Buckthorn Busting

Buckthorn is classified as a “noxious weed” in Minnesota. The local Friends of the Parks have a campaign to remove buckthorn for the bluffs of the Mississippi River and have information about buckthorn on their website.
For years, QCF has been removing buckthorn each fall at Alden and Margaret McCutchan’s farm, in the Canon River Valley, about an hour’s drive south of the Twin Cities. Here’s how it generally goes. (Photos are from the 2006 expedition.)

People in the Twin Cities area gather to carpool at 8:30 and leave at 8:45. We leave maps on the porch for any late-comers.

If you are coming you should bring:

Sturdy warm clothing – you will be moving through some scratchy bushes on uneven terrain so be prepared – work gloves are needed and eye protection is recommended. Shoes with ankle support are good. Layering is helpful: you’ll likely be down to your shirt sleeves after some heavy work!
Pruning saws & shears or clippers if you have them.
Your own drinking water bottle.

We’ll have weed wrenches and extras of most equipment.
It will be hunting season. We’ll have orange caps and vests (we have occasionally heard gunfire, but never close to us).

We aim to arrive at McCutchan’s by 10 am. People usually come from locations besides the Twin Cities. After the necessary preliminaries we all go to the spot Alden has chosen to work on this year.

We gather at a buckthorn-infested hillside.
(Click on the picture to see a larger image)

On the hillside above the car.

The most helpful tool is the Weed Wrench. Alden borrows several from Carleton College.

The weed-wrench at work

It often works best with two people

The McCutchans are definitely getting on in years. Alden has to be careful about over-exerting, and Margaret is pretty much confined to the house. However, in past years she has contributed a wonderful hot lunch, with full vegetarian options. Visitors are encouraged to bring a supplement to the main course, or if they have a special diet, their own food. Lunch is a sweet time, and it’s easy to linger over good conversation.

Conversation after lunch

We aim to have lunch at 1pm, with allowances for weather and other factors. After lunch it’s back to the buckthorn for another couple of hours.

The biggest trees can’t be uprooted and have to be sawed off. The stumps will re-grow new trees, if allowed to. Painting them with poison is the usual remedy, which we have a scruple against. We have found capping a stump with a tin can inhibits growth. (If you have a few spare largish cans, bring them along.)

Sawing & capping