There are different ideal times for different invasives. The reality is that you will do things when you have the time. I do, however, think I have hit upon a rough order.
The first thing I think one should always do in restoring a woodland is to cut the invasive vines so that the mature trees are not prematurely killed which would lead to a huge new set of problems that you don't want. I would next emphasize making the place navigable by cutting back the multiflora rose and other thorny things like barbery. Cutting back other invasive brush a bit will also make the place more navigable. I would not cut down invasive trees right away since the shade that they provide is helping to suppress other invaders. Next you hit the invasives at ground level and finally the invasive trees. These are my rules of thumb but I depart from them sometimes for no other reason than needing a change of activity. It is also good to whack invaders before they go to seed when you can.

I too am fighting the good fight against rosa multiflora...it is everywhere it my small woods. It's a little easier in the winter, when the canes aren't as bushy. You can see the main branches more easily to hack away, and they aren't as heavy to lift out. I use clippers to get close to the shrub, then loppers for the base of the canes, and then sometimes my little electric chainsaw for the "trunk". Thick leather gloves are a must, and a long sleeve sweatshirt is smart too (another reason winter is better). It actually doesn't take that long to clear it out, even for large bushes. And it certainly is mentally therapeutic!

You can use Roundup too, but it's relatively easy to just hack it out. And since you have to remove the thing anyway, spraying first doesn't make that much sense. I do paint the trunk/stubs when I'm done, to prevent it from springing back (which it will certainly do). Good luck!

I think Bob has a good approach in regards to the order of things. Getting those thorny things out does help you move around better. The only other consideration for me is trying to eliminate seed/fruit production. Vines and other plants that are mature enough to set fruit/produce seed get taken out earlier (or at least killed where they stand) than the younger ones that aren't capable of reproducing.

Creating trails are good and sometimes are a by-product of your work. I tie pieces of surveyor's tape (it's the handiest stuff for a multitude of reasons) to remind me where to walk so that I travel the same path. As you saw, brush piles are very beneficial to wildlife and give you a place to put the stuff you take out. My yard was on tour recently and I proudly pointed out my brush piles - several people went home with a new idea.

I agree in general with what the others have written. First you'll want to identify which invasive plants are the biggest problem for you. Each area has a few invasive plants that grow most vigorously there, and those are the ones to target first. Here in central PA (state College area) multiflora rose is not as much of a problem in most woodlands as Autumn Olive and bush honeysuckles, but it could be quite different on your land in NE PA, and there are a few spots around here where multiflora is the major problem. The idea is to attack the plants that are most vigorous on your land, because these will spread most and will be hardest to eliminate. The other invasive plants should be removed too, but since they grow a little less well on your land, they will spread less and will be easier to remove.

When you remove vines, don't be too quick to remove all vines. Asiatic Bittersweet and Japanese Honeysuckle are two non-native, invasive vines you may have, but there are also lots of native vines that I think you should keep. Wild Grapes are especially common in PA and are an important part of the woodland ecosystem Removing them would eliminate a lot of important bird and wildlife habitat, and it is natural for some trees to be draped with vines, as long as the vines are native.

Thank you all for your advice. I hope to go up this weekend and next and get started. I definitely plan on starting with the multiflora rose because that's the only way I'll be able to get in a lot of places. I hadn't thought about the vines and can't readily recall if there are any, although I'm sure that there must be. I think I'll head to the store today to find a guide to identifying the vines, I already have good guides for trees and wildflowers. I'll let you know how I make out.

Thanks again.
Cathy

You can get a lot of resources online to help you identify the invasives.

Here is a link that might be useful: Invasive.org

When we first moved to our home 15 years ago, I thought that my life would be dominated by my battle with those evil thorny vines. There was, however, something cathartic about pulling those roots out. That got old quickly. I hired some help to get some out, and got an aerobic workout doing the rest. I then spread wood chips around the newly cleared areas. It hasn't been nearly as bad as I thought. They still are there on the edges of my property, but they haven't much returned to the areas that were really cleared.

Of course you can't tend to the whole property, that would be overwelming, instead of fun. Pick a part of the property that is most visble from your home and just work on that first. Get some help. On Craig's list I've hired some people for as little as $12 an hour. It will ease the workload and in some cases, feeds a family in a bad situation, without a landscape firm making money on them.
I recomend the books by Ken Druse for inspiration and information.

How exciting it is that you have this great new project for your new stage in life. Best of luck!

The order of removal I suggested is certainly not written in stone. If you need to hack the multiflora to get to the invasive vines then you certainly have to hack the multiflora first. I agree that you should not hack the native vines, just the invasive vines. If you have a lot of multiflora rose to deal with, a powered hedge trimmer can help you reduce down the volume of the multiflora. Later on you can herbicide the remaining portions of the multiflora.

Believe it or not, I like to do this work in winter. Even if there's snow and ice on the ground, you can chop out a lot of multiflora, barberry, lonicera and other shrubs, plus you can chop styrax, poison ivy and other vines. I've found that I can be comfortable working as long as it's in the upper 20s or warmer.

