Take a look at the wooded edges of your yard over the next few weeks. Once native trees and shrubs start dropping their leaves, bush honeysuckle stays stubbornly green, which makes it easy to spot. Around Godfrey, Alton, and the bluffs along the river, it has taken over a lot of woodlots and fence lines.
Bush honeysuckle is an invasive shrub that shades out wildflowers and young trees, and its thick growth crowds the base of the trees you actually want to keep. Small plants can be pulled by hand, but established thickets with multiple stems usually need to be cut and hauled out. Our crew can clear the overgrowth and haul the brush away with our greenway waste hauling, giving healthy trees room to breathe.
Once you know what to look for, it's hard to unsee. Have you noticed green shrubs hanging on in the woods near your place this fall?
#InvasiveSpecies #MetroEast
An authentic photo of a Metro East woodlot or fence line in fall where green bush honeysuckle stands out against bare native trees, or a before/after of an understory the Riverbend crew cleared and hauled out. Real photos strongly preferred over stock.
Canva text suggestion: "Still Green? It Might Be Honeysuckle" or "Clear the Invasives, Keep the Trees"