[milz45]

My backyard is wooded. When we bought it, it was completely covered in Honeysuckle. I mean thick, you could not walk through it. Over the last year I have been slowly battling it, clearing it out. I cut them down about a foot from the ground, then use a honeysuckle popper to get the stump/roots out. I've been burning it in large piles (to intimidate the remaining Honeysuckle :devil3. I'm to the point now where I have most everything cleared but the perimeter. We like the privacy so I was intending on leaving it at the perimeter and then each year, pulling the young one's up as they attempt to encroach back to the middle.

My question is what to do now in the middle? I don't want traditional lawn grass (or the mowing it requires). Plus I'm not sure how well it would grow anyhow with all the trees. I want to keep the open space that I worked so hard to gain, so we can spend some time back there and the kids can play. I might add an out-building some day, but that's years down the road. I thought about just letting it go to see what came up, but I'm concerned it will become nothing but tall weeds. There are some May Apples out there now, which we like. Can you provide some suggestions on something suitable that would not require a ton of maintenance and would fill the space? Ground cover? A hearty moss?

I live in Central Ohio, by the way. There's a panoramic pic attached to look at as well. No idea why it's showing as upside-down, sorry.

Thanks in advanced.

 

[Windows on Wash]

Picture is inverted, but it looks good.

 

[DoomsDave]

@milz45 welcome!

Nice to meet you!

Though I'm in California now, I lived in the Cleveland area for many years and gardened there, too.

You really kicked butt on that Honeysuckle from Hell! That is not easy, and kudos to you. Maybe post a picture of that thingie you used to rip out the roots? I have cancerous English Ivy I'm trying to get rid of, and anything that makes that hellish job easier is to the good as far as I'm concerned.

That is a nice cleared area, full of nice trees. Lots and lots of fun potential there! If you want suggestions, we'll fall over ourselves giving you some. What kind of trees are those? That might make a difference if you want to plant anything under there.

You'd like to preserve a "fringe" of honeysuckle around the edges as a privacy screen.

You already know how wretched it is to rip out that stuff, having done a lot of it.

So, my honest advice is: to quote Metallica and say "Kill 'em All" and eradicate the honeysuckle, then plant a reasonably tame shrub or small tree as a privacy barrier. There are many many choices. They include privet, lilac, shrub roses, and many more.

For the short term, you'll have some more planting and rooting and waiting to do. You'll have to spend some money, unless you want to try propagating a lot of cuttings of something like, say, privet.

But, for the long term, you'll get older, not younger and all that rooting and ripping of the invasive runners, etc., will be a helluva lot less sadistic fun than it used to be (if it ever was). Trust me, I know. You'll instead be able to enjoy that nice, new space unmolested by that horrific Honeysuckle Hell that will keep trying to come back. (We have it here in California, too.)

If you really want to turn this into a fun, plant nutty adventure, don't be afraid to maybe create a nice shrub border of different things, contrasting textures, succession of bloom, etc. A lot of work and planning, but so nice, if you want to do it. If not, that's okay too.

So, let us know what you do.

 

[chandler48]

I am by no means an advocate of spraying things like Round Up. However, a few years ago our local county extension service from the University of Georgia came to our property to help rid our fence line of honesuckle. They actually took small vials of Round Up and painted with an artists brush on one leaf of the honesuckle vines. It all died back and has not returned. I was totally amazed. They walked along the fence line painting as they went.

 

[milz45]

Thanks, @DoomsDave. Anyone who quotes early Metallica is a friend of mine.

I've thought about eradicating all of it on multiple occasions. However, there are some other things to be aware of. My property is long and pie shaped. Which means I have 7 properties that I share property lines with. Most of the perimeter honeysuckle is on their side of the line. I would need to go to all of them to see if it was ok if I cleared them out. I would imagine that at least a few wouldn't want to see other's yards so would push back. It also represents a LOT of honeysuckle. Equal or more to what I've pulled so far, I'd say. Lastly, there's a large ditch in our front yard where a culvert under our driveway runs to. It is absolutely filled with honeysuckle, completely obscuring the house from the road (which we like). That area is nearly as much as what I've cleared so far, and includes some honeysuckle "trees" that are easily 10" or larger in diameter.

To your point, when I think about trying to get rid of all of it, it feels a bit like cleaning the state of Michigan with a wet wipe ... overwhelming.

I'll ruminate a bit more on maybe approaching all the neighbors on the perimeter piece. But if I do keep the perimeter, can you suggest what might be a good option for the main area? Something that's relatively low maintenance and would not get high and keep it useable? I'm ok spending some money, or propagating cuttings. Would even consider renting a skid steer to grade things out a bit. Would probably opt for whatever would get things started the fastest.

 

[DoomsDave]

@milz45!

Ah, yes, Metallica. Mike Hetfield went to school and lived not far from where I'm at in the OC, before he got famous and high-falutin' and run off.

Hmm.

I would do all I could to get rid of as much honeysuckle as you can. I'd ask your neighbors; the worst they'll say is no. That stuff is so so so invasive. A buddy tried to live with some that had been there a long while and it re-grew by like six feet in a year. This was near Cleveland, but still, close enough for rock and roll . . . . .

Also, I vigorously concur with @chandler48 about some chemical warefare, and add that if you don't like using glyphosate, there's other chems like tricofyr, which I have used to tame the Invading Ash Trees From Hell, as noted in another post. https://www.diychatroom.com/f16/trash-ash-tree-688497/

That said, I can respect your desire for a low-maintenance barrier from noise and prying eyes. And, if there's a natural barrier to keep it in check, like a roadway, that helps a lot, too. But if there's no real barrier, then, to quote Mr. Ed "aaaaahhhhh Wilbur . . . . ."

How about a broader perspective picture? That will help with suggestions.

I hope you're not in a hurry. This is a bad thing to try to hurry through. I tried that with English Ivy, and I'm back to square one. I used to manage a garden shop and a big task was getting the customers to really think about the future, a large part of the educational process.

You may already know a lot of what I'm talking about, and I'm posting this for the shy lurkers as a public service.

 

[milz45]

I can't really get a broader perspective picture than the panoramic I included. I looked at Google maps for an aerial, but it's before I cleared out most of it, so it just looks like a green blob.

Our property is a wedge shape. So the front has a large ditch that is completely full of honeysuckle, obscuring the view of the house from the road. The drive way goes over that ditch, and the house is in the middle of the lot. The pic I included is from the back of the house facing the tip of the wedge. We're surrounded by the backs of adjoining lots and honeysuckle on the entire perimeter of the lot (except for the front road).