Is Harvesting The Key To Dealing With An Edible Invasive Fruit Tree? Here's What We Know

If you have an invasive tree in your backyard, it can be difficult to know what to do. For trees that produce fruit, harvesting the crops seems like a reasonable way to deal with them. Most invasive fruit trees spread through the seeds in their fruits. This means that harvesting can help you remove the fruits before birds and animals eat them and spread the seeds. 

However, this is often not enough to protect the environment and native plants from the spread of invasive trees. It is unlikely that you will be able to harvest every fruit on the tree, meaning that some seeds will be spread by wildlife. Furthermore, certain fruit trees, such as autumn olive (Elaeagnus umbellata), spread through root suckers. Harvesting the fruit from the tree does not stop it from spreading underground and causing more issues. Instead of just harvesting the fruits from your invasive tree, you'll need to take more drastic measures to get rid of it.

As invasive fruit trees can spread fast, it is essential to act quickly if you have one. There are three categories of control when it comes to safely removing invasive plant species from your garden: biological, mechanical, and chemical, with the latter two being the primary approach. Mechanical refers to the physical removal of the tree by cutting it down. Certain tools allow you to remove the root system of the tree, which will lessen the likelihood of the tree returning or spreading through suckers.

You may need to use chemical control to treat the invasive tree in your yard. This refers to the use of pesticides to kill the tree and stop it from regrowing, and can be used both alongside mechanical control or by itself. The pesticide you use depends on the type of tree you have and the rules in your area. Contact your local extension services or department of agriculture for guidance. Once you have removed the invasive tree, you may wish to consider fast-growing fruit trees to grow in your yard to take its place. There are some great native trees that produce delicious fruit without any guilt or stress!