Making the most of autumn
- Turtle in Chief
- Dec 1, 2021
- 3 min read
The cool temperatures and the brilliant foliage of autumn make this a great time of year to be in the woods. There are fewer bugs, and the poison ivy has retreated slightly, so a leisurely hike around the grounds is very pleasant. There's a more practical reason I like this time of year though: The fall colors make it easy to locate and identify certain plants that blend in during summer months when most foliage is a more uniform green. Many of the plants I spot in the fall are highly undesirable invasives that pop out like stains on a white shirt now that the foliage of natives has browned and dropped to the ground.
Euonymus alatus, or burning bush, is a prime example. Difficult to pick out during summer, these shrubs looks like small smokeless fires burning throughout the woods this time of year. I carry my loppers with me to snip them to the ground. While this doesn't kill them, it keeps them too small to produce seeds and encourages the growth of nearby natives.
It's also hard to miss callery pears this time of year, and it's obvious why they are so popular as yard trees: The fall foliage is gorgeous and long lasting. Unfortunately they pop up everywhere land has been abandoned, dominating the landscape and excluding native trees. They stump sprout prolifically, providing good job security for native habitat restorers. Starting January 2023, sale of these trees will be illegal in Ohio. This ban is unfortunately somewhat meaningless due the ubiquitous presence of wild growing tree across the state.
Many invasives are successful because they leaf out earlier, and keep green foliage later, than native plants. This is the case with bush honeysuckles and autumn olive. Sadly, the bush honeysuckles can now be seen, spread throughout the Savanna, looking very comfortable among the blackberry brambles and goldenrod. The vining type of Japanese honeysuckle is evergreen here, which no doubt helps it in its quest to cover everything. If you've read previous posts, you know my attitude towards Japanese honeysuckle: Eradication is impossible, but releasing young trees from its clutches is sufficient to allow forest regeneration. I intend to put more energy into tackling the bush honeysuckles however. They quickly form dense clusters with dozens of closely spaced stems, making cutting tedious.
It's important to keep a good attitude when doing this work. I feel too many ecologically-minded land managers aim for complete control over the landscape, and seek total eradication of undesirables through the use of herbicides. While I don't condemn chemical use in all cases, this approach is a continuation of the mindset that got us into this mess in the first place-- the attitude the humans always know best and should shape the landscape in whatever way we see fit. Those who feel the need for total control perhaps shouldn't be doing this work. Avoiding herbicides and accomplishing only that which is possible with hand tools will prevent you from causing damage before you know what the hell you are doing. And it keeps you humble.
Looking on the positive side of all this manual cutting, it becomes apparent that this removal is really just chop-and-drop writ large. Once cut, undesirables plants have a positive effect on the land. Piles of brush from callery pears provide shelter for birds and small mammals, and hunting spots for those that prey on them. They add crucial nutrients and organic matter to the soil as they decay. Autumn olive in particular, as a nitrogen fixer, increases the total amount of available nitrogen once cut. I DO NOT recommend planting it, but imagining its fertilizing effects as I snip it to the ground sweetens the task.
It's not only undesirable plants that stand out in the otherwise drab landscape. Marcescent trees such as oaks and beeches hold onto their leaves well into winter, making fall a great time to locate these trees. I love finding hitherto undiscovered trees of these species, which indicate that the woods are maturing. The fruits of holly and crabapple can also be easily observed, decorating these pioneers as they colonize the Savanna, and providing winter snacks for birds. Two of our native pines, white and Virginia, have shown up, and I hope to discover more seedlings on winter walks. And of course there are the true mosses, club mosses, fungi, and lichens that now draw the eye. It going to be a busy season for botanizing, but I'm ready.
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