# Autum Olive?



## bhntr (Feb 13, 2001)

Can you start Autum Olive like a Willow. How valuable is it to rabbits? I dont have any in my woods.


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## answerguy8 (Oct 15, 2001)

You're going to find people advising you not to plant AO because it is a non native, invasive species.

But to answer your question, yes you can start AO from cuttings like you would willow.


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## Frantz (Dec 9, 2003)

My old man put in a few AO years ago as a hedge ling/widbreak on the driveway. Now, we cannot get rid of the damn things. They are great cover and feed for a great number of animals, but unless you are on top of them several times a year, they get out of control and choke most things out. Once they are established, good luck getting them out unless you plan on bulldozing them out. Myself and hte neighbor have used a number of cheomical means to try to control them, but they are very resiliant and the only way to stop them is to take them out root and all and then apply chemicals to the roots. They grow in jsut about any soil or area, and once they are established, there is no removal of the species, it is just a matter of maintenance, bu they provide som much shaded area they displace other plants. If I go more than 2 weeks without mowing my lawn, even when it is dry, they sprout op to over a foot in height.

Like I said, they do provide food and cover for a lot of species, but make sure you want them, because once you start, there is no turning back. If a bird craps as eed and your not there to stop it from hitting the ground, you will have another plant growing.


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## hondodeerhunter (Feb 1, 2006)

On my property the autumn olive is growing wild. It was planted by the state or someone a long time ago and because it is an invasive species it has taken things over. It has started in several areas around our property. There is no way to control it. We have brushhogged it down where we can, but it comes back more ferociously, poisonig it may work in some areas around your home. But it has been advised by the state and others to do whatever can be done to slow it because it takes over everything. DONT PLANT IT


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## hondodeerhunter (Feb 1, 2006)

Here is a link to the Nature Conservancy. Autumn olive is not reccommended because of the amount of seeds they put out spreads the plant over everything. You cant get rid of it once it starts spreading.

http://nature.org/wherewework/northamerica/states/michigan/misc/art10021.html


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## Munsterlndr (Oct 16, 2004)

Frantz said:


> My old man put in a few AO years ago as a hedge ling/widbreak on the driveway. Now, we cannot get rid of the damn things. They are great cover and feed for a great number of animals, but unless you are on top of them several times a year, they get out of control and choke most things out. Once they are established, good luck getting them out unless you plan on bulldozing them out. Myself and hte neighbor have used a number of cheomical means to try to control them, but they are very resiliant and the only way to stop them is to take them out root and all and then apply chemicals to the roots. They grow in jsut about any soil or area, and once they are established, there is no removal of the species, it is just a matter of maintenance, bu they provide som much shaded area they displace other plants. If I go more than 2 weeks without mowing my lawn, even when it is dry, they sprout op to over a foot in height.
> 
> Like I said, they do provide food and cover for a lot of species, but make sure you want them, because once you start, there is no turning back. If a bird craps as eed and your not there to stop it from hitting the ground, you will have another plant growing.


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## Frantz (Dec 9, 2003)

Brush hogging it, or attacking by at the top only seems to piss it off frrom what I ahve seen. 24D mid summer will kill of the top of the plants making them brittle and easier to dismantle, but again, it just seems to piss them off and they come back stronger. I had an area next to my house where they took over and I had it all dozed out I could not get control of it. The thorns are a wonderful treat for your tires as well.


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## NATTY BUMPO (May 12, 2001)

Frantz said:


> . The thorns are a wonderful treat for your tires as well.


Thorns?? Thorns??

Well, maybe I missed seeing 'em on AO?? There are plenty of trees and shrubs which have value for wildlife which DO have thorns (the various Hawthorns, for example, and Locusts, et al.). But I dont thinK AO is one of them. 

Natty B.


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## Munsterlndr (Oct 16, 2004)

I have a lot of it on my property and had to clear out 20 or so bushes of it where I wanted to put in a food plot. I sprayed it with round-up and then a month later cut it off with a chainsaw about 3" from the ground. Some of the smaller bushes I was able to pull the roots out with just a shovel but the larger clumps I had to use my tractor. I piled all of the old bunches of roots next to the field and by the next spring they had all sprouted again and grown a couple of feet. The stuff is amazingly resilient. 

I will say that birds like the berries, especially in mid-to-late winter and I find deer tracks all around the bushes this time of year, so I think they are eating the berries, too. The berries are pretty far off the ground so I don't think they would do much for rabbits. Here is a cool picture I took recently of a Cedar Waxwing munching on AO berries at my farm.


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## Frantz (Dec 9, 2003)

Sorry, the russians that we have along the driveway and in the immediate yard are the thorny ones, they are all mixed in with the autumns.


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## Munsterlndr (Oct 16, 2004)

Autumn Olive has spur twigs that become pointed like thorns. Plenty sharp, I've poked myself lot's of times when cutting them. Russian Olive has large numbers of thorns.


