How to Get Rid of Bush Honeysuckle in Kentucky
Bush honeysuckle is the #1 invasive in Central Kentucky. Here's how forestry mulching clears it in a single pass — and what to do so it doesn't come right back.
Bush honeysuckle (Lonicera maackii) is the most stubborn invasive plant in Central Kentucky. It leafs out before native trees, holds its leaves into November, and shades out everything underneath. Here's how we actually clear it — and what it takes to keep it from growing back.
Why honeysuckle is so hard to kill
Mature honeysuckle has a fibrous, branching root system that resprouts hard from any stump left behind. Cut it with a chainsaw and walk away, and you'll have a head-high thicket again in two seasons. Birds also drop seed everywhere, so even a clean pasture stays under constant pressure from nearby uncleared land.
The plant tolerates shade, drought, and poor soil. Once it's established along a fence line or creek, it spreads outward by 5-10 feet a year.
The one-pass forestry mulching approach
A tracked forestry mulcher grinds standing honeysuckle from the canopy down to ground level in a single pass. The drum chews the stems and stumps into a 2-4 inch chip layer that stays on site. You go from a green wall to walkable, mowable ground in one day.
Compared to cut-and-treat by hand, the time and labor savings are huge. A two-person crew with chainsaws and herbicide might clear a quarter-acre in a day. A mulcher does an acre or more in the same time, and the stumps are already gone.
Keeping it from coming back
Mulching removes 95%+ of the plant in one pass, but a few cut stumps will push new shoots in the spring. Three things keep the regrowth manageable:
- Mow or bush-hog the cleared area once or twice in the first growing season to knock back resprouts.
- Spot-treat any stubborn stumps with a foliar or cut-stump herbicide labeled for honeysuckle (glyphosate or triclopyr) in late summer or fall.
- Re-establish desirable cover — pasture grass, native shrubs, or shade trees — so the bare ground doesn't invite the next invader.
When to do it
Honeysuckle is easiest to identify and clear in late fall through early spring, when native trees are bare and the honeysuckle is one of the only green things left. The frozen or dry ground also keeps the mulcher from rutting soft soil.
We work year-round in Central Kentucky, but if you want to wipe out a large stand, scheduling between November and March usually gives the cleanest result.
Frequently asked
- Will honeysuckle come back after forestry mulching?
- Some resprouting is normal. With one or two seasons of bush-hogging or spot herbicide treatment on stubborn stumps, you can knock regrowth down to near zero.
- Do I need to use herbicide?
- Not always. On small areas, repeated mowing alone will exhaust the stumps over 2-3 seasons. For large or high-pressure sites, a targeted cut-stump treatment makes the result permanent much faster.
- How much does honeysuckle clearing cost in Kentucky?
- Pricing follows our standard forestry mulching rates of $1,200 to $3,000 per acre. Pure honeysuckle thickets usually sit in the middle of that range — dense, but fast to mulch.