7 invasive plants you’ll regret ignoring this winter when they explode in spring

Some plants look harmless when everything else is asleep. Bare vines, little green mats on the ground, pretty berries in the snow—they don’t look like a crisis. Then spring hits, and suddenly you’re fighting a jungle that showed up out of nowhere.

Winter is actually the best time to tackle some of the worst offenders. The leaves are gone, the vines are exposed, and ticks and poison ivy are less of an issue. Here are the troublemakers worth dealing with now, before they run the place next year.

Oriental bittersweet

Oriental bittersweet looks pretty in photos with those orange berries, but it’s a bully. It wraps around trees, tightens as it grows, and can literally pull down mature trunks under the weight of its vines. Birds spread the berries everywhere, so it pops up along fences, woodlines, and old pastures.

Winter is your chance to see the bare vines climbing through branches. Cut them at the base with loppers or a pruning saw and leave the upper vines alone so you don’t drop half a tree on yourself. Keep cutting any new shoots you see for the next couple of seasons to finally wear it out.

English ivy

English ivy stays green when everything else goes brown, which makes it really easy to spot right now. On the ground, it smothers anything in its path. On trees and walls, it holds moisture, damages masonry, and adds so much weight that branches snap in storms.

To get ahead of it, slice through the vines all around the base of a tree, then clear a ring of soil so you can see what you’re dealing with. Pull up as much root as you can where the ground isn’t frozen. Plan on checking that spot every winter; if you keep tearing it out, it eventually gives up.

Japanese barberry

Japanese barberry sounds fancy and looks harmless, but it spreads like crazy and is a known hangout for ticks, which is the last thing you need around kids and pets. The red berries are easy to see against snow, so winter is prime time to spot it.

Suit up with thick gloves—this stuff is thorny—and dig or wrench whole plants out, roots and all. If you only cut it, it resprouts. Keep a mental note of where you found it and swing back in spring to pull any new seedlings before they get established.

Japanese honeysuckle

The smell might remind you of childhood, but this version is trouble. Japanese honeysuckle forms dense tangles that climb fences and trees, shading out anything growing underneath. It can be pulled year-round, but winter makes it easier to see the structure of the vines.

Follow the vines back to their base and cut them at ground level, then tarp the area if you can. Blocking light helps slow regrowth. Any roots you can dig out now are roots you don’t have to fight later.

Porcelain berry

Porcelain berry looks almost fake when it’s in fruit—bright speckled blue and purple berries that birds love. The problem is it behaves like bittersweet: it climbs, smothers, and resprouts from tiny bits of root.

In winter, those vines are easy to spot weaving through shrubs and trees. Cut at the base, then cover the soil with a tarp or thick mulch to block light for a full growing season. Don’t toss berries on the compost pile; bag them for the trash so you’re not planting your own problem.

Multiflora rose

If you’ve ever walked through a thicket and come out shredded, there’s a good chance multiflora rose was involved. It forms dense, thorny masses that are almost impossible to push through in summer. Winter strips off the leaves and makes those arching canes a lot easier to see and cut.

Go in with long sleeves, tough gloves, and loppers. Cut canes low, then dig or pry out the crown if you can. You’ll probably see new shoots next season; keep cutting them back and you’ll eventually starve the plant out.

Common buckthorn

Common buckthorn looks like an innocent shrub or small tree along fencerows. Under the surface, it’s changing soil chemistry and outcompeting native plants, including the ones you actually want for wildlife. Birds spread its dark berries far from where it started.

Winter is a good time to spot its distinctive bark and lingering berries. Small seedlings can be pulled by hand. Bigger ones need to be cut at ground level and covered, or treated with a targeted method if you go the herbicide route. Whatever you do, don’t leave bare soil; replant with something you’d actually like to see fill that space.