Do your woodlands look like this?

It’s a great time of year to work on restoring degraded woodlands on your property or in your area! I began restoring this small wooded area on private property by first removing the invasive shrubs and trees and then planting a diversity of native trees and shrubs.
If your area historically was wooded like here in PA, chances are that invasive shrubs and trees have made their way in, growing dense and shading out native plants. Here’s how to begin the process of restoring those woodlands!
Planting list:
American hazelnut (C. americana)
Fragrant sumac (R. aromatica)
Spicebush (L. benzoin)
Arrowwood viburnum (V. dentatum)
Elderberry (S. canadensis)
Hackberry (C. occidentalis)
Tulip tree (L. tulipifera)
American elm (U. americana 'Princeton')
#woodlandrestoration #woodlands #forest #trees #invasives #shrubs #ecologicalrestoration #ecological #restoration

[@MightyFineMan]

I am clearing out 13 acres of this honeysuckle by hand (power tools and machete, no herbicides). It is physically exhausting but I hope to give part of the native understory a fighting chance this growing season. It has been weeks of work.

[@MonkeyBoy-sd9vc]

You're just going to see it grow back without herbicide

[@Andrew_the_Arborist]

Thanks for your important work! Best of luck 🌳

[@MightyFineMan]

@@MonkeyBoy-sd9vc I have a root pulling device. I can pull the root ball out of the ground, which been done many times, so it doesn’t sprout from the former root ball. I know some roots will still be in the ground, and a few will be missed, but that will make it far more manageable with grow back.

[@ofrecentvintage]

13 acres...! 🫡

[@reviewsandstuff4447]

That's just impossible, I'm dealing with 3 and I ended up buying a tractor. Respect to you man, but take care of yourself, they will come back with up herbicide

[@hails1136]

my university does honeysuckles hacks where you can volunteer to go hacking down honeysuckle in their various nature preserves. the difference is staggering. there's so many more birds and wildflowers and living things in general. keep up the great work!

[@Andrew_the_Arborist]

That's awesome!!

[@Mighty.Machines]

It should be noted that there is a plant native to Eastern North America that is also known as "Bush Honeysuckle", it's fairly aggressive but easy to control and actually benefits a lot of wildlife, I have some in my garden and the yellow flowers are lovely

[@Andrew_the_Arborist]

Good point! Thank you!

[@maxr5799]

There’s plenty of invasive species in the US that have native “relatives”. There’s wisteria, grapes, bittersweet, and I’m sure plenty of others that I can’t recall.

[@juliusnepos6013]

​@@maxr5799 yeah

[@Mighty.Machines]

​@maxr5799 honeysuckle vines also have invasive relatives. Coral honeysuckle has Japanese honeysuckle as it's invasive friend

[@maxr5799]

I’m in Northern Delaware just down I-95 from Andrew. I really love his videos not only for his passion for native flora and environment but because it’s my native flora and environment too! I see extremely similar landscapes as in his videos!

[@Andrew_the_Arborist]

Thanks so much! I'm glad the content is useful for you :)

[@NJGardengirl1961]

Have you been to Mt. Cuba? I would love to see it. You're very close!

[@CormacHolland]

You can go without the herbicide. We drill holes in the stumps and pour some epsom salt in there to prevent sprouting. Works great and doesn’t harm the environment as much as herbicide.

[@glasstuna]

The fluid from old car batteries works well too!

[@williammeyer9801]

When herbicide is used as directed on the label, it is way less of a pollutant than salt. It only takes one teaspoon of salt to permanently pollute five gallons of water. I don't know if Epsom salt has the same damaging effects as regular or road salt does because I think it may be a magnesium compound, but I would be careful using it.

[@SnailHatan]

Epsom salt does far more damage than a targeted herbicide.

[@guacre2675]

Evil corporations are evil, but their products do work. Glyphosate breaks down, but salts do not.

[@stephaniebarfield2718]

@@williammeyer9801I use epsom salts to fertilize my gardenias.

