By: Werner Hildebrand

Werner Hildebrand — Thu, 20 Feb 2025 18:38:12 +0000

This is an EXCELLENT article! I wish all my neighbors would read it…in fact, they will, because I’m going to forward it to them – LOL! My wife and I have done this very thing to our “greenspace” at the far end of our backyard. We live in a Loveland neighborhood with an HOA and the covenants dictate that in the greenspace we can only remove invasive plant material, and for each tree/plant that is removed, we must replace it with two native plants/trees. All we could see was honeysuckle; it had completely filed in the undergrowth area beneath larger native trees. In spite of the summertime privacy it provided, we removed it all by hand two years ago and then the magic started to happen; and it was amazing. We’re already seeing saplings of paw-paw, ash, and juniper as well as new branches coming out of the existing tree trunks that we left in place. Sunlight is finding its way to areas that have been shaded for decades! We’ve since planted a few arborvitae and junipers and a red bud, as well as ornamental grasses and flowering perennials in this space. Plus last fall we added two oak saplings that we got from a lottery held by the city of Loveland (that was cool!). All-in-all, our experience is a great example of what may be possible if honeysuckle is removed to give the native plants have a chance to thrive 🙂

Comments on: What’s the Big Deal with Honeysuckle?

By: Werner Hildebrand