Amur Honeysuckle – Identification

Q: I have two of these big shrubs growing in my yard. The red berries are pretty in October. Can you identify it?

A: When I filmed television shows in Cincinnati we constantly battled this shrub: amur honeysuckle, Lonicera mackii., also known as bush honeysuckle. An Ohio inventor even came up with a tool designed specifically for lifting it out of the ground: the Honeysuckle Popper. This tool is an excellent weapon for our local struggles with Chinese privet.

Although bush honeysuckle has semi-attractive flowers and fruit, birds scatter the seed far and wide. It is as invasive as privet.

My advice is that you pull it up if possible. If it is too big, cut it off at ground level and paint the exposed stump with glyphosate (Roundup, etc)

You can read more here.

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