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Early spring is a excellent time to pull honeysuckle. It is easy to spot as the leaves burst before other shrubs. Many of our forests are filled with a green hazy right now, unfortunately it is all honeysuckle. Now that the soil has thawed and frequent rains keep it nice and soft it is a good time to pull honeysuckle out by the roots. Young honeysuckle shrubs that are 3ft or less can be pulled up by hand. Instead of going straight down, the honeysuckle roots branch out sideways just beneath the soil which makes them easier to pull out. When pulling up honeysuckle it is ok if some roots break off as long as the crown, the part where the above and below ground parts meet, is fully removed. Larger honeysuckle may require tools and strong backs to remove later but right now remove the young ones so that they never become a problem in the future.
I scout my garden regularly this time of year for the hundreds of inch tall honeysuckle that the birds have planted in my yard from their droppings. The few that I missed last year are now a foot tall but I can still easily pull them out when the ground is soft. After pulling up a shrub I carefully replace the soil so that all the little overwintering critters won't be disturbed. I have learned the hard way that freshly pulled honeysuckle bushes will try to reroot themselves if their roots are in contact with the ground or a nice compost pile so I prop them upside down against the fence or pile them on the driveway until they have experienced a nice hot day. I want to get them out of the garden now before they have a chance to produce seeds and be spread to other areas. Even though my neighbor has a bush producing berries I feel I need to do my part to stop the spread.
Here is a good video to watch about how to get rid of larger shrubs. Very large shrubs will require heavy equipment or at least a saw.
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