Colony Expansion


Lately I’ve been leaving some honeysuckle untouched. Not because I want it there, mind you. The 100 year vision for my woods remains honeysuckle free. I’m leaving it because I think it may help some other local colonies expand. There are two honeysuckle plants on either side of the trail in the picture below. They each, at different times of the day (morning and evening) shade a colony of Christmas Fern, Ebony Spleenwort, and Solomon’s Plume. When I started removing honeysuckle, only one scrawny Christmas Fern existed here. I didn't notice any Solomon's Plume or Spleenwort here when I started.

I’m not smart enough to know what increasing sunlight from additional honeysuckle removal would do to this expanding colony. My fear is that removing the honeysuckle too quickly would result in colony contraction rather than colony expansion. At this moment this colony is expanding despite the two honeysuckle plants. So I’m letting this honeysuckle live for now.

I’ve chosen to plant two Northern Spicebush near the two remaining honeysuckle plants. My thinking is that the shade from the Spicebush will make up for the loss of the honeysuckle when I remove them in the future. The only issue is, the Spicebush itself is slow to grow, partially due to the shade of the honeysuckle.

Publicado el junio 17, 2022 02:08 TARDE por stockslager stockslager

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