Amur honeysuckle is arguably the most problematic invasive plant around Cincinnati. It forms a continuous shrub layer in forests that chokes off native vegetation and young trees that will replace older forest trees. Most forested areas are in decline around the Cincinnati area because they lack enough native samplings to replace the aging large trees.
Honeysuckle Removal is not hard, but requires sawing or cutting the larger woody stems and treating the stump with herbicide. See this video from our friends at Cincinnati Parks for a guide to honeysuckle removal. It’s important to correctly identify honeysuckle first, and then you’ll need to periodically remove seedlings by hand.
Removing honeysuckle is not enough to restore forests. The deer population around Cincinnati has grown tremendously in the last 20 years, and deer nip the buds and kill young saplings. You should protect young saplings with a small wire fence until their leaf buds are tall enough to evade browsing deer.
Other invasives that are threatening to become entrenched like honeysuckle are Callery Pear, Cutleaf Teasel, Porcelainberry Vine, Japanese Knotweed, Lesser Celendine and Common Buckthorn, Tree-of-heaven and Poison Hemlock. More information on these is below: