Oriental Bittersweet (Celastrus orbiculatus) - Identification and Control in Natural Areas

[@fortierdawn]

This is the best video I've found on eradicating bittersweet, and I've watching many. Thanks for sharing.

[@shiftnsix]

Thanks for producing this content and all the other knowledge packed videos. I’m currently dealing with about 10 acres of oriental bittersweet on our property. It has killed off many large trees and I’m trying to rescue the ones that still have a chance. The bittersweet combined with Japanese honeysuckle, multi flora rose and thickets of twenty foot tall autumn olive have made it quit the project! The progress I have made is encouraging though. I’ve been using it as my “therapy time” after work.

[@daniel.creative]

@shiftnsix I'm dealing with all of these invasives as well. Any strategies you've found helpful so far?

[@shiftnsix]

@@daniel.creative if you have large trees that are getting chocked out I would make it a priority to cut those vines first. Cut them one at a time in two spots, down low enough to clear your mower/brush cutter blade height, as well as eye level so you can easily identify which ones you’ve already hit. After a few weeks they remains will brown up and dry out and you’ll start to see some reward for your efforts in the canopies of the trees you’ve rescued. I’ve been using glyphosate at 20% in a pump sprayer with indicator dye to treat spot treat the stumps immediately after as well. It’s my first season attacking them so I’m not sure how effective it will be, but I plan to hit the foliage regrowth in the fall with a 2-3% glyphosate solution as well. A weed whacker with a brush cutting attachment is good for hacking away at the more immature growth along the perimeters and/or to gain access to the thick monsters deeper in. Once you hit the thicker vines like 1-3” I find loppers to be most effective. Due to their flexibility and dangling nature it’s cumbersome to use a chainsaw on them. The older, thicker ones that are firmly planted 3-9” (yeah it’s insane, some of them are over 20 years old and look like something straight out of jumanji) and more brittle I prefer to use a cordless sawzall. They produce runners that spread everywhere and once you knock back the bush honeysuckle (rampant invasive often found in the same areas), and autumn olive (thorny, prolific invasive found in same areas) they will grow at an incredible rate and start climbing and suffocating native species again in no time. I try to pull as much of the new growth in close proximity to young natives as possible, but it’s laborious. Once I get an area cleared enough to mow I’ll keep hitting it with the mower to keep it under control for the remainder of the summer. I’ve already transformed quite a large swath of land and the results are beautiful. The satisfaction of uncovering the old growth trees that were previously occluded is rewarding and motivating me to keep chipping away at it. Beware of poison ivy, always wear full protective gear if in doubt. Take precautions against ticks as well and always disrobe away from the home and treat your clothing as if it’s covered in poison and ticks, because it most likely is. Ticks carry some insidious diseases and viruses that can permanently alter your health so take them seriously and be diligent in inspecting your body thoroughly after you’ve been in an area with them. It’s a nightmare at first but persistence pays.

[@daniel.creative]

@@shiftnsix thanks so much for the detailed and thorough response, I appreciate your wisdom and strategies! I'm so glad to hear about the progress you've made on your property. I managed to sever all of the vines choking trees on my property and now I'm ready for the re-growth stage. It's already more manageable than before and I'm hoping we can keep up with it now. Best of luck in the future, happy summer!

[@brianbresnahan9718]

Good video, very informative. I've had 2 properties in NH and both used to have oriental bittersweet until I cut it all away. In short oriental bittersweet is a tree killer. It takes many years, but it will happen. As a child, I would swing on the bittersweet vines. As I grew up and realized how the vines block the flow of tree sap as the tree grows to a larger diameter and basically kills the tree, it was very clear what to do. Cut all oriental bittersweet. It shows trees no mercy so show it no mercy. Scan your woods every year for it and cut it. I let it rot in place - if you pull it out of a tree, it may break branches. If you want to pull it down, cut it, let it dry for a year then pull it down. I have cut vines that were about 5" in diameter. I visited a friend outside Pittsburgh, PA recently - he has it all over his nice hardwoods. While driving around there I noticed it everywhere in the PA woods. Another friend in NY has it. Awful stuff. I like the authors idea of a sponge on the end of the sprayer to contain the herbicide to exactly where it needs to go and no further.

[@TheWoodlandSteward]

Thanks!

[@johnr6179]

Excellent video as always. You might have the most practically valuable videos on invasives on KZbin.

[@TheWoodlandSteward]

Thanks!

[@cathycoburn1]

Thankyou for this tutorial. What a nightmare this is--like something out of a horror film. Learned a lot and very much appreciate this!

