Our services - Urban forestry
Buckthorn Eradication Treatment
Nova Sylva now offers a buckthorn eradication service. Our expertise in forestry allows us to offer a service adapted to the specific needs of municipalities and private owners who want to control this invasive plant.
What is buckthorn and why get rid of it?
Cathartic buckthorn (rhamnus cathartica) and Glossy buckthorn (rhamnus frangula) are exotic shrubs introduced in North America for medicinal and horticultural purposes during the early European colonization. Their ease of adaptation to a new environment, their high germination rate, their allelopathic property and the absence of natural predators, insects and diseases favoured their dispersal throughout North America. These invasive species are linked to several ecological problems, including changes in the composition and structure of forest stands that lead to a loss of biodiversity and wildlife habitats. Buckthorn can reach a height of 7 meters and a diameter of 25 cm.
Several woodlands in southern Quebec, particularly in the Outaouais and Montérégie regions are already invaded by buckthorn. This problem is often aggravated by the dieback of ash trees attacked by the Emerald Ash Borer. Indeed, buckthorn is effective in establishing itself in the understory in dense stands but benefits greatly from the opening of the forest canopy caused by the cutting down or eventual death of ash trees affected by these insects.
The eradication of buckthorn is therefore essential in order to avoid a large scale invasion of buckthorn in Quebec which would cause an ecological disaster in these woodlots and natural environments.
Solutions
Manual grubbing and the use of localized herbicide (brushing the stumps) are two preferred solutions with a good success rate. In an environment where the species are already very present and the seed bank on the ground is important, the treatment will have to be repeated a few times in order to eradicate buckthorn. Buckthorn eradication can be carried out at different times of the year using the appropriate technique.
Services
Our services include :
- Assessment of invasion by conducting a buckthorn inventory
- Management plan to eliminate buckthorn
- Field intervention to eliminate buckthornn
Contact us and it will be our pleasure to accompany you in your steps.
Nova Sylva inc.
info@novasylva.ca
www.novasylva.ca
819 617-0551
References and useful links
http://www2.cegm.ca/realisations/milieux-naturels/le-nerprun-faq/
Cathartic buckthorn plant with fruits
Treatment to remove buckthorn from a municipal park
Winter treatment
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