Your Checklist for Prevention

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Japanese privet

Credit: James H. Miller, USDA Forest Service, Bugwood.org

If you're careful, you can keep privet from getting established on your land.

Here's Your Checklist

• Keep an eye out. Learn to recognize the invasive privets and pull them up early. This is particularly important if you used to have a privet and think you’ve killed it, because they can resprout, or if you live near a place with a lot of privets, because birds can bring the seeds in.
• Plant natives. Privet is only one of many invasive plants that are used in landscaping. When choosing plants for landscaping, wildlife habitat, or erosion control, go with native plants rather than known invaders like the non-native bush honeysuckles.

Whether you’re trying to prevent privet from invading or controlling damage from an existing invasion, you don’t have to go it alone. State, county or consulting foresters, the Forest Service or your local cooperative extension service can all help you protect your woods and preserve your forest legacy.