Post European Buckthorn regeneration in WI

About two years ago i purchased my small 2 acre woodlot. The entire thing was taken over by buckthorn thicket and black locust. I am slowly thinning the black locust, but removed all of the buckthorn. Presently trying to regenerate the understory with minimal success. This year i’ve been focused on fighting the garlic mustard that came in to fill the old buckthorn thicket.

Ive planted many, many trees, maple seeds, acorns, etc. however, I have an abundant rabbit and squirrel population that has found a way to eat or maim every seedling and dig up every last acorn (i planted 4-5 gallon buckets worth). I am on the edge of a mid-size city in WI and the last wooded stand in the area. Unfortunately, I’m beginning to think that removal of squirrels and rabbits until i can get the understory established, as they only seem to target non-invasive plants.

Anyone else have success regenerating a woodlot after removing European Buckthorn? I’m hoping to hear at least one success story and maybe any tips you can provide for my quest.

Dave, welcome to the forum.

I have no experience with buckthorn.

Whatever you decide on I would suggest native species.

Here are some threads that you or others might find of interest:

https://permies.com/t/58070/Buckthorn-Replacement-Questions

https://permies.com/t/42073/Buckthorn-Whitetail-deer-tough-situation

Hey, welcome! Another wisco buckthorn fighter- I've been stewarding a local park that is also suffering from the buckthorn takeover. I've found the DNR of Minnesota to have a really helpful resource for dealing with buckthorn. Perhaps not immediately relevant to you, but maybe to other buckthorn fighters.  As is this study from DePaul University, a particularly relevant excerpt is this:

In addition buckthorn may modify soils in other ways. For example, a greenhouse experiment by Klinosky et al. (2013) compared the effects of European buckthorn foliage and Acer saccharum, a native tree to southern WI that has a similarly high nitrogen content in its foliage. They concluded that buckthorn inhibited germination of other plant species, and showed that litter produced by buckthorn inhibits the growth of the seedlings of four native trees (Klionsky et al. 2013).

Unfortunately, animal browsing and interfering vegetation are the leading causes to slow regeneration per my city's forester. I would definitely recommend animal deterrents- be that as simple as a fence for rabbits, a dog for the squirrels or just hunting- really whatever works best for you. Natural deterrents could be another route to go with.

Regardless, I think repeated plantings are sometimes just the nature of things. I've had some luck without repeated plantings with black locust, beech and aspen in a few spots I'm trying to regenerate. That being said, those spots are near ferns, black cap raspberry patches or other natural deterrents. The spots that aren't protected or "warded" by plants certain animals don't like, those are the spots I've had to come back to and replant.

Hope this helps some, and best of luck!

Thanks for the replies! Ive been a reader here for some time and read some of the other boards regarding buckthorn and animal browse.

It is good to hear another Wisconsinite is seeing some success. Ive seen over a dozen rabbit in my yard and they even eat every last blackberry cane over the winter! I read somewhere a rabbit will eat as much in its lifetime as a sheep. Not sure how true that is, but I can see it in my situation… I’ve read a lot on buckthorn and the possibility of allopathic tendencies of the leaves and roots, which explains the prolific garlic mustard coming in its absence (the two did evolve together after all).

I am trying something new and plan to report back how it goes. Ive been spreading maple leaves (as many as i could drag home from fall leaf collection, about 100 bags) over the previous buckthorn thicket. My hope is that this helps change the soil chemistry a little faster and MAYBE chokes out a little garlic mustard. I may just try to sheet mulch over the garlic mustard with interspersed tree plantings. Of course, erosion is another factor I’m working against, and I’m also going to spread dome arborist chips around.

For now I’ll just need to fence each new tree. Any other woodland soil building ideas or post buckthorn remediation recommendations i’ll gladly take . Most references i find online seem to focus on removal and not what cones next!