Swapping Invasive Shrubs for Natives on Your Lake-Friendly Property
With its fiery red leaves and clusters of jewel-toned berries, burning bush (Euonymus alatus) might look like a perfect addition to your landscape, but a hidden danger lies beneath its beauty. Like many invasive shrubs, this striking shrub doesn’t just brighten up gardens; it escapes into forests and wetlands, spreading relentlessly. Despite its beauty, it’s one of the most common invasive species we see on property visits for our LakeSmart Lake-Friendly Living Program. Left unmanaged, burning bush and other non-native shrubs create dense thickets that block sunlight and nutrients from reaching other native plants and cause them to die off. Soil becomes more exposed to the elements, resulting in sediment and nutrient pollution entering our lakes.
Other common invasive shrubs to keep an eye out for:
- Autumn olive (Elaeagnus umbellata): Medium-sized with silvery, lance-shaped leaves and small, fragrant yellow flowers in spring. By late summer, it has clusters of small, red berries with tiny speckles on the skin. These berries are edible but help the plant to spread aggressively.
- Glossy buckthorn (Frangula alnus): Tall with dark green, oval leaves and clusters of small, black berries. It invades wetlands and forests, spreading rapidly and crowding out native plants.
- Common and Japanese Barberry (Berberis vulgaris and B. thunbergii): Dense, thorny shrubs with small, oval leaves that turn red in the fall. They produce small, yellow flowers in the spring and bright red berries in the fall and winter, making them easy to spot in wooded and disturbed areas.
(Photos courtesy of iNaturalist)
Create room for natives to grow.
If you find an invasive shrub on your property, it’s crucial to remove it and replant the area with native plants to prevent further spread or other invasive plants from becoming established. Here are a few options to help you identify invasive plants and how to control them:
“Spotlight on NH Invasive Plants” from UNH Extension, written by NH Master Gardeners, spotlighting invasive species and their management.
“Invasive Plants: Specific Methods of Control” from UNH Extension.
“Picking Our Battles” from New Hampshire Fish and Game Department.
“Invasive Plants” from New Hampshire Department of Agriculture, Markets and Food, including New Hampshire’s invasive species information and guidance.
Replant with native shrubs.
Restore your property with native plants that offer seasonal beauty, support wildlife (think birds and butterflies!), and protect the lake. Here are some outstanding native alternatives:
- Native sumac, such as smooth sumac (Rhus glabra), winged sumac (R. copallinum), or staghorn sumac (R. hirta): These stunning sumacs bring radiant red foliage in the fall, with clusters of red berries that last through winter, feeding birds, such as wild turkeys, and other wildlife. Sumac adapts to many soil types and adds shelter to help make your property habitat-friendly for wildlife. Its extensive roots help hold the soil in place and minimize soil from being eroded away and washed into the lake.
- Highbush blueberry (Vaccinium corymbosum) is commonly recommended for its abundance of berries and ability to thrive along the shoreline. For a unique option, try nannyberry (Viburnam lentago). Its creamy white spring flowers attract pollinators, and by fall, they transform into blue-black berries that feed wildlife through the winter. Plus, they’re delicious to us too! The roots of blueberry and nannyberry bushes help stabilize the shoreline from wave erosion and ice scouring during winter.
- Highbush cranberry (Viburnum opulus var. americanum) is not a real cranberry. Its most obvious similarity to the true cranberry in the grocery store or a bog is its red-colored berry — a snack loved by black bears, small mammals, and birds alike. With hydrangea-like blooms and a brilliant display of berries that ripen in late summer, this native shrub is perfect for jams, jellies, and sauces you’ll enjoy just as much as the wildlife. This shrub can be used as a screening hedge when landscaping due to its thicket of branches and stems.
(Photos courtesy of GoBotany)
You can purchase these native plants at local nurseries or through the New Hampshire State Forest Nursery, which opens its store in December. Visit their website to explore their offerings.
Let us help you identify invasive species growing on your property!
In the LakeSmart Lake-Friendly Program, we help property owners identify invasive species. We perform site visits as part of this program and ensure property owners know how invasive species can impact our lakes. As part of our visit, we provide suggestions to help them cultivate a native, lake-friendly landscape on their property. If you’re interested in learning more about all the lake-friendly living practices you can adopt on your property, answer some questions through our LakeSmart Survey. We’ll send you a personalized report filled with suggestions for a lake-friendly property!
by Ale Consulting