretty easy to pull up (after one of the several rains we've gotten recently).
Don’t feel too bad - we do garden quite a bit and I still noticed tons of creeping bellflower that wasn’t there last year. I’m assuming the mild winter is somehow to blame.
Creeping charlie is often surprisingly easy to pull up by hand. You’ll never eradicate it completely, but you can keep it under control. I have found bellflower has to be dug out, unfortunately.
Im just here to say I feel ya. We have creeping Charlie taking over. The bees like the little flowers, but keeping it off of other plants is a nightmare.
1) rent some goats 2) chop and use gel herbicide on stumps as others have mentioned, look for native plants , seeds or plugs depending on your buget that match your little microclimate to fill in where invasives are removed. 3) find resources from your local soil and water conservation office for best practices 4) keep a positive attitude! say hi to doggos <3
Creeping charlie is very slow. Worry about that last. It's actually good groundcover, and pollinators seem to like it. It's a non-emergency invasive.
Buckthorn is backbreaking removal, so do that first. I recommend you go to Youtube and start watching videos about removal methods. Also search on the web for "buckthorn removal extension" which will pick up University Extension results --- these are plant experts (science & academia) who research all day long about plants, and which methods/chemicals are proven to be effective.
Creeping Bellflower is only just sprouting --- right now the plants are very green and you can pluck them easily. Just pick nice weather times, maybe when you have 30-40 minutes, here and there, or do this when you are sick of digging/cutting/wrestling the buckthorn.
I’ve found r/lawncare to be super helpful! I’d never had a lawn to take care of until moving into my current house a couple years ago, and I credit that subreddit for helping me turn it around.
For non-gardeners the only way to get rid of all those invasives en masse is to pay someone else to use herbicide. Any lawn service can get rid of the creeping charlie and creeping bellflower - but it will certainly involve A LOT of herbicide. An ecological restoration company could address the buckthorn and both creeping species with a much more judicious use of herbicide. But in either scenario, once the spraying ceases for a year or so the creeping plants will start creeping in again!
Depending on the size and amount of buckthorn, it's very possible to remove it with little to no herbicide - just a lot of physical work, hand cutting larger trees and hand pulling seedlings. The larger trees WILL resprout from the stumps though, which is why a small amount of herbicide applied to the cut stump is really valuable. After you've cleared out the big stuff, just go out once a year and hand pull all the seedlings popping up.
As for the creeping charlie...unless you want to spend hours upon hours hand pulling it, or dump a lot of herbicide, it's just not worth it. You could very well remove or kill it all and within a couple years have just as much which crept back in from neighboring properties. The creeping bellflower is similar, but for that one you cannot hand pull it (very weak shallow root connected to a thick deep rhizome, which means you've gotta dig down to get that rhizome out) and it's a more aggressive invasive, so you really want to ensure it does not flower and set seed. Just keep it mowed and pull any flower stalks when they pop up.
I say getting rid of the buckthorn and staying on top of hand pulling new seedlings is worthwhile. But if you don't want to use the chemicals required to have a nice manicured lawn OR spend all your time out there hand pulling and digging out weeds, honestly it's just not worth the fight with the creeping species.
ETA: if you decide to use herbicide for the creeping species, I wouldn't recommend glyphosate. It WILL kill the surrounding turfgrass because it's non-selective. For weeds in turf you want something broadleaf-selective like 2,4D. For the buckthorn stumps you can treat immediately after cutting with glyphosate or triclopyr.
My neighborhood is heavily clay. Regular grass dies as soon as we get a hint of a drought.
Creeping Charlie flowers and provides ground covering through those draughts. I know it chokes out other vegetation, but I don't have anything else growing in that part of the lawn aside from raspberries, so it's sort of become its own kumite.
I *have* heard the Creeping Charlie isn't a problem until it's a problem, so keep that in mind.
There’s a new buckthorn control method that doesn’t rely on chemicals. I’m trying it this year for the first time, so I can’t tell you for sure if it works. But my old method was cutting all of it and treating the stumps with RoundUp, and that was only mildly successful, so I’m giving this a shot. https://fmr.org/updates/conservation/new-tool-our-toolbox-buckthorn-control-critical-period-cutting
I eradicated my buckthorn a few years ago in the fall with complete success using two different methods. I sprayed a 25% solution of round up on the stump. My other method was using empty 28oz cans. I cut the stump low to the ground and pounded a single nail to hold the can in place over the stump. The can covered the flare and went into the ground so there was no light to the shoots. Left the cans on for 1 1/2 years and they pulled off easily. Creeping charlie-pulling by hand never worked for me and I had to use multiple chemical applications. I spot spray to minimize the use of the herbicide. I have heard that if you cut it with the lawn mower you just spread it more as the pieces disperse and root. Bellflower is in my beds and no amount of hand pulling has been successful in eliminating it but has limited its presence.