The three big benefits? No ticks, no mosquitoes, no poison ivy. It's much easier to get a clear view of the "hardscape" in winter, too.

The downside is that, except for the lonicera which you can pretty much destroy at the roots, many of the shrubs and vines will resprout from the base. Still, it takes a lot less RoundUp to kill off a stump-ful of regrowth than it does to try to kill the whole plant. You can just walk through your woods in the spring with your sprayer pointed down, dousing the shoots.

In terms of what order to do it in, I start with poison ivy. If you don't kill it, it's not dead. And if it's not dead, it's breeding - incuding near your house.

After that, I just start at one end and work toward the other end!

plus you can chop styrax, poison ivy and other vines

Leslie, I think you meant SMILAX?

Yes, winter is a good time. Japanese honeysuckle is evergreen here so it is a good time to walk around and pull it up (you have to reach down to the soil level and the knobby area before you pull).

Winter is a great time to hack at invasives. You don't overheat very easily, there are less ticks and mosquitoes, you are less likely to damage a native, and there is less stuff in the way in general. By the way, poison ivy is native and is valuable to wildlife but I understand that sometimes it has to go.

Ha! An excellent point, bob. I have read many PI threads in here, but I have always been waiting for someone to point that out. So often we jump on invasive exotics (rightly so), but stand up across the board for natives, regardless of whether they're pests or not. Poison ivy is a valuable vine in its own right, yet so many want to eradicate it ruthlessly (myself included!). Its good to stand back once in a while and get some perspective...thanks for the shrewd comment!

We use our brush to make a fence. it doesnt keep the deer out totally, but it does deter them. It also provides habitat for birds and other creatures.
We have our share of invasives. The natives we try to protect.

Summertime is a good time to identify plants since there are so many distinguishing characteristics that are often not present in the fall and winter (flowers, colors, etc.). I spent a good part of the last two weekends identifying Norway Maples and some other invaders which I then marked with red spray paint so that I will be able to tell them apart from other trees in the winter. This is helpful since I can then attack the Norway Maples during any season with confidence that I am attacking the right trees. My particular system was to paint a horizontal red stipe around the entire trunk of each Norway Maple so that I will be able to easily find and identify each one no matter which side of the tree I am standing on. It's not particularly attractive but sometimes you have to get a little ugly when you are working on a restoration. In hindsight, I probably should have researched what marking codes arborists use so that my markings will be easily figured out by others including any arborists I happen to hire.

Lots of good information has been posted already, much of which I totally agree with. Winter is definitely the best time to do the heavy clearing because, as noted, no bugs, and the layers of clothing that are needed don't cause a problem. After trying many different garments I've decided that the Filson tin cloth stuff works best. The multi-flora rose is really tough on everthing else. I wear a pair of the double tin cloth chaps, and the logging jacket. I usually burn the stuff as I'm cutting. I've found that the rose and honeysuckle don't stack well, leaving large piles that just become breeding grounds for new plants that sprout from the seeds. Burning also makes it possible to work in some really nasty weather as you have a source of heat. I use a lot of hand tools, with a good pair of loppers and a hand saw (Fanno makes a wonderful saw for this) being the most useful. Hedge shears come in handy to cut a way into the base of the plant. If you are burning, once the plant has been cut at the base you can often just drag it to the fire. Spring, summer and fall I spend on maintenance of the areas cleared during the winter. In the spring I can usually cut back the new growth with a grass whip on a heavy duty brush cutter. As the growth gets older and tougher I change to the plastic blades and eventually the brush blade. Or a scythe (see scythesupply.com). That tool has been very useful, and very relaxing. I have been using sort of an all-purpose blade, but am thinking of getting a blade just for brush. For larger areas I use a DR mower. There are many things about the mower that I don't like, but it does what the DR folks says it will do, and more. As for the native plants, I do try to save them, but I've found that most will come back if given a chance. So my initial approach is to cut everything but the trees, then when I'm doing maintenance I can be more selective about what I'm going to trim back. A large supply of survey flags will come in handy. Whenever I see something that I want to look at again (like when it is leafing out in spring), or that I really want to save, I stick in a flag. I do this because after clearing the brush I usually scatter some grass seed. The ground is usually almost bare under the rose, honeysuckle and autumn olive. It's amazing how fast the grass will come up and hide all those interesting plants that I might want to save. Each spring I buy 50-100 lbs of seed from Ernst Seeds in western PA. They have an assortment of reclamation mixes that are not too expensive

Phacops, I use Ernst Seed also. They have a pretty good selection. I wish I was allowed to burn where I am but no can do. I think the reccommendations for the "armor" that you use could be useful. I have a pair of Carthcart work pants for some of the more heavy duty days. I also have a bunch of beat up clothes that I have dedicated to my outdoor woods work that I don't cry about when they get torn or have to be thrown away.

Just a small side note, take care burning poison ivy.

My grandmother had several trips to the hospital when she burned some -she inhaled it and had a severe reaction in her nose and throat. She couldn't breathe.

Needed several steroid shots. It was bad.