Beebe
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How to remove honeysuckle

I live in OH and have tons of honeysuckle growing around the edges of my backyard. I would like to get rid of them but they are fairly large. How can I get rid of them? If I cut them down to a stump will they grow back? do I need to try to dig them up? any advice on removing honeysuckle would be helpful!!

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rainbowgardener
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Oh yes! I live in Ohio also and am very familiar with the joys of honeysuckle! :roll: Absolutely if you cut it down it will come right back, very fast and stronger than ever. Three ways to get rid of it that I know of: 1) cut it down to the ground and spray Round-up on it and then repeat that every time it starts coming back for several years. Eventually it will give up. (sorry organic gardeners, I mostly do not use poisons, only on honeysuckle and poison ivy, Roundup breaks down pretty quickly, does not stay around in the environment) 2) the only advantage we have is that honeysuckle is pretty shallow rooted (especially if you get it small). Wait until the ground is wet (or water until saturated), wrap a chain around the base, attach the chain to a truck and pull it out. 3) honeysuckle popper! (www.misterhoneysuckle.com). This is a great little machine (human powered), based on leverage that pries them right out of the ground. The inventor is also an Ohio person. He sells them on-line for $139. They work very well, but do take some strength. He and his wife dry the honeysuckle roots they pop out and paint them to make garden art pieces. Very cool!

Beebe
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thanks for the suggestions!! This spring with all the rain (we usually get) I think I'll enlist some muscle and try to pull some of them out. My goal is to eventually clear the area and put natives plants in their place.

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webmaster
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That [url=https://www.misterhoneysuckle.com/]Mister Honeysuckle[/url] tool looks pretty cool. There's a video on the site showing him taking down a fifteen year old blackberrry bush, but he had to use a saw on a couple stubborn roots. Nevertheless it only took him about three minutes to remove the bush.

bullthistle
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Honeysuckle stems underground can go on forever so if you have a tractor mower attach a chain and step on the throttle and then when you get the main leader out try the off shoots then use Roundup.

KyleKoehler
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I have 18 acres in Springfield (about 8 of which is wooded) just west of Columbus and have fought the honeysuckle battle for almost 13 years. This past year I can say I got the upper hand. From experience here is my input.

DON'T CUT THE THINGS OFF AT THE GROUND UNLESS YOU HAVE LOTS OF MONEY FOR LOTS OF ROUNDUP!!! When they grow back they have a large root with only small stuff to grab and you won't get it out with ANYTHING at that point.

Pull them out during wet seasons. April and November is best because they are the first things to green up in the woods and the last thing green in the fall. They are easy to pick out that way and you get the satisfaction of seeing your progress.

The Weed Wrench is the manual tool I have found. www.weedwrench.com It really does pull up anything it can get it's jaw around. I have the 2" size and it works great.

The second tool I have built for myself is fashioned after a thing sold as the Starhill Jawz www.starhilljawz.com. This is made for the front of a skidsteer. I build one just like theirs for the PTO lift on the back of my 26HP John Deere utility tractor. IT IS FABULOUS. I can pull but 5" diameter honeysuckle.

After 13 years of working with a chain and really feeling like I was not winning the war... in a matter of one November and one March I tackled 5 acres of THICK and LARGE honeysuckle in my woods.

It is so great to go out in my woods and walk where there was once no way to get to. Pulling is best because it gets all the root. I've got about 2 acres left this year and I will be done. I am looking forward to moving to a maintenance stage this fall where I only go out and pull up the new starts by hand that the birds plant.

If you have anything over 2" (and lots of it) I say go to the jawz. If you have mostly under 2"... get a WeedWrench and a good chain for the bigger stuff the WeedWrench can't get.

Kyle

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Sweet Petunia
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I havent encountered the horrors or honeysuckle. I LOVE it!! We have one area on our acreage with honeysuckle a I look forward to it blooming every year. The smell does things to me that I cant discuss on this board!!
I honestly don't think there is any smell I like better!!...although the smell of freshly cut grass comes close.
I'm sorry you are having trouble with it! I wish you could send it to me!!

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rainbowgardener
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hope you still love it when your whole acreage is honeysuckle and the stuff grows back faster than you can get rid of it by any means.... keep an eye on your honeysuckle area! :)

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Sweet Petunia
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No thats happening with my Morning Glories!! :evil:
I wonder which one would win if there was a fight between Morning Glory and honeysuckle!! :?:
Honeysuckle may be wonderful to smell but its very snakey in my area. Snakes like to hang out in it to get birds. So be careful!! I only have it growing on a dogwood tree. You cant even see the tree anymore. I know I should kill it to save the tree but I just havent had the heart because the scent is so amazing!!! Your house must smell really good when they bloom!!
Honestly I didnt know it would take over an area. It makes sence though since its a vine. Mine just looks like a Honeysuckle bush about 25 ft tall!! If there is nothing else in the area for it to attach to will it still spread? Or will it just keep getting bushier? The poor dogwood underneath it is still blooming!! I can see 1 limb with pretty white petals. Maybe we should break down and free the poor thing. :cry:

Beebe
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Thanks for the suggestions. We don't have the money in our budget for any expensive tools. I would love to pull them out with the roots but it just didn't seem feasible. So...we cut them down. They are in a back alley between our neighbors backyard and ours. We don't plan on planting anything back there so the stumps don't bother us. We're going to attempt the roundup, but we might end up doing something else in a couple of years.

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rainbowgardener
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The honeysuckle I referred to, that I expect the original post was about is Japanese honeysuckle bush. It starts out as a little shrub, but left alone will get 8-10 feet high and wide with multiple 4" diameter trunks. It is only very mildly fragrant, you have to get right up close to it. It out competes everything by being the first to green up in the spring and the last to stay green in the fall. In the fall, it does have nice red berries, but they must not taste good, the birds don't eat them (in other words it's not good for anything). We do also have some honeysuckle vine around, but it's not as big a problem (literally!).

MaineDesigner
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I you haven't already cut them I would advise waiting a bit. RoundUp/glyphosate isn't very effective at this point in the season and part of the trick is to paint the stump cut(s) with a high concentration (50%) of glyphosate immediately after you cut it/them. If you have already cut them they may send up new stems from dormant buds below the cuts. Depending on how much still remains above soil level you can either make a new cut below the new stem growth on the old trunk(s) or simply cut the new growth off and paint those cuts. Gylphosate will be most effective at ambient temperatures from the upper 60s to the upper 70s. In addition to that temperature range I find late summer or early fall applications to yield the best results so wait for a day in late August or September in the 70s. Good luck!

KyleKoehler
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YES... There is a big difference between "real" honey suckle and Japanese Honeysuckle (I believe was imported in the 50s as a hendge plant.

In Arkansas you may not be dealing with the same thing.

In Ohio is has infested woods all over the state. Driving down the highways it often lines the wooded areas and fence line.

Today is April 10th. In Ohio if you go into a woods the green is just peaking through the leaves on the ground. The trees have almost started to bud. BUT the japaneese honeysuckle is all that you see green in the woods.... there is no sweet smelling bud on these bushes.

If you have been to a woods that is infested with this stuff... ugh. When fully developed there is no undergrowth of flowers anymore. Just 8-9 ft. honey suckle and the trees that were lucky enough to have grown before the honeysuckle took over.

We have trilium and jack-in-the-pulpits that fill our woods in the spring where the honeysuckle was taken care of 3 years ago. None of that where the honeysuckle still is. What we cleared in the past year is going to look great in the coming years.

Bottom Line: Japaneese Honeysuckle is totally different than the stuff you are smelling!!!



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