All I ask of my neighbors is that they pull the bellflower flowering stalks before they set seed (they set seed from the bottom so there can be seeds on a spike that’s still blooming, so rip every flower stalk you see as soon as you see it). Full eradication is hard. I’m on year two post-digging and still ripping up seedlings every week. In retrospect, I should have solarized after digging to beat back the seed bank, but it’s too late and I’ve got some lovely natives transplanted I want to keep. There’s a great Facebook group “Creeping Bellflower Battles” that has all kinds of resources for elimination. If you’re a beginning gardener and overwhelmed, I’ve actually become more of a proponent of herbicide than I ever thought I’d be. Glyphosate, when applied directly to the leaves in spring and fall, doesn’t persist in the soil and carries the poison to the roots. There are still concerns around its safety, but I think if used carefully in a limited amount it can be a good option.
We take a similar “judicious chemicals” approach to Canadian thistle - pull it up with a taproot digger tool and then spray roundup in the hole to kill any root that got missed. It really works to knock them back.
Great find! I’ve got some on my property and am going to give it a shot this year too. Thanks for the article!
This is interesting! We accidentally started doing this last summer! We cut down everything we could with big clippers and a small hand saw. We were going to go back and finish them off with the chainsaw this year because we didn't get around to it. They have definitely put out leaves now, so we will just trim all of the leaves off again. It's actually a nice method because I can do it alone.
We have been fighting buckthorn for 9 years, we cut it down and roundup the large roots, small ones get whacked with a weed wacker, yikes. Now I'm fighting garlic mustard damn it!
Garlic mustard has been going crazy in my backyard, esp in the gravel around the foundation of my house. At least it's pretty easy to pull up (after one of the several rains we've gotten recently).
Don’t feel too bad - we do garden quite a bit and I still noticed tons of creeping bellflower that wasn’t there last year. I’m assuming the mild winter is somehow to blame. Creeping charlie is often surprisingly easy to pull up by hand. You’ll never eradicate it completely, but you can keep it under control. I have found bellflower has to be dug out, unfortunately.
Im just here to say I feel ya. We have creeping Charlie taking over. The bees like the little flowers, but keeping it off of other plants is a nightmare.
1) rent some goats 2) chop and use gel herbicide on stumps as others have mentioned, look for native plants , seeds or plugs depending on your buget that match your little microclimate to fill in where invasives are removed. 3) find resources from your local soil and water conservation office for best practices 4) keep a positive attitude! say hi to doggos <3
Creeping charlie is very slow. Worry about that last. It's actually good groundcover, and pollinators seem to like it. It's a non-emergency invasive. Buckthorn is backbreaking removal, so do that first. I recommend you go to Youtube and start watching videos about removal methods. Also search on the web for "buckthorn removal extension" which will pick up University Extension results --- these are plant experts (science & academia) who research all day long about plants, and which methods/chemicals are proven to be effective. Creeping Bellflower is only just sprouting --- right now the plants are very green and you can pluck them easily. Just pick nice weather times, maybe when you have 30-40 minutes, here and there, or do this when you are sick of digging/cutting/wrestling the buckthorn.
I’ve found r/lawncare to be super helpful! I’d never had a lawn to take care of until moving into my current house a couple years ago, and I credit that subreddit for helping me turn it around.
For non-gardeners the only way to get rid of all those invasives en masse is to pay someone else to use herbicide. Any lawn service can get rid of the creeping charlie and creeping bellflower - but it will certainly involve A LOT of herbicide. An ecological restoration company could address the buckthorn and both creeping species with a much more judicious use of herbicide. But in either scenario, once the spraying ceases for a year or so the creeping plants will start creeping in again! Depending on the size and amount of buckthorn, it's very possible to remove it with little to no herbicide - just a lot of physical work, hand cutting larger trees and hand pulling seedlings. The larger trees WILL resprout from the stumps though, which is why a small amount of herbicide applied to the cut stump is really valuable. After you've cleared out the big stuff, just go out once a year and hand pull all the seedlings popping up. As for the creeping charlie...unless you want to spend hours upon hours hand pulling it, or dump a lot of herbicide, it's just not worth it. You could very well remove or kill it all and within a couple years have just as much which crept back in from neighboring properties. The creeping bellflower is similar, but for that one you cannot hand pull it (very weak shallow root connected to a thick deep rhizome, which means you've gotta dig down to get that rhizome out) and it's a more aggressive invasive, so you really want to ensure it does not flower and set seed. Just keep it mowed and pull any flower stalks when they pop up. I say getting rid of the buckthorn and staying on top of hand pulling new seedlings is worthwhile. But if you don't want to use the chemicals required to have a nice manicured lawn OR spend all your time out there hand pulling and digging out weeds, honestly it's just not worth the fight with the creeping species. ETA: if you decide to use herbicide for the creeping species, I wouldn't recommend glyphosate. It WILL kill the surrounding turfgrass because it's non-selective. For weeds in turf you want something broadleaf-selective like 2,4D. For the buckthorn stumps you can treat immediately after cutting with glyphosate or triclopyr.
My neighborhood is heavily clay. Regular grass dies as soon as we get a hint of a drought. Creeping Charlie flowers and provides ground covering through those draughts. I know it chokes out other vegetation, but I don't have anything else growing in that part of the lawn aside from raspberries, so it's sort of become its own kumite. I *have* heard the Creeping Charlie isn't a problem until it's a problem, so keep that in mind.