Hi achang,
I've wondered about this very thing. We have 33 acres and it's covered with honeysuckle, that my husband tries constantly to make a dent in removing.
But many times I just wonder if we are fighting evolution? Is this how things change? Yes, it looks ugly to us, and seems to ruin the biodiversity of things......but is this just the way "survival of the fitest" goes?? I just don't know the answer. But in the meantime, we're pulling those suckers out!!

Before the arrival of the invasives, evolution was a long slow process and those that survived were adapted to conditions and to eachother and did not have to contend with plants and animals arriving from across the world within a few weeks travel time or less. The problem with invasives is that by sheer luck they have been transported to environments where they don't suffer many problems and thus have a huge headstart over the natives. A long time from now we might have a situation where our invasives have evolved into something less invasive and/or other things will have evolved (or also have been imported) that keep them more in balance. For now, at least, I'm still trying to hold back the invasives but the effort is, admittedly, very hard. However, I see the natives rebounding here and there it encourages me to keep trying for a while longer.

Since this is a gardening web sight,we assume the ultimate goal of our efforts is asthetic.To alow the potential natural beauty of the land under our stewardship to reemerge,as quickly as possible is the goal.The time constrant isnt nature's,its ours.That smothering blanket of alien growth isnt permanent,eventually the blalance will return on its own,that nature's way.But maybe in a hundred years maybe a thousand.That too long for me.I want it to happen while I'm still here and so I garden,always telling myself at least I'm doing something.

It sounds like we live in similar subdivisions, if we can use that word. My house is one of the original in the woods. Many of my neighbors cut down 99% of their trees and now have huge lawns. I fight invasives to make way for air movement,desireable shade plants, view. It is tomatoe tomato I suppose. I would LOVE to go around with a spray can marking and ordering all my neighbors that do NOTHING to their woods to cut down the buck thorn and prickly ash. As long as one is here they will reinfest my property. The vines I can cut. The honeysuckle seem to stay gone. Hang in there. From my view it is worth the fight.

I also live in a sub-division wher 90 percent of the people removed their trees and the twenty or so that I managed to hang on to , seem to cool my area by about 10 degrees or so in mid summer . I just sit on my park bench and enjoy..I have the same problem where the neighbors take no intrest in caring for the back of their properties which butt up to mine.They just seem to let the invasive weeds grow wild such as garlic mustard ,poison ivy and the like. I am constantly pulling them out of my property and when they are not home ( shouldn't do it ) I cross over and pull out all the invasives that are working their way up to my property . Of course many of them dont know that garlic
mustard or poison ivy is an invasive or they dont care, anyways , I seem to be gaining as I didn't see as much this year. I dont want to start any trouble by telling them to kind of clean up the back, cause they kind of give me dirty looks for all the leaves that lay in their yards at fall time as they have no trees and I have twenty. I also think its worth the fight. Tom

I don't know........its awfully hard to fight the fight on 30+ acres. Actually, its just my husband fighting the fight, as I have some health issues that keep me from it.
My stomach gets in knots as I look out my window over the bottomland on the other side of the creek. It's November 18th, and it's a sea of green there. Honeysuckle.
Nywoodsman........it soothes me to think that balance will come, even if not in my lifetime......but I'm not sure I can believe that. This honeysuckle is soooooo strong and persistent. Its unbelieveable.
Can you tell I'm totally discouraged? After 25 years of living here, I'm starting to dream of moving somewhere where there isn't honeysuckle!
I know what you all mean though. You just HAVE to fight the fight! My husband is making very small dents in it........but every fall, probably billions of more seeds are dropped and will sprout next year. Dangit.

Tell your hubby to keep up the good fight.

No, this is not how evolution works. At least not the "evolution" that Darwin spoke/wrote of. His theory is of "natural evolution". There is absolutely nothing natural about how these alien invasives got here and how they've been allowed to take over our precious native plants. If the introduced plants lived in a state of harmony and a sort of homeostasis with our native plants and they very slowly over thousands or millions of years evolved into something superior then that might be a bit closer to what Darwin was seeing and theorizing about. We 'are' seeing a sort of "survival of the fittest" but it's an unfair battle and our natives are losing the fight.

