NOT WANTED
Not Wanted
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Over the past year, Not Wanted has identified some of Granby’s worst invasive plants, discussed control strategies, and described alternative plants. We could cover many more invasives—the state list includes almost 100.
NOT WANTED
Mugwort (Artemisia Vulgaris)
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September is the perfect time to take action on mugwort, an aggressive perennial that rapidly takes over uncultivated and disturbed areas such as streambanks and waysides.
NOT WANTED
Summer action and resources
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This column has profiled an Invasive Plant of the Month since last October, providing season-specific information about seven damaging invasive plants that proliferate in town. This month covers summer strategies for gaining control over invasive plants and describes some key resources.
NOT WANTED
Alternatives to Invasive Plants
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Since October 2019 the Not Wanted Drummer column has profiled seven damaging invasive plants in Granby, describing how to identify and control them over time. Now it’s the peak of the planting season, and this month’s column lists Wanted plants—good alternatives to invasives.
NOT WANTED
Autumn Olive
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Autumn Olive is an inoffensive looking shrub or small tree with silvery green leaves, yellow flowers, and red berries in the fall.
NOT WANTED
Japanese Knotweed
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Japanese Knotweed is an incredibly vigorous plant that forms dense mounds six feet high or more. Once established, it is extraordinarily difficult to remove.
NOT WANTED
Invasive of the Month: Garlic Mustard (Alliaria Petiolata)
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Garlic mustard is a small green invasive plant with leaves that smell like garlic when crushed. It’s an unusual invasive because almost anyone, regardless of age, ability or tool readiness, can pull garlic mustard plants.
NOT WANTED
Invasive of the Month: Multiflora Rose (Rosa Multiflora)
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Multiflora Rose is an extremely vigorous shrub that is nearly impossible for humans to control because of its super-sharp thorns borne on long, arching branches that can grow six feet a year in every direction. It thrives best in full sun but persists in partial shade, in a wide range of soil, as long as it has adequate draining.
NOT WANTED
Oriental Bittersweet Celastrus orbiculatus
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Bittersweet is an extremely vigorous woody vine that can grow dozens of feet, smothering the tops of small trees, strangling them, and pulling them down, similar to the southern kudzu vine. In large mature trees, bittersweet can wrap around the trunk, climb 60 feet or more and follow branches out in search of sun.
NOT WANTED
Japanese Barberry Berberis thunbergii DC
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A dense bush 2 to 7 feet high, Japanese Barberry has spikey thorns every inch or so along each branch. Small leaves along the branches are green in spring and summer.