[@abydosianchulac2]

This has been my life the past week: starting on half an acre of 20+ years of buckthorn, multiflora rose, and autumn olive growth. The issue I'm having is that this growth borders, and in places overlaps, a seasonally-flooded marsh on the land. I have water-based triclopyr with indicator dye and am spraying it very, very slowly from an inch above the cut stumps, which I'm leaving about a foot tall to minimize runoff, but I know I'm not supposed to be spraying so close to the water. Trouble is, the state has no readily-available info on how to either get permitted/exempted for work around water on your private property, or info on what certifications to ask for from arborists and landscapers. 😮‍💨

[@CWorgen5732]

We love to see it! Well done!

[@Andrew_the_Arborist]

Thank you!! 🌳

[@tay-lore]

Privet is such a pain! Make sure you bring out a shovel or a mattock to dig out all the roots before it all grows back...

[@rcar9115]

I love that you constructed habitats for the smaller wildlife there. That's commendable.

[@Andrew_the_Arborist]

Thank you!

[@Joe-ny2up]

Local small forested areas near me have in the last 2 years been targeted in an effort to remove invasive understory, which is pretty much ANY wild shrubby bush/tree in the Midwest like buckthorn. I am in my 40s and ran around these woods as a kid. I don't feel they were always so choked with understory as they slowly have become, but boy, when you clear them out the remaining healthy trees are pretty sparse. A lot of people like buckthorn for privacy, but no sapling stands a chance in that mess, especially oaks as they are such slow growers.

[@mahendrasatyanarayana3003]

​@Andrew_the_Arborist I am from India and thankyou for your wonderful video. In the city where I live, construction activity has become rampant. The aftermath of the activity has left us with greenspaces lessening on a daily basis. There's this walk path surrounding a patch of land that has infested by these invasive shrubs. When the head of the society decided to clear them and create a lawn in its place, a gentleman protested stating that the habitat was a place of dwelling for several species of snakes, birds and other animals. The authorities disregarded his words and cleared the area. The snakes have lost their place of dwelling and we often get to encounter them regularly

[@williammeyer9801]

What herbicide do you recommend for spraying stumps?

[@Quazia]

Same question

[@ameyring]

I know the invasive honeysuckle as Japanese honeysuckle with the curved stems. Coral honeysuckle is the vine with beautiful flowers hummingbirds love.

[@theghostofteddyperkins3687]

Keep fighting the good fight, my brother!

[@sagetmaster4]

So thankful we don't have privet further north. The honeysuckle is still a problem

[@LillianArch]

Awesome message!!

[@thegamefanaticshow]

Great to see you again man haven’t seen your post in a while

[@Andrew_the_Arborist]

Thanks for watching!

[@dogecoin_gg]

Great work!

[@sabrinaschultzkisby]

Aw dang i didnt realize honeysuckle was invasive. That was one of my favorite flowers

[@j.d.youtube6557]

Love to follow your work. ❤

[@Andrew_the_Arborist]

Thanks so much!

[@stevep5408]

Twenty years ago our parks department cleared the understory of our parks. Open, beautiful parks now!

[@Fraxinus_Americana]

PPE is king! The average chainsaw injury needs 110 stitches can’t cut invasives if you’re laid up in the hospital chainsaw chaps are worth it!

[@eatfood9647]

you’re amazing!

[@Andrew_the_Arborist]

You’re amazing too! 🌳

[@ohboilien]

Would you add closed captions? It would be way easier to understand for me and many others 🙏

[@Andrew_the_Arborist]

Thanks for the suggestion! I'm going to try to get a 3rd-party app for captions, since YT doesn't have an in-app captioning system for shorts like other platforms!

[@aarontcagle]

If you have the chance to use machines that can rip the bushes out of the ground, that would be even better! Essentially you fell them and act like a major storm came through. The wood decays and provides nutrients back. No pesticides necessary, but the machines are not cheap.

[@donisenberg3032]

We call those brush piles ‘ rabbitats ‘

[@Andrew_the_Arborist]

I like that! Lol

[@johnburns2940]

This is Beautiful info! Thank you!!

[@hoxiefam6731]

Amazing!!

[@semtech5852]

How do you make sure you're not accidentally removing native plants

[@Andrew_the_Arborist]

I know how to identify the invasive and native plants in the winter. Unfortunately it's pretty uncommon to find natives in the understory in most parts of my area.

[@Karkin281]

My family spent 3 years cleaning out mulberry from my dad's property and we're still not done

[@areejashraf7413]

At that point, I would've given up and just embraced the Mulberry, maybe even started up a small Silk Worm farm using the leaves.

[@fullcxwling]

We recently visited a local zoo and I was loving all the sweet smells but it immediately broke my heart to know that they were all invasive Amur honeysuckle. If we weren’t moving in a couple weeks I’d offer them to rid of it all…

[@anysnail6390]

Looks great. I love it.

[@dat2ra]

Thank you! We do stream restorations with the same approach.

[@oldtrails1]

What region are you located? Northeast?

[@Andrew_the_Arborist]

Yup! I’m in southeast Pennsylvania.

[@jamilasulayman9582]

Beautiful

[@dougluba8390]

Hey Andrew, I live in Plymouth Meeting and just started ripping out European honeysuckles and other invasives in my back woods a month ago or so. The small patch of woods in my back yard looks very similar to this. I pulled lots of English ivy too which you just made a video about as well lol. It’s funny to see those videos now of you dealing with the same bullshit. The honeysuckles get ridiculous if left unchecked. Same with the Ivy. I’m hoping to do a small food forest with native and some non-native but well-adapted fruit trees. Just planted some pawpaws that my dad and I grew from seed.

[@Andrew_the_Arborist]

That's awesome Doug - good work!! I'm very close by Plymouth Meeting, so that's probably why my videos look so similar! Lol

[@dougluba8390]

@@Andrew_the_Arborist Ah yes, that’ll do it haha. Lmk if I can help out with any forest fix-up stuff in the area, I always enjoy that kinda stuff.

[@dougluba8390]

I documented it a little bit on another channel I made called “Doug Touches Grass” if anyone wanted to check it out for curiosity sake. I’m not an experienced video maker I just wanted to have something to reference as I go, so don’t expect any high quality editing.

[@LaughingMan44]

I've seen a safer way to apply herbicide, involving some sort of special needle that you use to basically inject the herbicide directly into the stump

[@scoobydoo5447]

Spraying it directly in a freshly cut stump achieves the same result, spraying it is probably more effective.

[@abydosianchulac2]

The biggest issue with that is practicality. If you have a few large plants to get rid of, absolutely. But if you have several acres of dense growth you need to remove, there's no way to treat all those plants via injection (both because of the quantity of plants, and the likelihood of needing to treat small-diameter growth).

[@coffeedate5344]

Sick! so when I go feed the duck some peas, I'll make sure to grab some branches and build some squirrel homes!

[@c.w.gillespie174]

♥♥♥ Tree Authority, Hasan is the best!

[@Andrew_the_Arborist]

He is great! We’ve planted hundreds of his trees and shrubs and have had no problems.

[@catherinebond7474]

We have a small mulberry tree on our 1/3 arce, but I'd like to keep it for the birds. How can i tell if it is a non native?

[@meggeggs9028]

I know I can do this for my backyard and I will but I’d love to also get paid to do this stuff, especially seeing all the invasive wisteria blooming rn (they’re so pretty but they must die)

[@KneehowMeow]

What herbicide are you using? Triclopyr? What’s your ratio mix?

[@amyjones2119]

This would probably be my dream job

[@_Sunmaker_]

The deer are crazy here too! No idea how they miss all the honeysuckle but kill everything else

[@h.s.6269]

Is there a way to do it without the herbicide? Can you burn the stump instead?

[@klaytonbowen5646]

You should educate on the ‘tiny forest’ concept

[@joshny4766]

What herbicide are you using? And well done!! Bush honeysuckle and buckthorn are the scourge in my area!

[@Undomaranel]

Any tricks for scotch broom? Western Washington is now yellow each summer instead of every shade of green...

[@MathiasVIKING0403]

I've always called that wisteria? Is that another name for it? European honeysuckle? In Virginia, it's wisteria and autumn olive everywhere that blanket out the spring ephemerals.

[@mikemcd2846]

Hey brother, love what you do! Got any deer hunting spots for me? I love being able to hunt close to home and take part in a healthy ecosystem...

[@Neyobe]

Remember: never cut down trees in a woodland area without planting new ones.. cause then it would be worse for nature than before

[@Something-inn]

What is the name of the herbicide to prevent re-sprout

[@torysings7468]

Is this your job? If so what is the job title? And how do I get this job?