Keep on taking out those alien invasives and if you can, promote the growth of new, native species. But even if you can't the natives will slowly come back.

I've been working at this for 3 years now since we moved to this property and it's finally paying off. I'm down to removing new baby plants and each year I've planted seedlings and saplings of native plants, shrubs and trees and this fall I spread thousands of seeds most of which will likely be wildlife food but even if a tiny fraction of those germinate and grow, it will help crowd out the alien invasives that try to set root in my soil.

Keep up the good work! :o)

Barb
southern Ontario, CANADA

I know the work is worth it when I stand on the property line and I compare the woodland on my managed side of the line, to the unmanaged side of my neighbors.

And I know its really worth it, when my new neighbor to the north asks "why is your area of the woodland look so much healthier than the others?"

And the discussion begins...

Some people say to work smart, not hard. In this case you have to work smart and hard. In terms of working smart: different times of the year are more advantageous than others for different invaders and conditions. Japanese honeysuckle is more easily identified this time of year and spraying it now means you are less likely to poison a native. Some say to trim the japanese honeysuckle in late summer to reduce volume and seed production and have it put on a tight cluster of leaves that you can spray in the fall after the natives have gone dormant. Multiflora rose can and should be cut at any time but cutting it shortly before it starts to set seed means less new seeds. Many commentators suggest using herbicide when the plant is sucking in resources (after the height of the growth season is over - often in fall) more than when it is actively pushing up (usually spring and summer). In terms of working hard: you already know how hard it is. You certainly don't need me to explain that part.

Bob64 is right in pointing out that understanding what works and what doesn't is very important.Carefully targeted stratagies,will reduce useless efforts and maximize your effectiveness.Nature has an almost unlimited ability for self-regeneration,but sometimes needs a little help.And knowing what to do is just as important as knowing what NOT to do.Catherinet have ever tried to attract voluntiers?I would certainly be availabe to my neighbors if they asked me for help.(in fact most of my erradication efforts has moved beyond my property lines already,even though my neighbors are oblivious).How about a honeysuckle busting/keg party?I sponsered a garlic-mustard attacking/wine tasting party once.I was the only one there though.

If it seems like invasive plants are taking over a specific area, what you are actually seeing is a lack of native plants that can compete with the alien plants. Too many man-made obstacles are in the way. Buildings, highways, Wal-Marts. The native plants simply have no way of getting to your land. So what you are stuck with are the remnants of whatever was left after your land was clear-cut 100 years ago. This is not natural. It has nothing to do with any naturally occuring ecosystem.

Also you must remember that a forest can never be " natural " if it does not contain most of the animal species that originally lived there.

If you are talking about a small fragment of forest that is filled with invasive plants, it may well be impossible to " restore " it.

One possible solution is to cut everything down and plant black walnuts. Or perhaps you could put up a fence and release a herd of goats to devour the invasives.

In any case make sure your plan is within the realm of possiblity. Do not attempt the impossible.

Whats impossible for the inept may be possible for the skillful.Absent species that can't surmount manmade barriers can be assisted in re-establishing themselves,and agressive alien weeds successfully eliminated,especially on small lots.Your choice of the goat solution may be a reflection of your limited abilities.

Lukifell is correct with respect to the word restore, its probably not the correct term.

But what is a better term is to "manage" the area to optimize its habitat value.

When people work to remove or control invasives they are not restoring the land, as that would be futile. But what they are doing is providing an opportunity for the native flora to diversify, thus providing better habitat.

Woodlands and wild areas are constantly changing and in a state of flux, so restoration implies goint back to what was once there. I prefer to use the term "manage" as in managing the land to optimize diversity and maximize habitat value. One tool that we use to manage land for diversity is to control species that tend to dominate and decrease diversity.

In any event, you can make it better than it is.

Restoration doesn't mean a return to a static idealized notion of a past ecosystem,that can never be recreated,but rather a restoration of the local ecological flux that was arrested when species diversity was lost.Reintroduction can have a positive effect on any scale and,in my opinion,is a worthwhile effort.If your going to garden at all,then why not strive towards recreating self-emergent ecosystems that will last?They are far more aesthetically satisfying then a bed of tulips.

Since men brought the invasive non natives, there is nothing against Nature for men to remove the invasive non natives.

;)