Buckthorn in Minnesota: Why It’s a Big Deal (and How We Help)

What Buckthorn Does to Your Land

Common buckthorn (Rhamnus cathartica) and glossy buckthorn (Frangula alnus) were brought here from Europe as hedge plants. They escaped into the woods and spread across much of Minnesota. Today, both species are listed as Restricted Noxious Weeds.

On your property, buckthorn:

• Takes over the understory
  It forms dense thickets that shade out wildflowers, grasses, oak seedlings, and most of the native plants that should be growing under your trees.
• Damages wildlife habitat
  Buckthorn berries act as a laxative for birds, which helps the plant spread. But the shrub doesn’t provide the same quality of food and cover as native shrubs, so habitat quality goes down.
• Speeds up erosion and changes the soil
  Buckthorn stands often have bare soil underneath. With the ground layer gone, rain can wash soil into ditches, wetlands, and lakes.
• Stays green longer than everything else
  Buckthorn leafs out early in spring and stays green late into fall. That longer growing season gives it a huge advantage over native plants.

If you see a wall of shrubs that are still green in November when everything else has dropped its leaves, there’s a good chance you’re looking at buckthorn.

Minnesota Law: What Landowners & Property Managers Need to Know

1. Buckthorn is a Restricted Noxious Weed

Under Minnesota’s Noxious Weed Law, common and glossy buckthorn are classified as Restricted Noxious Weeds. In practice, that means:

• It is illegal to import, sell, or offer buckthorn for sale in Minnesota.
• It is illegal to plant buckthorn on your property.
• It is illegal to transport buckthorn (brush, seedlings, etc.) except under specific conditions and proper disposal.

2. Do You Have to Remove Buckthorn from Your Land?

At the state level, “Restricted” weeds like buckthorn are not always handled the same way as “Prohibited” weeds. The Minnesota Department of Agriculture strongly encourages landowners to control and reduce buckthorn, especially where it is spreading into new areas.

Local governments (counties, cities, townships) can also require landowners and property managers to control listed noxious weeds. Many communities expect landowners to prevent weeds from spreading onto neighboring properties, public land, or road rights-of-way.

Even where active removal is not specifically mandated, you are still expected to:

• Not plant or sell buckthorn.
• Handle and dispose of buckthorn brush in a way that does not spread seeds or live plants.

If you manage HOA common areas, rental properties, commercial sites, church or school campuses, campgrounds, or cabins, you are generally expected to keep noxious weeds under control as part of responsible property management.

Our Approach: Roots First, Herbicide Last

We design our buckthorn work to match your land, your goals, and your risk tolerance. Our guiding rule is simple: remove buckthorn physically whenever we can, and use herbicide only when it’s truly needed.

Step 1: Walk-Through & Plan

We start with a site walk-through to understand:

• How much buckthorn you have (small patches vs. wall-to-wall)
• How close it is to homes, trails, wetlands, or other sensitive areas
• Which parts should be tackled first and which can be phased over time

You get a clear, plain-language plan: what we’ll do, where we’ll start, and how we’ll keep it from coming back.

Step 2: Physical Removal – Pulling by the Roots

Our default is mechanical removal: getting the plant, roots and all, out of the ground whenever it’s realistic and responsible.

We use:

• Hand-pulling for small seedlings
• Root wrenches / pullers for small to medium shrubs
• Selective digging where roots are tangled around desirable trees

This approach:

• Removes the entire root system so that plant does not resprout
• Often avoids herbicide on smaller plants
• Immediately opens up light for native plants and tree regeneration

Root-pulling is especially useful for new infestations, patch edges, and sensitive areas near water, gardens, or play spaces.

Step 3: Cutting Large Buckthorn & Targeted Stump Treatment

As buckthorn gets larger, pulling it can cause too much disruption to the soil or nearby tree roots. For thick stems and tree-sized buckthorn, we use a cut-stump method.

Our process:

1. Cut the stem near ground level.
2. Immediately treat the fresh stump surface with a targeted herbicide, using a small sprayer or sponge applicator.
3. Leave the roots in place to avoid tearing up the forest floor.
4. Manage the cut tops on-site according to local disposal guidance.

Why we do it this way:

• Untreated cut stumps almost always resprout, sometimes with more shoots than before.
• Treating only the stump lets us use very small, precise amounts of herbicide instead of broadcast spraying.
• Work is often scheduled for fall and winter, when many native plants are dormant and buckthorn is still active.

All herbicide work is done by state-licensed applicators, following product labels (which are the law) and Minnesota best practices for safety, PPE, and environmental protection.

Step 4: Follow-Up – Keeping It from Coming Back

The hardest part of buckthorn control isn’t the first day with chainsaws and root pullers. It’s the next 3–5 years.

Seeds in the soil and new seeds dropped by birds will keep trying to re-start the infestation. That’s why we focus on:

• Annual or semi-annual sweeps to pull new seedlings while they are small
• Spot treatment of stubborn resprouts if they appear
• Replanting with native trees and shrubs so something good fills the space instead of more buckthorn

We can create a simple maintenance plan that you or your caretaker can follow, or we can build this follow-up into an ongoing service schedule.

What This Means for Your Property

Cleaning up buckthorn is:

• An investment in your woods, trails, and views
• A way to stay on the right side of Minnesota’s noxious weed rules
• A long-term boost for wildlife, soil health, and water quality

Our promise at Scott and Jim’s Healthy Land Solutions LLC:

• Roots first: we physically remove buckthorn whenever it’s realistic and responsible.
• Chemistry last: we reserve herbicides for stumps and problem spots where they’re truly needed, applied carefully and in small, targeted doses.
• Follow-through: we don’t just “mow the jungle” once and walk away; we help you keep buckthorn from taking over again.

If you’re looking at a stand of buckthorn and thinking, “this is too much,” that’s exactly the situation we’re built for.