Buckthorn on Your Minnesota Property: How to Identify It and Actually Get Rid of It (Step-by-Step)

If you own woods, old pasture edges, creek corridors, or a “mixed brush” area anywhere in Minnesota and the Great Lakes, odds are you’ve met buckthorn—whether you knew it or not. Buckthorn often looks like “just another shrub,” but it’s one of the most common plants behind solid green thickets, bare forest floors, and stalled regeneration in hardwood and mixed forests. This is how you can stop Buckthorn and control its spread on your property.