Honeysuckle Removal: Honeysuckle is a big concern for our parks and we would appreciate your help in eradicating this invasive plant species. Although honeysuckle can be an attractive plant, its uncontrollable tendencies are a threat to our parks' native plant species.
It grows quickly, and tends to block sunlight from lower, native plants. Even after its stems are cut, they can still develop roots and regrow! By removing honeysuckle correctly, we can ensure that our ecosystem returns to its natural, balanced state.
With help from 680 volunteers, working 2,720 hours, (to date) we have been able to clear 29.07 acres of honeysuckle. The debris that is removed is turned into wood chips. 630 cubic yards of chips have been created so far. That would cover 3½ football fields an inch deep, or fill 416 midsize trucks.
You can help with honeysuckle removal by checking our future projects linked below, or to find out more about the process, please call Karl at 614-645-2863, 614-373-7939 or email him at kjhoessle@columbus.gov.
Future Invasive Plant Removal Projects
Projects Completed in 2012
Invasive Species: Honeysuckle is in the Caprifoliaceae family, and is in the Lonicera genus. The word Lonicera comes from Adam Lonitzer who lived in Germany during the 15th century.
There are five main varieties of invasive species of honeysuckle living in Ohio today. The bush variety are Tartarian, Morrow, Amur and Bella which is a cross between Tartarian and Morrow. Tartarian honeysuckle was introduced to America in 1752 as an ornamental. The rest came during the 1800's as habitat or erosion control. By 1898 there were reports of the honeysuckle spreading into the wild. Ohio does have native honeysuckle bush. The quickest way to tell if a bush variety of honeysuckle is invasive is by checking the stem. If the stem is hollow then it is invasive and if it is native it has a solid stem. There is also a Japanese vine variety which is invasive. This vine strangles its host and can be identified by its dark berries and white flowers that grow in pairs. These flowers turn yellow later in the season. Ohio’s native variety called Trumpet, does not strangle its host. It can be identified by its red berries and red-orange flowers.