Good afternoon, Lincoln! My good news is that over the last two years, I’ve started down a pathway of purposely encouraging native plants to thrive in our yard. It has been a fun and rewarding, often messy, project. I’ve learned a lot, and will continue to do so.
My bad news is that while learning about the native plants popping up in our yard during ‘no mow May’ (and beyond), I started identifying invasives as well. I had already been battling Oriental Bittersweet, but all too soon, I realized that we also have Tree of Heaven, Japanese Knotweed, Burning Bush, and Buckthorn. These are the worst, I think, but just when I think I couldn’t possibly have anything else, I find something like Morrow’s Honeysuckle. Not to mention the first garlic mustard plant in my yard this spring! I contacted the extension office at UMass, and they gave me the information needed to deal with the first of these invasives that I encountered (I need to reach out again for the newer ones). My concern is that now that I know what I’m looking for, I see many of these plants all around Lincoln. I’m only aware of the garlic mustard program. Are there any efforts or discussions about keeping the knotweed at bay, for instance? Unfortunately, there seems to be only one effective mitigation strategy (treating with 2% glyphosate in the ‘window’ where sap flow reverses towards the root for storage; the window is between flowering and two weeks before the predicted first frost; digging, mowing, cutting back will only cause it to become even more aggressive and can cause it to spread to other sites). Tree of Heaven behaves similarly, where cutting it spurs aggressive growth. The extension recommends ‘hack and squirt’ of the bark without girdling the tree; one hack for each inch of the diameter of the tree. I am not an enthusiast for herbicides, and had never even considered it prior to discussions with the extension office and joining support groups for the knotweed and invasives in general (for the Tree of Heaven). We did end up doing the hack, but instead of ‘squirting’, we used a dauber that kept it localized only to the hack. We also added dye made for the purpose of seeing where herbicide has been applied. Using this method, the Tree of Heaven stand was the only recipient of the application. We also treated the knotweed per the extension office, and we’ve been gratified to see the two small areas in our yard dying back. We’ve been warned that this is only round one of a multi-year process, and not to even touch dead the knotweed stalks until January. At that point, we’re to cut the dead stalks to one inch of the ground, and monitor for new sprouts in the spring. Same thing for the Tree of Heaven; we have to be vigilant for sprouts and seedlings. The burning bush was another nightmare; we had four that were apparently planted as foundation plants decades ago. We cut them out before the berries ripened, and the extension recommends chipping them. If the berries had ripened, then the recommendation was burning. We had the stumps professionally removed. However, when I cut away the branches, I discovered thousands of seedlings underneath. I’ve also been discovering saplings all over my property. These, I hand pull. It will be another long-term project. I haven’t yet spoken to the extension office about the buckthorn. I simply hand pull when I see small sprouts, hoping it’s the right thing to do. But right now, exhausted, I can’t help but wonder about all of the knotweed, burning bush, buckthorn, and bittersweet that I see rampant throughout the woods and along the roadside (especially the knotweed). Are there management programs? Warm regards, Terry Kay
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