Hello honeysuckle haters,

    It’s been over 3 years since I started this venture, so it is time for an update to my original story which is below this one.  I’ve learned a lot since then.  I've popped or otherwise killed a lot of honeysuckles too.  See the pictures at the bottom of this page.
   Two years ago, I quit my toolmaking job of 30 years to pursue full time the opportunities I see with my invention, and honeysuckles in general.  It wasn’t a hard choice, because the trade is declining (in my area) and lacked any more opportunities for advancement, in pay or otherwise.
   Now I am embarked on my new career, which is literally growing right in front of my eyes.  Rapidly. The Cincinnati-Dayton area is no doubt one of the most infested areas.  They are literally everywhere you look.  It is fitting that The Honeysuckle Popper and Mister Honeysuckle were born here.  Overall, bush honeysuckles are infesting to some degree, almost every metropolitan area east of the Mississippi and north of Georgia.  They are spreading outward from the cities and along river valleys.

   My new goal in life is to kill or cause to be killed as many honeysuckles as possible.  Doing this has fallen into my lap. It is a good cause, so I’m going to run with it.
   Why? They are killing our woods.  In 20 years, if nothing is done, I predict that you will see many urban and suburban stands of woods with only tall older trees and honeysuckles.  I see some now.  After those trees naturally die, yep, only an impenetrable mass of honeysuckles.  No woods left. 

   Hope is not lost though.  A lot of parks and natural areas are taking steps to restore their woods.  The word is spreading.  Partly because of me.  I’ve distributed over 8000 of my fliers (all which state the honeysuckle problem) at home and garden shows, various trade shows and in community newspapers.  I’ve advertised fairly aggressively in the Cin-Day area, and have sold 400 here.  I delivered almost all of them myself so I could see who my customers are, did a lot of demos (If you’re there, and want it, I’ll do it) and generally had a good time talking about honeysuckles to the always nice folks I’ve met.

   Now, The Honeysuckle Popper is becoming established.  It’s proven that it works.  I’ve sold over 650 now and I can’t imagine being able to do that if it didn’t work.  A lot of my sales now are referrals.  Go ahead, try one out!  You’ll like it.  J

   With The Honeysuckle Popper doing good, now is the time to turn my attention to bigger things - a commercial honeysuckle removal service.

   I haven’t been just sitting around waiting for people to buy The Popper, I’ve also been spending a lot of time figuring out a good way to kill these things without using herbicides.  NOTE: I am not against you using herbicides to kill your honeysuckles because I think any way of killing them is good.   I just chose not to use them myself.  I don’t have to either.  I’m confident that with the methods I’ve come up with, and a couple more tools you haven’t seen yet, I’m going to pop out or kill in other ways (smothering or torching) all your honeysuckles, in a cost effective manner (vs. herbicides) using manual labor.  I will also do a better job because I won’t leave behind hundreds of small stumps or any rotting stems.  My service will include the necessary follow-ups to remove the new honeysuckles that will grow and to fight the Garlic Mustard (another invasive) that has a tendency to show up.

   I could go on and on about what I have going with this, about The Honeysuckle Popper and what I know about honeysuckles, but this is enough here. Check out the rest of my site. I have some good info.  Better yet, buy a popper and get poppin’. 

   Thank you,

   Mister Honeysuckle   -  “Honeysuckles Worst Enemy” 
      
SEE BOTTOM OF PAGE FOR PICS OF MY WOODS.  

The honeysuckle popper is the best honeysuckle shrub removal tool        

Here's my original story written March 2004:

  WHOS MISTER HONEYSUCKLE?
    In a nutshell, I'm an ordinary guy that had a problem.  My problem was that I needed to remove a fast spreading bush Honeysuckle infestation before it totally took over my woods.  After not being able to find a suitable means to remove them, I solved the problem myself by designing and building the Honeysuckle Popper.

   It was my friend Dave (see 'The Trouble With Honeysuckles') who first informed me about the Honeysuckle problem about 4 years ago.  His advice to remove them was that "a mattock works best".  Well, after chopping and prying and sweating with that mattock numerous times, one day I threw it down in disgust  and said "There has got to be a better way."  That is when I declared 'war' on Honeysuckles.
  
   That began the chain of events that led to where I am today, which is a honeysuckle removal expert.  I began studying anything I could find about the invasive Honeysuckles and continue to do so now.  I studied the root systems of suckles I had removed with the mattock.  Then, one day I realized that since I am a toolmaker by trade, I should be able to come up with a tool to make it easier to kill these bushes.  Like a light bulb, (I know that sounds corny, but that's actually what happened)  it popped in my head that prying them from the bottom using a lever  could be an effective way. 

   Armed with a spud bar and a large rock, I went out to test my theory. I picked a smaller suckle, stuck the bar under it, set the rock and pushed down on the bar.  To my utter delight, the suckle popped up right out of the ground roots and all! 

   I got to work, and after building a few prototypes, I came up with what you see today- The Honeysuckle Popper, the optimum bush Honeysuckle remover.

   At some point, since the tools I made worked so well, I decided I could market and sell them to other Honeysuckle haters. A patent application and setting up the manufacturing came next.

   I am building this web site to sell my tools, of course, but I also plan on making this an information source for Honeysuckle removal. I will have info on all aspects of Honeysuckles and their removal, including methods that do not involve my tool.

Contributions are welcome.

Thank you, and" Happy Popping,"
Chris Grenner
a.k.a.  Mister Honeysuckle

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