The city encourages residents to remove buckthorn from their yards. By leaving it in your yard, particularly the female, berry-producing plants, there is a greater chance of it spreading through your neighborhood.
If you are unsure what buckthorn looks like, the city offers free consultations to help you identify it.
When to remove
Fall (through winter) is the best time to remove buckthorn from your yard. During this timeframe, buckthorn leaves will be green while native plant leaves will have turned color or dropped to the ground, making it easier to distinguish between the two. Also, female buckthorn plants will keep their black berries well into early winter, providing another way to identify it.
How to remove
Buckthorn can be removed mechanically or chemically. With either option, the stump must be killed, or the plant will re-sprout and continue to grow.
- Uproot/pull up the plant — Buckthorn can be pulled out by hand or with a weed wrench. Some hardware stores will rent out weed wrenches. The city also loans out weed wrenches at no cost for plants that are less than 1 inch in diameter. Contact Leah Johnson at 952.928.1404 for more information.
- Cut stems to the ground and chemically treat them — Apply a chemical treatment to the stems, stump and exposed root flares soon after cutting them. The most common treatments are Glyphosate (Roundup) or Tryclopyamine (Ortho Brush B-Gon). Chemicals applied in the fall or winter months are effective because the plant is dormant, and the herbicide is transported to the root system.
After removal, plants can be cut into 4-foot lengths, bundled and set out for your weekly yard waste collection. Removed plants can also be brought to the brush drop-off site for free disposal.
Note: It is important to monitor and continue treating the area if needed since buckthorn seeds can remain viable for up to five years in the soil.
