Nuisance Plant Management

Sometimes our native plants, such as poison ivy and sumac, can become nuisances. Learn to control them here.

Black Locust Control

Black locust invades dry or moist open woodlands, stream valleys, pastures, thickets and roadsides. Management has concentrated on chemical control with variable success. Whatever control measure is adopted, a follow-up treatment is usually necessary.

Gray Dogwood Control

Gray dogwood is a native shrub that is a natural component of many woodland and prairie communities. Eradication of this plant is not practical nor desirable. Managers who are concerned by the abundance of gray dogwood on a particular managed area should determine the desired abundance of the shrub on the site before setting goals for control.

Osage Orange Control

Osage orange is a medium-sized tree with milky sap that will grow to 40 feet (12.2 meters) tall. Bark is light gray-brown tinged with orange. Bark on large trees separates into shaggy strips.

Poison Ivy Control

Learn how to identify poison ivy, and learn the best methods for controlling it.

Sesbania Control

Sesbania is not likely to colonize high-quality natural communities in Missouri as it typically grows in disturbed areas. Isolated occurrences may be found on sand bars along streams or along margins of oxbows or marshes. Spot treatment may best be accomplished by mechanical removal of the stems prior to the production of fruits.

Smooth Sumac Control

Smooth sumac is known to shade and replace prairie plants and endangered species. It is one of the primary native woody nuisances that moves into prairies and loess hill prairies in Missouri, where its dense colonies eliminate other native species. Stems should be cut with an axe, lopper or harp blade in July or shortly after flowering. Sprouts then should be cut in August. Spot-treating cut stumps with a formulation of glyphosate will minimize resprouting.

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Missouri Department of Conservation