Over the past few weeks riding down our county roads, I have noticed the Chinese privet turning green.

After Easter, everyone will notice these plants because they will load the edges of the woods with large numbers of highly fragrant white flowers.

In the forest, privet occupies 1 million acres of timberland and is considered the second-most invasive plant. Japanese honeysuckle wins the trophy in Alabama for being the most invasive plant in forested settings, growing on 2½ million acres.

Over the last 30 years as I have watched these two plants spread, I have come to the conclusion that privet is the worst plant. Honeysuckle is an edge plant that needs sunlight to grow. Once the forest closes the canopy, honeysuckle tends to die back if it cannot grow in the tops of the trees.

Privet, on the other hand, will exist as a wisp in the understory of a forest just waiting for an opening. Once the opening occurs, the wisp will quickly grow into a thick bush. Without human intervention, the bush will grow into a 15-foot, multistemmed tree. As these bush-trees grow they shade the ground, and shade is the problem.

We have all pulled out little trees growing in our shrubs. Nicely pruned yard shrubs have sunlight reaching through them to the ground, so any seeds that land below the bush have an opportunity to germinate and grow.

Whenever I trim my parents’ or my shrubs, I always have to check for baby trees. Cutting the top of the tree does not kill the little tree. It merely sprouts a new branch within the bush, which turns upward and and becomes the new treetop.

Sometimes the tree is cut back so often it can develop a thumb-size or larger stem at the soil surface down below the bush. Many times this tree is impossible to pull from the ground.

When the tree is too large to pull, take a small pruning saw or loppers and cut it off, then apply herbicide to the stump. Although this happens in our yards, it rarely happens in the forest. Yard shrubs allow sunlight to penetrate. Privet grown in the woods does not allow sunlight to reach the forest floor.

Forest trees first filter out over half the sunlight, then the privet bush-trees filter out the remaining sunlight. Forest seeds that land on the ground under a privet bush-tree are either eaten by forest rodents, rot on the soil surface or germinate, begin to grow, then die in the shade.

Our creekside hardwood bottoms are highly susceptible to privet infestations. Privet loves moist forest soils. Because of this characteristic, many of our creek bottoms are becoming overgrown with privet.

Large 100-foot tall oaks, yellow poplars and cypress are being replaced with fifteen-foot tall privet forests. Not only are the trees in danger of dying, but the critters that depend on our native trees are also in danger.

If you have an established privet forest, it may take herbicides to defeat the invaders.

— Baril is the regional agent for Wildlife, Forestry and Natural Resources for the Alabama Cooperative Extension System. For information on topics related to the home and garden, contact any office of the Alabama Cooperative Extension System. The Limestone County Office is at 1109 W. Market St. in Athens. Office hours are 8 a.m.-4:30 p.m. Mondays through Fridays. For more information, call 256-232-5510 or visit www.aces.edu.