[@uggali]

👍💁‍♀️

[@RK-cw4js]

It's important to state where you are before giving advice about native/ invasive plants

[@jeffsmith7840]

I had wild grape vine which is the most insane shit to battle

[@oldchild527]

Haha I'd be lucky yo have anything grow in the deserted place i live 😅

[@john-ic5pz]

all that brush is good habitat but does it make a fire hazard?

[@erbauungstutztaufgnade1875]

👍🏼🙏🏼

[@hilaryroberts506]

We have buckthorn in SE WI

[@fozzybear8878]

Herbicides?

[@renderedtoxic5403]

Mine looks like old tarps, liquor bottles and human waste. But that's just outskirts of the city

[@Andrew_the_Arborist]

Plenty of that around here, too 😔

[@Praiseboognishmang]

Well done.

[@austinj3881]

The average person has no clue which plants are invasive.

[@1neAdam12]

Yet, invasive species are coming by the millions every year.

[@thekingoftheworld9553]

If the heavy metals are taken from the soil then surely they go into the plant? Di wouldn't eat it in that case.

[@bananasgrowing]

Can we volunteer with you? - a Philadelphia viewer

[@Andrew_the_Arborist]

Yes, that would be great! My non-profit has volunteer events in the Philly suburbs. We have some coming up this spring: colonialcanopytrees.wordpress.com/upcoming-events/ Thanks!

[@SnailHatan]

When we gonna get a collab with Native Habitat Project?? 🤔

[@Andrew_the_Arborist]

That'd be cool! Love the work Kyle does. Maybe if I ever go down south or if he's ever up here in Philly!

[@beansbutterreviewwagon2542]

WOOP

[@jerrycornelius4534]

What chemical is the herbicide? Doesn't that contaminate the soil?

[@scoobydoo5447]

No. It is absorbed into the stump and stops it from regrowing.

[@DoubleUBee]

Ive used Triclopyr (ester) and have had pretty good results, but there are certainly other options.

[@abydosianchulac2]

You do have to be careful with spraying the herbicide, waiting for the right wind conditions, not spraying it as a fine mist into the air, but it's doable.

[@Really_Fast]

It’s actually ridiculous how many invasive species there are in America and it’s he world in general

[@Really_Fast]

*the

[@TheGreazyGrind]

WHAT? WHY DIDNT ANYBODY TELL ME YOU COULD BUILD WITH WOOD?!

[@philipus8641]

As a bonsai lover i feel sad saw you put herbiside on that tree stump.. 🙂

[@rocksandoil2241]

Bradford pears - hate 'em.

[@CampfireRachael]

Do the herbicides damage soil permanently?

[@soberhippie]

They shit on the woodland's floor?

[@terijean6351]

And the ever disgusting Bradford Pear!

[@EngineeringNibbles]

Not sure about the herbicide? Is ther an alternative?

[@stevejohnstonbaugh9171]

Not unless you want to repeat the same task every two to three years in the hope that you will starve the root system.

[@scoobydoo5447]

You can try to rip it out by it’s roots, but good luck and I hope you have deep pockets to pay for the equipment and manpower needed. A lot of people get funny when it comes to herbicide usage, however, there is nothing wrong with selectively using it to assist in restorations.

[@stevejohnstonbaugh9171]

@@scoobydoo5447 "there is nothing wrong with selectively using (herbicide) it to assist in restorations" I agree completely.😊👍

[@Andrew_the_Arborist]

If you don’t want to use any chemicals, you can simply keep cutting the resprouts until the root system has been exhausted of its energy. Sometimes, that’s the only option we have when working in places that don’t want herbicides and stuff! You can also pull out the roots if the plant is small enough, but that task quickly becomes difficult with large shrubs like these.

[@abydosianchulac2]

A newer variation on the non-herbicide route [edit: at least for buckthorn species] involves cutting the growth back to a very tall stump, several feet high. You then cut the resprouts back a couple times a year till the root system has been exhausted. I think the concept here is that as opposed to cutting the tree back to the ground, leaving the trunk/stem limits root suckering and concentrate sprouts in one place.