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## Frantz (Dec 9, 2003)

Stop the voices, they are making me nuts!!!!!

Just kidding, now i am confused. We have both in abundance and both grow the same. One, as it gets older, jsut a few years has these very long and almost indistructable thorns that get into my mower and quad tires and the neighbor won't brush hog them when they get to big because of the damage they do to even his thincker tractor tires. They both have the same berries, well they look the same anyhow. Now which is which, I seriously do not remember, just that they are both olives and he regreted ever getting them.


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## steveboss (Sep 4, 2002)

I have them on my property and love them they are invasive but the deer love the berries, along with alot of other animals. I actually transplant them to different areas. They grow real fastso if you are looking for something for instant cover for deer then AO is the ticket. Everyone is right be careful not to let them get out of hand.


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## hondodeerhunter (Feb 1, 2006)

I would advise against planting them. Ever smelled the stink in the spring from those white olive blossoms? They STINK. I can understand that the deer and other animals eat the berries but the problem is that they take over any area that is not dense mature woods with a canopy that keeps sunlight out. This makes them take over everything especially sandy grassy meadow areas on my land. Id much rather plant something that is good for wildlife and can be controlled. The thorns are nasty on those suckers. Tear hands up even with gloves on. Brushhogging works to keep them from maturing but they still spread. Although theyre not as badly needled as those thornapple things which will really puncture tires and your skin. Heres a link to the thorn on the Thorn Apple which also is nasty on tires so beware if you have trees like this around your place.
http://www.uwgb.edu/biodiversity/herbarium/trees/cramol_thorn01_tnail.jpg
http://www.uwgb.edu/biodiversity/herbarium/trees/cramol_thorn01_tnail.jpg


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## answerguy8 (Oct 15, 2001)

hondodeerhunter said:


> I would advise against planting them. Ever smelled the stink in the spring from those white olive blossoms? They STINK.



That's kind of funny, I like their smell.

And one other point; one person's invasive and hard to kill is another's easy to grow and beneficial.


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## Frantz (Dec 9, 2003)

This whole conversation is kind of funny. What I mean by that is I have planted everything from buckwheat, sorgum, carrots, beets, you name it, I can watch it die, yet these things come back without effort. Answerguy is 100% on, one mans invasive is anothers dream, you just need to pick which man you are and what suits your own area and maintenance skills/requirements. Wither way, asking and learning is the biggest step.


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## D_Hunter (Aug 22, 2004)

I have a spot on my property (line) that I am thinking of planting a "berrier" along to keep the neighbor from shooting over the line. This location is on the property line.

Question: Would planting AO along the fence line in the woods achieve the berrier that I need?


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## johnhunter (Jun 17, 2000)

D Hunter, AO is not shade-tolerant at all, so it likely wouldn't work well in the woods.

As to invasiveness - AO is NOT invasive on all site conditions. On my farm, there are several species more likely to be invasive on dense sod/heavy soil/old field conditions, namely, hawthorn, wild crab, eastern redcedar, bur oak, shrubby st. john's wort, wild roses, and others. Autumn Olive exists on my farm, but it is only an occasional shrub, and is not abundant anywhere. It barely spreads at all at my place.

IMO, AO gets a bad rap. If you're looking for cover, it establishes much easier than honeysuckles (which also don't spread on my place), dogwoods, or viburnums.


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## just ducky (Aug 23, 2002)

D_Hunter said:


> I have a spot on my property (line) that I am thinking of planting a "berrier" along to keep the neighbor from shooting over the line. This location is on the property line.
> 
> Question: Would planting AO along the fence line in the woods achieve the berrier that I need?


I planted it for that very reason on my property back in 1989, but in open field, and I now have a "hedgerow" 15 foot tall and 10 foot wide. I think I did read that it is not shade tolerant. Lots of other trees and shrubs will start coming up right within the stuff too like maples, oaks, dogwood, etc. which just adds to the cover and food. I'll just echo everything that has been posted prior to me....it is very prolific, and it does take over. Would I do it again...yep. But you have to understand...my goal was to create a tangle of brush, cover and food, so it was ideal for me. It provides a great barrier both for property boundary and wind protection, plus the berries and even the stems provide a lot of food for various songbirds and game like pheasants, turkeys, and deer. Contrary to what others said, the rabbits LOVE the new shoots on my property. Each spring when the snow melts, the new growth AO is chewed all up right at the snow line. But the stuff will come right back, so what the heck...have at it bunnies!


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## answerguy8 (Oct 15, 2001)

D_Hunter said:


> I have a spot on my property (line) that I am thinking of planting a "berrier" along to keep the neighbor from shooting over the line. This location is on the property line.
> 
> Question: Would planting AO along the fence line in the woods achieve the berrier that I need?


'Berrier' :lol: that was cute, I might steal that line some day. But to answer your question; it would work but you will have to give them some sunlight to grow in and I think you would need to plant several staggered rows to get the proper effect.


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