Granby Drummer (https://granbydrummer.com/category/grow/not-wanted/)
It’s June and, as every gardener knows, a wet spring means a wild world of weeds.
Weed is a catchall term, imprecise and subjective—plants growing where they’re not wanted! Lots of weeds are annoying but controllable without chemicals. Others are maddening—no matter what we do, they come back and back and back. Some of the worst are truly invasive—on the state Invasive Plants list.
Japanese barberry was imported to the US in the late 1800s and widely planted in landscapes, often as hedges to prevent through-passage or in problem areas where other plants did not grow. Once established, it crowds out other plants, changing soil chemistry and inhibiting forest regeneration.
Here is a good example of the Japanese barberry removal technique recommended by the Farmington River Watershed Association.
This column began in 2019 with a series of Invasive of the Month columns focusing on nine of the most common, harmful, difficult-to-control invasive plants in our area. For those who didn’t laminate, frame or memorize those columns, this one restarts the series with updated information.
It’s easier than many people think to grow large numbers of native plants from seed. Now is the perfect time.
Dr. Douglas Tallamy may be doing more than anyone in our time to illuminate the crucial and imperiled interdependence of insects, birds, bees, plants, and the rest of us.
May is the number one month for gardening, and that means decisions! What to add, what to subtract, what to divide—and how to cope with the relentless multiplication of invasive plants.
This may be the last picture of the grandparent Tree of Heaven (Ailanthus altissima) at Holcomb Farm. A notable tree by any definition, three feet across, it was probably intentionally planted decades ago directly across the field from the Holcombs’ front door.
A potent team of Invasive Plant Activists (IPAs) converged on the Red Trail West at Holcomb Farm in November to continue repairing the damage borne of our love of intense fall colors (see photo).
September marks five years since the launch of the Granby Conservation Commission’s NOT WANTED campaign.