[@crumdoggy]

Norway maples are not invasive. Non native yes, but not invasive. They are not in the same category as japenese honeysuckle or English ivy.

[@Andrew_the_Arborist]

Maybe not where you live, but certainly here in southeastern PA and in much of the eastern US. All 3 of those species certainly escape cultivation and outcompete native vegetation!

[@fbennett6656]

It's obvious you don't live in southwest PA around Pittsburgh. They out number natives in many forest areas.

[@JohnnyAngel8]

Can you recommend a guide book to help identify invasive underbrush?

[@Andrew_the_Arborist]

I personally would recommend checking out apps like iNaturalist and Seek - that's mostly how I learned to identify all the plants around me!

[@TraceyPruitt]

If i lived there you would not have extremely high deer pressure unless you're talking about the aroma from the Crockpot!

[@Why-mc8vd]

Are they lab made trees?

[@downbntout]

Herbicide? Booo. How about goats?

[@jeremiahadam19]

Herbicide.....don't like that

[@MrVoetj]

Herbicide 😢

[@patriciorenatotoroibarra134]

Herbicide ☠🤮

[@hoboeyjobi7020]

you can't control evolution. best to adapt to it instead. no such thing as a "invasive species". just species that show up and are well adapted, and thrive. ecosystems change over time. you're not gonna stop that. adapt

[@Andrew_the_Arborist]

This is not evolution - this is the artificial expansion of a species because of us humans. We've introduced thousands of non-native invasive species across the world in the matter of 200-300 years. That is wayyyy too quick of a timescale for our ecosystems to "evolve" and "adapt". Our wildlife have evolved to use native plants - their survival and well-being literally depends on them. The vast majority of the time, our wildlife cannot survive off of these invasive plants alone. If we want our ecosystems to struggle and collapse in some places, then sure, let's just leave the invasives to proliferate. I personally don't like that idea or way of thinking, so I'll continue to advocate for the removal of invasive species, especially when they're being replaced by ecologically-valuable native plants.

[@hoboeyjobi7020]

@@Andrew_the_Arborist it is evolution. humans are a part of it. species come and go. that is evolution. we cannot control the ecology of the planet and we shouldn't try to. all we need to do is adapt to the changes and survive. mother nature will take care of the rest. also, dumping chemicals everywhere is creating more of a net-negative than a positive.

[@hank11111]

You have no clue what you're talking about

[@hoboeyjobi7020]

@@Andrew_the_Arborist did you delete my reply ?

[@user-oq4kg7tx8r]

If you clean it all up , where are the rabbits and other animals are going to live ???

[@stevejohnstonbaugh9171]

In the brush piles you build until the natives begin to flourish.👍

[@bobdole8830]

Restore the natural balance by using herbicides XD Gotta love Murricans XD

[@Andrew_the_Arborist]

We're using such a small amount directly on the cut stumps. Otherwise this work would be pointless because the stumps would just resprout. It's not like we're broadcast spraying acres of foliage.

[@hoboeyjobi7020]

the work is still pointless

[@bobdole8830]

@@Andrew_the_Arborist Just remove the root stump

[@Katana622]

My whole property is Bradford pears and honeysuckle. If I cut them all down I'll have a muddy field

[@Icefall3D]

Yea dont tell people to go cutting down things in their woodlands. Most people don't do research, don't properly identify their own socks let alone a tree species.

[@gostkillr]

I grew up in the Philly area, on the Main Line to be specific, it seems as I've been back in recent years there has been a HUGE effort to clear out these invasive understory plants. I feel like this all started maybe 10 or 15 years ago and it has totally transformed the way any wooded areas look. Did something happen that shifted in that time period where unmanageable undergrowth became a priority? Because it feels in the decades prior no one cared and I never saw it change.

[@unfinisheproject]

We are at the end of a 15 year NLREEP plan that funded the creation of a municipal Native plant nursery and staff/equipment and money for contractors to perform and guide this work.

[@the_last_mohekan6376]

When you go back to the beginning what was originally "native" grow what will grow. That's the way of the earth.

[@Andrew_the_Arborist]

Grow what's supposed to grow here. Grow what the wildlife needs to survive. Don't grow the invasive plants that actively weaken and dismantle functional ecosystems.

[@feedmewifi_477]

would fire also work?