NOT WANTED
Jumping worms cut through my heart
|
For four years, I’ve written Not Wanted columns in a neutral, objective style. This one is different.
Granby Drummer (https://granbydrummer.com/category/grow/not-wanted/)
For four years, I’ve written Not Wanted columns in a neutral, objective style. This one is different.
April’s Not Wanted column detailed the invasion of spotted lanternfly (Lycorma delicatula), considered the worst plant pest since the spongy moth (formerly gypsy moth). Since 2014 it has hitchhiked into a dozen states via egg masses attached to trains, lumber and other moving objects.
Invasives are the opposite of rare. A third of all the vegetation in the northeast hails from Asia, according to native plant scientist Dr. Doug Tallamy.
Action against invasives never ends. Put your feet up and choose from the following resources to boost your long-term game. They have been purposely chosen because they address plants in our region.
Every other year the Connecticut Invasive Plant Working Group (CIPWG) hosts a day-long conference on invasive plants. It’s packed with presentations and workshops aimed at professionals, home gardeners and everyone in between. CIPWG is the state’s central hub on invasive plants, and the conference is a super source of up-to-date data on best practices and plant science.
Over the last century and more, we humans imported plants that do great harm to the natural balance of plants and animals—and to ourselves. Invasive species, plants and animals, are considered one of the prime causes for species extinction because of their ability to out-compete and displace native species.
With intense heat and long sunny days, June is the best time to solarize. Solarizing is a powerful way to make wholesale, non-chemical progress on tough invaders like mugwort and other not wanted plants.
Despite some difficult winter weather, Invasive Plant Activists made massive progress freeing a series of mighty sycamores and smaller native trees and shrubs at Holcomb Farm in recent months
It’s tempting to take winter out of the relentless calendar of invasive plant removal. But invasive plants have become incredibly well-established since we brought them to our shores during the last two centuries and restoring our native balance is going to take a long time.
Since October 2019, this column has profiled some of the worst invasive plants plaguing Granby’s fields, farms, forests, and gardens, and described ways to control them. This month’s column reviews in brief the first year of NOT WANTED columns.