Why I Oughta...

A couple of weeks ago, I posted some photos showing a couple of volunteer locust tree seedlings that had pop'd up in our yard .  At the time, I wasn't sure if these were honey or black locust trees.  With a little bit more growing time, it is now clear that these are Black Locust tree seedlings.  They have - as you can see below - thorns on their main stem.   You can see those thorns in the photo below: Alas, it seems like this is, indeed, no free gift from nature.  It is a tree that the Morton Arboretum calls 'not recommended' since it 'spreads too easily .  Hence...why I'm seeing these seedlings.  I'll get out my pruners and lop these off before they get any bigger.

I was doing some weeding in one of our backyard beds, and came across this small tree seedling that you can see in the photo below.  It is about 10" tall and has oval, pinnate leaves.  Looking around at my neighbor's yard, I know they have locust trees.  A bunch of them.  They flower in Spring and have lots of leaves on them.  But, I'm not sure if they're Black or Honey locusts.   Both are native to Illinois, but the Black Locust - sometimes called "Chicago Blues" is now considered invasive ( The Morton Arboretum has it listed as "not recommended" ).   One other key trait of the Black Locust trees are they they carry thorns - especially when young.  Right now, this little seedling has no thorns, so I'm going to leave it alone.  If I see thorns develop, I'll lop this one off and remove it.