[@TheWoodlandSteward]

Glad it was helpful!

[@janaclerico7809]

So many excellent tips on identifying other vines and managing your tools to control the bittersweet. I would never touch either poison ivy or Virginia creeper, but now I may actually be able to tell the difference. And putting a sponge on the sprayer end, genius! Thank you.

[@JenniferMoleski]

I do this all day. My order of concern: - Oriental Bittersweet - Multiflora Rose - Morrow Honeysuckle + Allegheny BlackBerry are tied for third. I don't know if my technique is a good one, but it's what I'm trying. I have a medicine dropper that I converted into a ☣️ ☠️ bottle filled with 41% glyphosate. I pull the blackberries and honeysuckle (it makes me feel pretty strong that I can pull out a 12' bush. But as you know, they're wuss'). As for the bittersweet and multiflora, I pull what multiflora I can, for the rest I cut low and dapper the herbicide on the cut. When I find small bittersweet roots I snip off the climber and hit the wound with the glyphosate. I do this in the fall when they're suckin' in their energy. I've given myself 3 trigger fingers from pulling up multiflora this year. I've pulled up hundreds. I hate them. They were my #1 enemy... Until I met bittersweet.

[@TheWoodlandSteward]

Sounds like you have a good plan! I use 20% glyphosate on cut stems and rarely have any resprouts. Thanks for reducing the invasives!

[@lisasmale5701]

I’m learning a lot from your videos. Thanks

[@TheWoodlandSteward]

Thanks for watching!

[@shelina9737]

Very helpful to tell the difference between the native and oriental

[@TheWoodlandSteward]

Thanks!

[@marlenebean]

you're a great teacher!

[@TheWoodlandSteward]

Thank you! 😃

[@jojodiver8706]

I'm doing the same thing with Japanese Honeysuckle and Oriental Bittersweet. For the larger vines, I bought this neat little new fangled battery operated chain saw. So far it's been a little beast.

[@carlebeling5256]

Great video!! I'm from Maryland and am de vineing our property..

[@TheWoodlandSteward]

Good luck! It is a worthwhile battle!

[@heatherjedrus4953]

Thank you for this informative video! I appreciate how specific you were about herbicide -- the other videos I've seen just said to use herbicide without saying which kind or how strong. I've been using Bonide Stump & Vine Killer, which is triclopyr. I like that it's in a small bottle with a little brush, so I can paint it directly on the places where I've cut. I don't know yet how effective it is, since I just started. But now I think I will add glyphosate.

[@fortheearth]

Thanks for sharing! Keep up the fight! We're here in Connecticut eradicating bittersweet (and poison ivy) too.

[@TheWoodlandSteward]

Good job! Thanks!

[@jenniferlutes8000]

Great information, thanks for sharing!

[@TheWoodlandSteward]

Thanks for watching!

[@kimhenderson-lee3517]

I'm working in wetland areas so I don't use roundup, but pull the roots up with a root wrench (pullerbear or uprooter brands)

[@andreapaz4315]

Thank you for this!! Very helpful!!

[@TheWoodlandSteward]

Glad it was helpful!

[@j.wilson641]

Very informative as usual. Thanks!!

[@TheWoodlandSteward]

Thanks for taking the time to comment!

[@lynnchampney5165]

Thanks for your very informative video. I am dealing with oriental bittersweet on my property in southern N.H. I will be getting some herbicide and trying your method. With warm temperatures this weekend here and no snow on the ground, I was able to walk around my property and see just how bad it has become. I have my work cut out for me!

[@TheWoodlandSteward]

I appreciate your starting to work on it!

[@ala5831]

I feel your pain. I spent on average 40 hours a week for four months this year starting in June. I also had no luck with glyphosate in years past. I knew I had it growing here when I got the place 5 years ago and half heartedly tried to get rid of it in my spare time. This year I retired and had plenty of time to work around the place. While taking care of privet this spring I noticed the bittersweet was everywhere, and I mean everywhere. I got garlon 3a and garlon 4 The garlon 3a is for foliar. And the 4 is for basal bark and cut stump. But not for hack and squirt, 3a for that. But you can use garlon 4 for foliar too. Confused yet? I mix 16 ounces of 3a and a surfactant in the tank fill it up to 3 gallons and add 20 ounces of glyphosate and more water to fill a4 gallon backpack sprayer. Before I cut any vines I spray all of the root suckers on the forest floor and around the tree trunk if it’s a mass. Come back three weeks later and window cut the vine and hit it with garlon 4 at a 20% mixed with diesel fuel and a dye. I cut the vines with a weed eater with a forestry blade where possible. I still have some to take care of next summer but got 80% of it this year on 55 acres. You’re not supposed to spray it before July but with an early spring I started in June

[@TheWoodlandSteward]

Great job! Thanks for the information. Your "retirement" sounds a lot like mine.

