Barberry shrubs are another aggressive, non-native invader from another land. These shrubs can become huge problems in forest understories where large thickets form over time thanks to the lower branches layering and a tolerance of the forest shade. I think these shrubs largely go unnoticed because they aren't readily recognizable in the shade, where their leaves stay green. If these barberries are caught early enough, the right hand tool is enough to pop them out of the ground.

In this photo, barberry shrubs have just begun invading this forest edge, already interrupting this seasonal stream's natural hydrology. Literally growing in this stream, the barberries will continue to flower and produce berries, which in this case, can be washed downstream to germinate and begin anew.

Once removed, the natural hydrology is restored, the potential seed source for more barberries is eliminated, and our native forest denizens will have more available resources.

Note the smooth leaf edges and early green up coinciding with the forest's spring ephemeral blooming period. Speaking of which...

Here's the same barberry shrub. I pulled back the branches and found an anemic population of jack-in-the pulpit on their way to being out-competed. Here we have concrete evidence of barberries changing our forest's composition for the worse.

Lesser celandine is one of our more challenging invasive species to control. It emerges, flowers, and goes dormant in a very short period in early spring. If you have walked along rivers, streams, and flood plains in the springtime, you have likely seen lesser celandine. It is very good at excluding / choking out native perennials and seedlings. It is late December and I saw some emerging along the Scioto river last week, likely encouraged by our recent warm temperatures. I did not apply herbicide this early in the growth cycle, as the timing and the plant's development weren't ready quite yet.

I had the privilege of working just after a decent snowfall this January and thought I'd share some of the pics I took. I was mostly tasked with removing invasive species.

When the initial removal was complete, there remained healthy populations of silky and grey dogwoods and a nice elderberry thicket.