Autumn Olives...pest or useful plant?

[JDgreen]

The back 6 acres of our property, formerly mostly cornfield, has been permitted to grow wild for the last 16 years. There are hundreds of 6 foot high cedar trees, lots af brambles, a huge crop of poison ivy (!!) and unfortunately, probably thousands of autumn olives in all sizes from foot high shoots to 10 foot high and wide shrubs. When they get big enough, I rip the entire plant out with a chain and throw them on my burn pile, yet with all the birds that eat the seeds, it's impossible to eliminate the plants entirely.

Supposedly the berries are an excellent health food, but I am more concerned about the thorns that can sometimes puncture skin, etc. There are a lot of places that actually SELL these plants, and for the life of me I cannot understand why anyone would want to grow them in the first place. Does anyone else have to deal with the headache they cause? They wouldn't bother me so much, except we and other people ride the mowed ATV trails that crisscross the 6 acres, and the neighbors kids walk around the paths. Yes, everybody knows about the poison ivy, and I warn them to stay on the mowed areas because the ivy never grows on the trails.

 

[RobertBrown]

Supposedly the berries are an excellent health food, but I am more concerned about the thorns that can sometimes puncture skin, etc.

I have never heard of Autumn olives. Seems to me the poison ivy would be more of a pest than this olive plant. Since you have a tractor why don't you disc around the cedars, is this a possibility?
Repeated discing and herbicdes will elimate anything.

 

[173abn]

JDgreen,are you referring to russian olive?I've got a couple of them and they do have thorns,I keep saying I'm gonna cut them down but haven't yet. russ

 

[ILENGINE]

Russian Olive is Elaeagnus augustifolia, Autumn Olive is Elaeagnus Umbellata. Russian olive tends to grow more like a tree but may bush like. Autumn olive is multistemed and bush like reaching 20 feet talls. Imagine multiflora rose on steriods. Grows thick and created a ground cover that nothing will grow under so as your old oaks and hickories die they get replaced with autumn olive then new oak and hickory sprouts don't grow, because of the complete shading of the ground under the thick shrubery.

 

[JDgreen]

Russian Olive is Elaeagnus augustifolia, Autumn Olive is Elaeagnus Umbellata. Russian olive tends to grow more like a tree but may bush like. Autumn olive is multistemed and bush like reaching 20 feet talls. Imagine multiflora rose on steriods. Grows thick and created a ground cover that nothing will grow under so as your old oaks and hickories die they get replaced with autumn olive then new oak and hickory sprouts don't grow, because of the complete shading of the ground under the thick shrubery.

Well described, thanks. I keep the acreage unmowed because it provides cover for deer and other wildlife like birds, rabbits, raccoons, etc. I could always use a bush hog to mow around everything but the cedars but both the wildlife and my human visitors enjoy the paths.