[@galations22o]

How did the mix work for the bitter sweet? I have started cutting and “daubing”

[@ala5831]

@@galations22o It worked great. Garlon 4 on cut stump 20% solution. I’m pulling younger ones today. Didn’t work on them last year.

[@RD-ds2cc]

1. So you don’t use any roundup, just garlon? 2. What surfactant do you use?

[@RD-ds2cc]

When you spray the ones on the forest floor, you use garlon 3 or 4?

[@peterdunphy9402]

Thanks for the videos. I’m especially working in a plan for bittersweet. Is it possible to use the herbicide in winter?

[@TheWoodlandSteward]

I use 20% glyphosate (in water) all winter as long as it is above freezing. Some people will use triclopyr 4 in kerosene or diesel when it is colder. I'm not a big fan of that.

[@maryq5680]

Oriental Bittersweet is growing here in a wetland that is a water source for a town well. We can’t use chemicals to get rid of it. During the winter, even salt is not allowed to be put on the road going through the wetland. So, we’re stuck with this invasive. We do what we can with the volunteers we have.

[@proudpinstripes]

We have lots of bittersweet on our new property in New Hampshire. This summer I cut a ton of vines just as you did in the video, though I don’t yet have experience with herbicide so I wasn’t treating them, just cutting and cutting. I do think I’m going to try painting the stumps with herbicide the next go around, like you recommended-thanks for the helpful info! I was told by a professional gardener here that painting the stumps with herbicide is a lot more effective in the fall, when the plant is withdrawing energy stores down from the leaves to bank in the roots for the winter. It thus draws the herbicide down into the roots too. Whereas if you treat in the spring and summer when the plant is pushing growth up and out, into the stems and leaves, it pushes the herbicide out too and doesn’t kill the roots as well. Is this your experience/understanding too?

[@TheWoodlandSteward]

Plants are moving nutrients from the leaves down into the roots the whole growing season. I have never had any better response in the fall. The flow up in the spring is sometimes enough to "wash" the herbicide off of the cut stem, so I don't generally treat cut stems in the spring.

[@clairedunne3443]

Good instruction, thank you! My hubby and I have decided to go after Asian bittersweet in our 68-acre park. so far in three outings in so many days we have cut about 20 and added burning bush to the target list today. Since it is January in Massachusetts, would it pay to daub the cut stems?

[@TheWoodlandSteward]

I was cutting honeysuckle and some bittersweet today and I treated it with 20% glyphosate. It was 40 degrees. I don't cut if the herbicide will freeze in the applicator.

[@suzyhen]

That vine is a tree choking nightmare! Uncovered trucks disperse it all over. I have that, garlic mustard, mugwort, japanese barrberry, private, knotweed, moss, you name it. Thanks so much for the info!!

[@bill8985]

Great video. I have read that oriental bittersweet produces "urushiol" just like poison ivy. Am I wrong?

[@williaml8474]

On the big vines, I am using a battery driven saber saw with a wood cutting blade, reciprocating. Does the big vines and can get in close where the vine runs close to the trunk. Here is southern Westchester, Bronx river watershed, NY

[@andrewcreighton5513]

Very very helpful

[@TheWoodlandSteward]

Thanks! I'm glad it was helpful.

[@nheng6913]

Great video, wish you were here to ID some very large growths up out of the ground. Don't know if it may be an exposed root from a nearby, very large oak. We're in NH, had bittersweet up to 3" in the past take down an oak tree. This year thought I had licked it but it seems to be a late bloomer. Brush cutting at the ground on all small plants, we'll see how that goes. Maybe Godzilla is underground developing. Found a lot of 1" or so in a cluster of trees, cutting those near the ground and using glyphosate this year, will need to go to tclopyr if results are inadequate. Just when you think you've cleared an area, you look up at the canopy and find more coming in horizontally from other areas. These are monsters.

[@tedgoerner4189]

This is the best video I have seen on this topic. So thorough. Been combatting this plant for several years now. Have had success with killing larger vines by cutting alone. I'm in Central Connecticut. Thank you so much for this valuable information. Do you by chance know what is the world record size for this species? I occasionally come across some that are 6 inches in diameter.

