Bush Honeysuckle Removal in Perry, IA

Clearing bush honeysuckle out of timber near Perry, Iowa takes a full cutting pass, finished by early August if you can, and then return visits for the sprouts over the next seasons. For more than a backyard’s worth, the first pass is a forestry mulcher, grinding each shrub to chips where it grew. Taking it out from beneath the trees you want to keep usually costs $1,500 to $2,500 an acre.

It is easy to spot in April. Walk into a stand of timber along the North Raccoon, and if honeysuckle has moved in, it is the layer of shrubs already in leaf under oaks that are still bare.

Bush Honeysuckle in Dallas County Timber

Iowa’s invasive honeysuckles are two shrubs from Eurasia: bush honeysuckle (Lonicera maackii, often called Amur honeysuckle) and Tartarian honeysuckle (Lonicera tatarica). For clearing, the difference does not matter. Both are upright shrubs, and both are removed the same way.

In Dallas County timber, honeysuckle beneath the oaks can form a dense shrub layer that shades the plants below. Clearing that layer opens the woods, and the sprouts need follow-up.

How to Recognize It

The field marks to look for:

• Size: an upright shrub, 6 to 18 feet tall , with shaggy gray or tan bark.
• Leaves: simple, oval and untoothed, set in opposite pairs along the stem.
• Flowers: small, tubular, in pairs, white turning yellow, pink or reddish purple, in May and June.
• Berries: red or orange, many-seeded, on the plant from June into July and again from October into November.
• Stems: older stems of the exotic species are often hollow, while most native bush honeysuckles have solid stems. Cut a stem if you are unsure.

The timing test is the easiest. The leaves emerge one to two weeks before those of native trees and shrubs and stay on later in the fall. A shrub that is green when the rest of the timber is bare is very likely honeysuckle.

How It Spreads Through River Timber

It starts at the edges. The exotic honeysuckles are fairly shade-intolerant and most common on forest edges, old fields, pastures and roadsides. That describes the ground around Perry well: timber strips along the river and its ravines, each with a long edge against crop ground or pasture.

Then it moves inside. Woodlands can be invaded too, especially those that have been grazed or otherwise disturbed. An old cattle woodlot, a storm gap or a logging trail opens the way, and open woodlands, woodland edges, pastures and abandoned fields are all its ground.

It builds a seed supply every year. Each berry holds many seeds, and the seed disperses from late summer to early fall. A thicket left standing through one more autumn adds to the next round of seedlings.

It takes the ground. The exotic honeysuckles can rapidly overtake a site, forming a dense shrub layer that crowds and shades out native plants. They reduce light, use up soil moisture and nutrients, and may release chemicals that keep other plants from growing nearby. Even the berries are a poor trade: rich in carbohydrates but lacking the high-fat food migrating birds need. Under a dense stand, little else grows.

On a slope this matters beyond the woods themselves. As old prairie and oak savanna uplands become more wooded, they grow more prone to erosion because the grasses underneath are shaded out. A shrub layer that blocks the light under the canopy can be part of that.

Why One Cutting Fails

Cutting the top off does not kill the roots. A forestry mower or grinder removes the honeysuckle, but many of the stumps sprout new stems from the roots, so follow-up work on the sprouts finishes the job.

Three more things work against a single pass:

• The seed is already in the ground. If the shrubs went to berry before they were cut, the seed crop is waiting under the chips.
• The edges keep feeding it. A fruiting thicket on the next property, or along the road, keeps sending seed into timber you have just opened.
• Opened ground invites it back. The plant does best in light. Clearing the understory lets light in, and any honeysuckle seedlings on that ground get it first.

On a very small infestation, cutting the plants several times a year for two years can work without chemicals. On a bigger stand the idea is the same: the first cut opens the woods, and the follow-up cuts keep the sprouts from taking over again.

A Visit Plan for Timber Near Perry

For a few acres of river or ravine timber in Dallas County, the plan runs like this.

