Trying to Ban Buckthorn from Your Yard? Mendota Heights Has a Tool for That

The city of Mendota Heights has a buckthorn-removing tool which is available for loan to local residents. This hand tool is effective in the removal of buckthorn and other invasive plants, officials say. The borrower assumes all liability, and must provide a $150 deposit (cash or check) and proper ID prior to using the tool.

Common Buckthorn is a non-native invasive plant from Europe that can grow either as a shrub or small tree, according to a city of Apple Valley news release. It invades forested areas and displaces beneficial native shrubs and understory plants. Its berries do not offer nutritional value to wildlife because they act as a laxative. Many people have Buckthorn growing in their yards because it was once commonly sold as a landscape plant. For these reasons, it is important to remove buckthorn from your yard if you find it growing there.

Fall is one of the easiest times of year to spot buckthorn growing on your property. The leaves of buckthorn tend to stay green and on the shrub/tree longer than other shrubs. So, if you are looking at a wooded area or shrub line and you see a bunch of green where most other trees and shrubs have dropped their leaves, it is a good chance that all that green is buckthorn.

Contact Sloan Wallgren at sloanw@mendota-heights.com. or call (651) 255-1354 to reserve the tool.

Image via le Husby, Flickr, used under Creative Commons