Buckthorn removal in Wisconsin takes two steps. First you cut or mulch the woody growth, then you treat the cut stumps so the roots do not resprout. Common buckthorn is an aggressive invasive on the Wisconsin DNR's NR 40 restricted list, and cutting it alone will not kill it. The fastest way to clear a buckthorn-choked woods is to mulch the thicket down to the ground and follow up with a stump or basal-bark herbicide treatment in the dormant season.
We pull buckthorn out of woodlots, fence lines, and hunting land all over central Wisconsin, working out of Oxford across Marquette, Adams, Waushara, Columbia, and the rest of the counties around us. If you have walked your woods and found a wall of thorny brush that holds its green leaves long after the oaks have dropped theirs, you almost certainly have buckthorn. Here is what it is, how to know it, and how to get rid of it so it does not come right back.
What Is Buckthorn and Why Is It Bad in Wisconsin?
Common buckthorn (Rhamnus cathartica) is a woody shrub or small tree brought over from Europe as a hedge plant in the 1800s. It got loose and it has been taking over Wisconsin woods ever since. The DNR lists it as restricted under NR 40, the state's invasive species rule, which means it is illegal to sell, plant, or move.
It is bad news for a few reasons. Buckthorn leafs out early in spring and holds its leaves late into fall, so it shades out everything below it. Native wildflowers, oak seedlings, and the young trees that should be replacing your canopy never get the light they need. A woods that fills with buckthorn slowly turns into a thicket with bare dirt underneath and nothing growing but more buckthorn. The berries give birds a cheap meal, which is how it spreads, but they act as a laxative and offer almost no real nutrition. It also puts a chemical into the soil that makes it harder for native plants to take hold. For hunting land, that matters: buckthorn pushes out the browse and mast that deer actually use.
How Do You Identify Buckthorn?
The easiest time to spot buckthorn is late fall. After the maples and oaks have dropped their leaves, look for the shrubs that are still bright green. That is usually buckthorn. Up close, here is what gives it away:
- Leaves. Oval, dark green, glossy, with small teeth along the edge. The veins curve to follow the leaf tip. They grow nearly opposite each other on the twig.
- Thorns. Common buckthorn has a short, sharp thorn at the tip of many twigs, right between a pair of buds.
- Bark. Gray to brown, and if you scratch the surface the inner bark is bright orange. That orange is the surest single tell.
- Berries. Clusters of small black berries on the female plants in late summer and fall.
- Stays green late. Holds green leaves well into November when most natives are bare.
Glossy buckthorn is the other one we see, more often in wet ground and along the marsh edges near Montello and the Fox River country. It has no thorns and the leaves are shinier, but the control is the same.
How Do You Get Rid of Buckthorn for Good?
This is where most people go wrong. They cut the buckthorn down, feel good about the clear woods, and by the next summer it is back thicker than before. Buckthorn resprouts hard from a cut stump, often sending up a dozen new shoots from one cut. To actually kill it you have to deal with the roots. Here is the order of operations we use.
- Clear the top growth. For a heavy thicket, forestry mulching grinds the standing buckthorn into a mulch layer in one pass and takes the stems down to the ground. For scattered or smaller stems, hand cutting works.
- Treat the cut stumps. Right after cutting, the fresh stump gets a herbicide treatment so the root takes it up. This is the step that kills the plant instead of pruning it. On larger uncut stems, a basal-bark treatment around the base does the same job without cutting first.
- Time it for the dormant season. Late fall through winter is the best window. The plant is moving sugars down to the roots, so it pulls the treatment down with them, and there is no green native growth to worry about hitting.
- Watch for resprouts and seedlings. The seed bank in the soil can stay alive for years. The spring and summer after the work, you walk the ground and pull or spot-treat the seedlings before they get woody.
- Replant or let natives come back. Once the buckthorn is gone and the light comes back to the forest floor, native grasses, wildflowers, and tree seedlings start to recover. On open ground you can seed it or put in a food plot.
Our invasive species control work covers the clearing and the follow-up treatment together, so you are not left with a fresh crop of resprouts the next year.
Does Forestry Mulching Kill Buckthorn?
By itself, no, and it is worth being straight about that. A mulcher takes the buckthorn down to ground level and chews it into mulch, which clears the woods and knocks out the seed source for that year. But the roots are still alive and they will resprout. What mulching does is make the rest of the job easy. Instead of fighting through a thorny thicket to treat each stem, you have open ground and low stumps you can get to. We mulch the thicket, then treat the stumps or basal-bark the regrowth in the dormant season. That pairing is what kills it. Mulching alone is a reset, not a cure.
For a small patch you can skip the machine and do cut-stump treatment by hand. For an acre or more of solid buckthorn, mulching first saves a huge amount of labor and gets you a usable woods in a day instead of a season of hand work.
How Much Does Buckthorn Removal Cost in Wisconsin?