1. Walk it in spring and flag the keepers. April is when honeysuckle is green and everything else is bare, so it is the best time to see how far it reaches. Tie flagging on every oak, hickory, basswood or native shrub that stays, so the operator steers around it.
2. Make the first pass by early August. All control should happen before late summer, when the seed disperses, and grinding at the end of July or early August may reduce sprouting, because that is when the plant’s reserves are lowest. The mulcher takes down the whole honeysuckle layer in that pass, leaving chips on the ground and stumps cut level with it.
3. Decide on stump treatment. Herbicide on fresh stumps is the common way to hold back regrowth. We do not apply it: that is a licensed applicator’s work, and it has to come soon after the cut.
4. Come back the next growing season. By then the stumps have pushed up new shoots and seedlings have come up between them. Knocking them back while they are knee high is far lighter work than the first pass.
5. Keep checking in spring and fall. Its head start in spring and its late hold in fall work in your favor here, because for a few weeks each season it stands out against bare timber. Small plants can be pulled by hand in spring, which handles stragglers along a trail.
6. Leave the chips on the slope. On a ravine side, the chip layer and the roots left in the soil hold the bank while grass and native plants return.

Spring prescribed fire is moderately effective against honeysuckle. A controlled burn is its own discipline, with its own permits and planning, and it is not part of our work; if you want one, talk to your DNR district forester.

What Bush Honeysuckle Removal Costs

Cutting honeysuckle and brush out from under trees you keep typically costs $1,500 to $2,500 an acre, the Honeysuckle & Understory Clearing row on our Perry pricing page. If saplings have grown to pole size among the shrubs, the job moves to the forestry mulching band of $1,500 to $4,000 an acre.

• The usual job: honeysuckle and saplings cleared from beneath kept oaks, $1,500 to $2,500 an acre.
• A thick stand mulched to the ground, small trees included: $1,500 to $4,000 an acre, toward the top on a steep ravine side.
• A single patch behind a house: billed at the minimum charge, about $1,500, in place of an acre rate and never added to one.
• Return visits: priced per visit, each on its own line of the quote.
• Stump treatment: quoted separately by a licensed applicator.

Every visit leaves the ground the same way: stems, small trees and stumps mulched on site, stumps level with the soil, nothing trucked off. Pulling stumps below grade, or cutting and hauling very large trees, can be discussed and priced in the quote; grading is outside our price, since we clear to the ground for your builder.

Within a band, the price moves with stem density, the number of keeper trees, the steepness of the ground and how the trailer reaches the timber, which near Perry often means crossing a field. The Perry forestry mulching cost guide sets the cost of mulching beside a cut-and-burn job under Iowa’s burning rule.

Iowa Rules and the Corridor

No legal duty to remove it. Iowa Code 317.1A lists the state’s noxious weeds, and bush honeysuckle is not among them. Buckthorn is a primary noxious weed and multiflora rose a secondary one, so if either shares your timber with the honeysuckle, the county weed rules apply to that plant. Removing honeysuckle is a choice about your woods.

Burning the brush. Iowa’s open burning rule keeps a clearing fire at least a quarter mile from homes other than the owner’s or tenant’s, and rules it out entirely in West Des Moines, Clive, Urbandale and Windsor Heights. Mulched honeysuckle leaves nothing to burn or haul. The Perry land clearing page covers permits and the towns we serve.

Around Coralville. East in Johnson County, the same honeysuckle shares the timber with buckthorn, which state law does list. Our Iowa buckthorn removal guide covers that plant and the noxious weed rules, and the Iowa land clearing cost guide covers clearing across the state.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does one mulching pass kill bush honeysuckle?

No. The pass removes every stem, but many stumps send up shoots and seedlings follow. Follow-up cuts across the next seasons finish the job, with a licensed applicator’s stump treatment as an option.

When is the best time to clear honeysuckle near Perry?

Before late summer, when the seed disperses, and ideally at the end of July or early August, when sprouting may be lower. April and November are the best times to see how much you have.

Is bush honeysuckle a noxious weed in Iowa?

No. It is not on the Iowa Code 317.1A list. Buckthorn and multiflora rose are.

How much is honeysuckle clearing per acre?

Around Perry, $1,500 to $2,500 an acre from under trees you keep, and $1,500 to $4,000 for a dense stand mulched to the ground. The smallest jobs carry a minimum charge of about $1,500, and each return visit has its own price.

Get Your Timber Back From the Honeysuckle

Request a free quote and we’ll contact you to discuss your property, access and the clearing you need. Our crew works honeysuckle in a fixed order: flag the keepers, cut before the seed drops, come back for the sprouts. A timber edge near Perry, a ravine behind an acreage in Adel or the back of a lot in Waukee all work the same way, and every autumn a stand is left adds another seed crop.

Read more: what each method does on our Perry services page.