A conservation group in Ohio shared an impressive video showing volunteers helping to remove pesky invasive shrubs from a local nature preserve.
In the time-lapse video shared by The Nature Conservancy in Ohio (@nature_oh), you can see land stewards removing autumn olives from a wooded area.
The autumn olive is a particularly tricky plant to remove. According to The Nature Conservancy, it is native to Asia and was introduced to the United States in 1830 as a decorative tree. The shrub was "widely planted by the Soil Conservation Service as erosion control near roads and on ridges" before it grew out of control.
Therein lies the problem with the autumn olive: its ability to spread incredibly rapidly. It grows in even the most unfavorable soil conditions because its roots have nitrogen-fixing nodules. And, once rooted down, it can produce over 200,000 seeds per year. On top of that, cutting or burning the plant can cause it to reproduce, which makes removing it fairly complex.
Like many other invasive plants, the shrub poses a threat to any delicately balanced ecosystem full of the flora and fauna meant to thrive there. As it spreads, the autumn olive outcompetes native plants for sunlight and water. It also changes the surrounding soil chemistry to make it less favorable for other native vegetation.
The best way to remove the autumn olive is to uproot it when it's still small. Pulling the shrubs and then quickly and safely disposing of them before they have a chance to seed has proved to be the most effective method for stopping their spread.
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If they're too big to uproot, the only way to kill them is to cut them before they produce fruit for the year and then apply herbicide to the trunk multiple times from summer to winter. All told, this demonstrates that non-native plants can mean big headaches as well as time and energy costs for land stewards and for homeowners.
Gardeners considering how to cultivate and care for their own property, then, would do well to avoid importing invasive plants and the problems they can bring. Landscaping instead with native plants has the potential to cut back on maintenance expenditures, conserve water, and support pollinators as well as local wildlife.
Balancing beauty with numerous other benefits means you can enjoy your outdoor space rather than labor in it all too intensively. While this video moves quickly, the actual process of uprooting the shrubs can be arduous and time-consuming. The volunteers likely spent several hours digging up the autumn olives.
Commenters celebrated their hard work.
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Should we be actively working to kill invasive species? Click your choice to see results and speak your mind. |
Absolutely 
"That's awesome," one said. "I'm working to eradicate all [sic] invasives on my farm. I need these guys to come help lol."
"Thank you land stewards!" offered another.
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