Cost depends on how thick the buckthorn is, how big the stems have gotten, and whether you are doing the herbicide follow-up. Mulching a buckthorn thicket falls in the same range as our other brush work. Here is what to expect per acre.
| Infestation | What It Looks Like | Typical Cost Per Acre |
|---|---|---|
| Light | Scattered shrubs, stems under 2 in, open understory | $400 to $600 |
| Medium | Dense shrubs, stems 2 to 4 in, filling in the understory | $600 to $900 |
| Heavy | Solid thicket, stems 4 to 6 in, bare dirt underneath | $900 to $1,200+ |
These are working ranges, not a quote. Herbicide follow-up is usually priced on top of the clearing and depends on how much regrowth comes back. Small jobs carry a minimum or a flat rate because loading the machine, driving out, and unloading costs the same on a quarter acre as it does on five. Bigger jobs come out lower per acre. We give you a flat price for the whole job after a free on-site look, so you see the number before any work starts.
When Is the Best Time to Remove Buckthorn?
The dormant season is the sweet spot, and that lines up well with how we work in central Wisconsin.
- Late fall and winter. October through February is ideal. The buckthorn is sending energy to its roots, so cut-stump treatment travels where it needs to go. Frozen ground holds the machine up, there is no leaf cover hiding stems, and the green buckthorn is easy to pick out against bare woods.
- Summer. You can cut and treat in the growing season, but treatment results are less reliable and you risk hitting native plants that are leafed out around it.
- Spring thaw. Roughly March through early May is the stretch to avoid for the machine work, since soft ground can rut your property. Hand pulling small seedlings, though, is easiest in spring when the soil is loose.
If you are clearing buckthorn for food plots or shooting lanes, the dormant season also makes it easy to see the lay of the land and cut clean lines.
What About Honeysuckle and Other Invasives?
Buckthorn rarely shows up alone. The same woods around Portage, Baraboo, and the Wisconsin Dells area that fill with buckthorn usually have bush honeysuckle and autumn olive mixed in, both also on the NR 40 list. Honeysuckle is a hollow-stemmed shrub that leafs out early like buckthorn and grows in arching clumps. The good news is the control is the same: clear the growth, treat the cut stumps, and follow up on the resprouts. When we mulch a woods we take all of it down together, then treat what comes back. There is no point clearing the buckthorn and leaving the honeysuckle to fill the gap.
Get a Free Buckthorn Removal Estimate
We clear buckthorn, honeysuckle, and other invasive brush and reclaim grown-up woods across central Wisconsin, including Oxford, Montello, Westfield, Portage, Baraboo, Wisconsin Dells, and the surrounding 8 counties. Whether it is one buckthorn-choked acre or forty, we will come look and give you a straight price on the clearing and the follow-up treatment. Call (608) 450-1066 or request your free estimate online.
Last updated: June 2026
Frequently Asked Questions About Buckthorn Removal in Wisconsin
How do you get rid of buckthorn for good?
You have to deal with the roots, not just the top. Cut or mulch the buckthorn down, then treat the fresh cut stumps with herbicide so the root takes it up, ideally in the dormant season. Cutting alone makes it resprout thicker. After that, watch for seedlings and resprouts the next year and spot-treat them, since the seed bank in the soil stays alive for years.
Does forestry mulching kill buckthorn?
Not by itself. Mulching grinds the buckthorn to the ground and clears the woods, but the roots stay alive and resprout. What it does is make the follow-up easy by leaving open ground and low stumps you can reach. Mulching paired with a cut-stump or basal-bark herbicide treatment in the dormant season is what actually kills it.
How do I identify buckthorn?
Look in late fall for shrubs that are still bright green after the native trees have dropped their leaves. Buckthorn has glossy oval leaves with small teeth, a short thorn at many twig tips, and bright orange inner bark when you scratch the surface. Female plants carry clusters of small black berries in late summer and fall.
How much does buckthorn removal cost in Wisconsin?
Mulching a buckthorn thicket runs about $400 to $1,200 per acre depending on how dense it is and how big the stems have gotten, with light scattered patches at the low end and solid thickets at the top. Herbicide follow-up is usually priced on top of the clearing. Small jobs carry a minimum or flat rate. We give a flat price after a free on-site look.
When is the best time to remove buckthorn?
Late fall through winter is best. The plant is moving energy down to its roots, so cut-stump treatment travels where it needs to go, frozen ground holds the machine up, and the green buckthorn is easy to spot against bare woods. Spring thaw is the time to avoid for machine work because soft ground can rut your property.
Why is buckthorn a problem in Wisconsin?
Common buckthorn is an aggressive invasive on the Wisconsin DNR's NR 40 restricted list. It leafs out early and holds its leaves late, shading out native wildflowers and tree seedlings until the woods becomes a thicket with bare dirt underneath. It spreads by berries that birds eat, and it pushes out the browse and mast that deer and other wildlife rely on.
Do you remove buckthorn in my area?
We remove buckthorn and other invasive brush across an eight-county area of central Wisconsin from our base in Oxford, including Marquette, Adams, Waushara, Columbia, Sauk, Juneau, Portage, and Green Lake counties. That covers Oxford, Montello, Westfield, Portage, Baraboo, Wisconsin Dells, and the towns around them. Call (608) 450-1066 or request a free estimate online.