[@TheWoodlandSteward]

We've had plenty that are 3-4", but I don't know the record. Thanks for helping lower the population. Hopefully, we'll never learn how big they can get.

[@agirlnamedgoo-007]

This was very helpful! I have wintercreeper coming from the neighbor's yard (I'm pretty sure I am very allergic to it, idk how common that is) and it killed a tree and spread like crazy through my yard. I thought it was oriental bittersweet at first (I think they are related) and this video helped me tell the difference and learn how to kill it 🙌🏼

[@TheWoodlandSteward]

I haven't heard of an allergic response to wintercreeper, but we are all built differently, so it may happen.

[@BernadineDax]

How did the Glyphosate and Triclophyr combo work? Battling this in my woodlands backyard in NJ and looking to treat the cut stump.

[@TheWoodlandSteward]

Treating the cut stump with a 20% glyphosate has worked fine for me. I was going to use the glyphosate/triclopyr for foliar applications, but have not tried it yet. If it is small enough, I just weed it.

[@wittttttt]

@@TheWoodlandSteward how to pull it out, without leaving roots in the ground?

[@wittttttt]

Is there a case where you would want to pull it out with the root? If so, how would you do it?

[@TheWoodlandSteward]

I am constantly pulling small ones out by the roots. Large ones will pull out sometimes too, just make sure that you don't let the roots come in contact with the soil, because they will re-root.

[@herosnts]

Thanks so much for the info man! I’m trying to clean up Willow lake @Flushing Meadows here in NYC, nothing but bittersweet and Japanese honeysuckle, also some multiflora rose.

[@TheWoodlandSteward]

Good luck!

[@delyco1]

We have similar “pest plants” (multiflora rose, honeysuckle) on our woodland/wetland property, plus a few others (buckthorn, poison ivy/sumac). I’m actually adopting a tactic of ignoring all pests besides OB with the hope that the other pests will out-compete the OB if I keep hacking away at it! How’s it going 1 year later?

[@papleb5167]

Could this cut & treat method still be effective when done in winter? It seems the understory im dealing with is impossible to find a way into until February.

[@TheWoodlandSteward]

Yes, you can treat in winter. It might be less effective in the spring when the sap is running.

[@chriscaprette2361]

I just cut some medium-sized bittersweet vines from a beautiful specimen of Ostrya virginiana on our poperty, and the only one that I've seen. The bittersweet was already cutting into the upper half of the trunk. I've avoided herbicides but this is one plant that has me rethinking that. We also have tons of Burning Bush which I regularly cut and pull. Japanese Barberry and multiple Old World honeysuckles have recently invaded our property. It is a frustrating, seemingly never-ended task.

[@TheWoodlandSteward]

It is a never-ending battle! It is a harder fight without herbicides, but can be done if you are consistent with re-cutting. To me, the potential environmental degradation from the invasives is far greater than the potential impact of the herbicides. (But it is always a good idea to make sure that any herbicide use is targeted.)

[@delyco1]

I’ve been pulling as much of the bright orange bittersweet roots up as I can for the last two months. Right now (June 2023) I’ve been observing TONS of aphids going after ONLY oriental bittersweet on my wetland property. Maybe God heard my prayers and sent reinforcements? Has anyone heard that aphids go after plants that have too much nitrogen fertilizer? Not sure if that is true…

[@bobe5710]

My experience is that pulling it up does not work. Little bits of root are left behind and it comes right back as 1000 baby plants. So far only herbicide seems to work.

[@thomashelm4842]

I find that the wild grape can be killed if it’s cut when it’s pushing new growth, and before the leaves open. Sap/water seems to be rushing to the plant, and I’ve found that cutting it in this ‘narrow time window’ will allow it to ‘bleed to death’. Bittersweet and other invasives seem to respond to glyphosphate best in spring when the plants have new leaves and they’re actively growing, especially just after a rain.

[@TheWoodlandSteward]

I've been amazed how much sap drains out of a cut grape vine!

[@bonsaihorn]

Almost to 1000!

[@MikeLeonard-r4g]

I manage a 2600 acre municipal watershed that has small infestations of bittersweet but we cannot use any herbicides on the watershed which protects a public water supply. So I guess the only thing we can do is uproot as much as we can and mow down other thick areas so they don't go to seed. In

[@TheWoodlandSteward]

Sounds like a good plan. Good thing it is just "small" infestations.

[@knov314]

Would state dept of forestry send out workers to help eradicate? I live on 40 acres and it's up to the canopy, 50 ft at least.

