For Lamp Post “Easy Being Green” for Sept. 3, 2014
Here’s How YOU Can Remove Invasives
Barbara Walvoord, For Lamp Post, September 10, 2014
Our hedges and woods are being invaded by alien plants that want to take over, destroying the native plants on which our insects, birds, and other creatures depend. Remember our killer statistic: 96% of birds need insects, not just seeds and pollen, to feed their young. 90% of insects eat only native plants (Douglas Tallamy, Bringing Nature Home).
Now through mid-winter is the best time to remove invasive shrubs and vines. Consultants this summer have helped us identify the main ones at Lathrop:
- Oriental Bittersweet vine (Celastrus orbiculatus)
- Multiflora rose (Rosa multiflora)
- Japanese Barberry (Berberis Thunbergii)
- Bush Honeysuckles (Lonicera spp.)
- Burning Bush (Euonymus alatus)
- Buckthorn (common and glossy. Rhomnus cathartica, Frangula alnus)
Lathrop residents have been attacking aliens like bittersweet in our trees for many years. Since I began keeping records in 2013, Lathrop resident volunteers that the Committee knows about have removed 6,960 invasive plants on both campuses, including shrubs and vines (as well as purple loosestrife blooms and garlic mustard). See our record at https://lathropland.wordpress.com/accomplishments/invasives-removal-record/. If you remove invasive plants, LET ME KNOW at email@example.com. Tell me how many plants, where, when, and who.
There’s a great federal government website with detailed photos and descriptions for identifying plants and removing them: http://na.fs.fed.us/spfo/invasiveplants/factsheets/index.asp. In brief, here’s what to do: Continue reading 6,960 Invasive Plants Removed by Lathrop Volunteers!