Originating in parts of Europe and Asia, Rhamnus cathartic, aka buckthorn, was brought to these shores intended to be a welcome addition to our native landscaping stock. Now that it has gone feral, pushing its way into many necks of our urban forests and crowding out native species, it has worn out that welcome.

Buckthorn/Pixabay

While not noxious, buckthorn is robustly invasive. Once firmly established, getting rid of it can be a daunting task, requiring years of vigilant effort to finally eliminate it. More than a few homeowners start on their buckthorn project not realizing what they’re dealing with, i.e., the thorns, how quickly the brush mounts up and its resistance, at times, to herbicides and stump removal. In the end, homeowners, being overwhelmed, turn to professionals to finish the task, realizing why we want what we want for our services.

I have found some folks, though, do have a use for buckthorns.

I worked for a number of years for a woman in a suburban subdivision. She kept a buckthorn as a specimen at one end of her house, and we trimmed it as such. It was a volunteer. She kept it to balance the look of her house. Originally, there had been a birch at each corner of the house, in the front. Then one died off due to birch borer and a buckthorn grew in its place. She knew what it was and decided to keep it for curb appeal.

Buckthorn/Pixabay

Effective screen
Other folks value their buckthorns as privacy screens. They grow just about anywhere. Full sun, full shade – it doesn’t seem to matter. The client in that suburban neighborhood with the specimen buckthorn had a privacy issue with one of her backyard neighbors. The neighbor had placed a number of little-used items in outside storage in a back corner of their lot, where they were generally out of the neighbor’s sight and mind, but not out of my client’s sight and mind. She found that aggravating.

So we transplanted buckthorn volunteers from around her yard back there. Even in the heavy shade of her Norway maples, enough took root to eventually give her the screen she desired. Sometimes we doctor minds, rather than trees.

Another client wondered what to do with her and her husband’s buckthorn hedge that had originally been privet. I told her how most people feel about buckthorn. She decided to go ahead and trim them drastically, down to the ground. Her husband went ballistic. He hated looking at his neighbor’s backyard. We didn’t work there again, but in a few years, I’m sure he had his privacy screen back again, thicker and fuller than ever before. It would be odd if it wasn’t.

With proper trimming, buckthorn can make an attractive, useful, hardy and easy-to-maintain hedge; with its thorns, it’s an effective traffic stopper on corner lots. A nice, dense thicket of buckthorn can make a hard-to-penetrate, living security fence.

Here to stay
Over my 50-plus years in the trees, I’ve come to accept and tolerate that rascal buckthorn, waging war when called upon, working with them, likewise, when called upon. If it weren’t for the prolific seeds and thorns, they could become a popular common landscaping choice. Maybe some genetic engineer can come up with a seedless, thornless splice. That would be nice.

Buckthorn certainly can be a prolific, intrusive nuisance in little-kept areas, but like honeysuckle and mulberry, it’s here to stay.

Michael Hoppe is owner/operator of Michael Hoppe Arborist, a two-person operation based in Wauwatosa, Wisconsin.