[@TheWoodlandSteward]

It is everywhere. I don't think you can rely on help from the state (whatever state you are in). But it doesn't matter how high in the canopy it is, once you cut it off at the base, it's dead. You can do this!

[@knov314]

@@TheWoodlandSteward I hope so! It's quite a job to undertake. Thanks for the reply!🙂

[@markjones5561]

@@knov314 I had a similar problem . I had very large vines high in the trees. Cut them at the base, treated the stump, and left it to die. It will gradually dry out and fall out of the trees. Once it's rotted and dry it's quite light, but please just be careful around those trees in the future. The remaining tress are recovering. Some were too far gone, or perhaps were attacked by different diseases. The problem I have now is the bittersweet seedbank. Many many years of deposit's in the soil! ;) During autumn the trees used to glow orange with the seeds from bittersweet! LOL Glysophate seems to work on new leaves, but later in the season it doesn't work near as well. But, no huge vines now, and all tree canopies are free of this stuff.

[@brianmilliard6998]

I cut the vines about a foot above the ground and wrap junk mail fliers around the trunk with duct tape ( make a cone) , then and rock salt, table salt and a splash of water. Absolutely destroys the hidden bulb underground. Very effective and very inexpensive .

[@TheWoodlandSteward]

I will have to try that sometime.

[@cassandragonzalez5660]

I have this strangling my trees and my hedges. It's everywhere. I started pulling and cutting to stop the growth, but the gaping holes it leaves because the "green" was actually the bittersweet and not my trees. Bums me out. I am going to prepare to treat in the Fall. just don't know how to refill what is left.

[@blakespower]

me too and japanese honeysuckle it grows very fast in the springtime too!

[@delyco1]

How’s it going this year? Did your leaves come back?

[@cindyhorn5786]

Is it poisonous to eat?

[@TheWoodlandSteward]

It appears that plenty of people on the internet think so, and I don't have any reason to doubt them.

[@galations22o]

No cross-vine??

[@vershagupta9320]

I thought Bittersweet causes a rash, but you're not wearing gloves. What part of this plant contains the toxin?

[@TheWoodlandSteward]

Interesting. I guess some people develop a rash from Bittersweet. I am very allergic to Poison Ivy, but have never had a reaction to Bittersweet.

[@Puddycat00]

I took a pic of this vine and was told by the app that it was the oriental bittersweet. But I have never seen any fruit or flowers in the past 5 years I’ve lived here . Just leaves. I wish I could know for sure what I have before I kill it. I don’t want to kill it if it’s not this horrid oriental bittersweet .

[@clairedunne3443]

You can tell by the bark: He describes 1) bittersweet 2) native good wild grapes 3) honeysuckle (another invasive)

[@spacecatboy2962]

i seen a grapevine that was 12 inches in diameter

[@acwright]

I wish more people would go after oriental bittersweet. It destroys forests.

[@amiensarabellis8391]

If it's killing a tree beauty doesn't matter.

[@TheWoodlandSteward]

Good point!

[@lynnodonnell4764]

Sir, For us unknowledgeable gardeners you went 'back and forth' way too much to follow. I was sooo confused. I have tons of oriental bittersweet that's growing EVERYWHERE. It needs to go! I wish your video had been clearer to understand.

[@clairedunne3443]

You might look at other videos as well; and rewatch this one. The more you learn about bittersweet, the big picture will become clear.

[@lynnodonnell4764]

@@clairedunne3443 Wise advice. Thx!

[@jamesmason2228]

I'm fighting the good fight at a boys summer camp in Tuftonboro, NH. But I've become such a zealot that I often carry a pruning saw with me when I hike in the woods. If I see it? I get after it. While I'm not always finishing the job with herbicide? I look at it as creating a chance for the native species to out-compete this stuff. After all, we're not going to eradicate it at this point.

[@TheWoodlandSteward]

Keeping it from creating seeds is a huge step forward!

[@Necrofinowa]

I am that same crazy guy down here in Connecticut. Pruning saw and triclopyr on all dog walks😂

[@larryreynolds2223]

I do the same in Rochester, NY. The Corona Tools 10-Inch RazorTOOTH ($27 on Amazon) is a nice folding saw that I now carry in my back pocket when on hikes. I has cut vines up to 5 inches thick.

[@blackburned]

​@@Necrofinowa CT is lucky to have you

[@neilvaughan4163]

Does Triclopyr also work? I started using 8.0 percent on the cut off vines.