Boston Flora

Tag: Japanese Knotweed

  • Tuesday, December 12, 4:00 pm – 5:00 pm – Invasive Plant Control Without Chemicals Webinar

    Persistent, Relentless, Tenacious…such are the words we deploy to describe our nemesis weeds and invasive species. Invasive plant species colonize degraded landscapes and overtake native plants robbing the area of critical ecosystem services. These exotic plants spread rampantly when they are free of natural checks and balances found in their native range. A handful of high-impact, aggressive non-natives affect soil health, biodiversity, and even land access. Who wants to hack their way through a tangle of unyielding multi-flora rose, common buckthorn, and oriental bittersweet? Rather than turning to chemical options, we too can draw upon Persistence, Relentlessness, and Tenacity to control these invasive plants.

    In this Ecological Landscape Alliance webinar to be held Tuesday, December 12 from 4 – 5, Mike Bald will describe methods to care and control invasive plant species without chemicals. Some invasive species covered will include:

    Japanese Knotweed
    Glossy Buckthorn
    Wild Parsnip (pictured below)
    Multi-flora Rose
    Oriental Bittersweet

    Mike Bald has worked with invasive species since 2003 and founded his company (Got Weeds?) in early 2011. Got Weeds? is a Vermont company that uses manual and non-synthetic control methods to eradicate, contain, or suppress non-native, invasive plants. Mike believes that fine-tuned ecosystems can be protected with vigilance, persistence, patience, education, humility, respect, and cooperation. Mike’s focus is on long-term site stewardship, soil health, native plant diversity, and education of landowners. Cooperation across multiple ownerships is also crucial to the control effort. Mike appreciates the importance of healthy habitats, site specificity, and ecosystem resilience; his goal with the treatment programs at Got Weeds? is to demonstrate (with comprehensive documentation) that manual/mechanical methods can succeed over extended timeframes.

    Free for ELA members, $10 for nonmembers. Sign up at http://www.ecolandscaping.org/event/webinar-invasive-plant-control-without-chemicals/

  • Thursday, August 2, 7:00 pm – Biological Control of Invasive Pests in New England Landscapes

    Our forests, landscapes, and gardens seem to be constantly assaulted by new invasive weed and insect pests. Lily leaf beetle, winter moth, Japanese knotweed, hemlock woolly adelgid, garlic mustard, mile-a-minute vine, and even kudzu are already well-established in southern New England and the emerald ash borer has its sights on us. Ironically, in many cases, the best opportunity to manage these pests involves introducing additional non-native species – generally insects – that regulated them in their native homeland. Dick Casagrande of the University of Rhode Island will speak at Elm Bank on Thursday, August 2, beginning at 7 pm, on the Biological Control of these invasive pests.

    Dr. Casagrande will discuss current programs, opportunities and limitations for biological control of landscape pests of particular importance in our region. He will also answer questions and offer practical advice to homeowners interested in controlling (or enhancing) insects in their homes and yards.  The lecture fee is $12 for Mass Hort members, $15 for non members, and pre-registration is not required.  For more information, visit www.masshort.org.

  • Saturday, April 17, 10 am – 2 pm – Invasive Plants: Identification, Ecology and Control

    Ted Elliman, Vegetation Manager of the New England Wild Flower Society, in collaboration with the Arnold Arboretum, will present this one day class on Saturday, April 17, from 10 am – 2 pm at Garden in the Woods in Framingham.  This course will provide an introduction to about 40 of the most common invasive non-native plants in our local landscapes (see Japanese knotweed below). Through lecture, discussion, power point presentation, herbarium specimens, and a walk outside, you will become familiar with identification clues as well as the habits of a number of these plants which are so disruptive of natural ecosytems. Ted will discuss management techniques for many of these species, on both a home and a larger landscape scale. Homeowners and property managers who wish to get a head start on invasive control this year will appreciate the timing of this course, which will allow them to learn to identify young invasive plants before they become camouflaged by other vegetation. The New England Wild Flower Society’s Invader’s Magazine, as well as the Massachusetts Field Guide to Invasives, will be available for purchase at a discount. Fee $44 for members of the Arboretum or NEWFS, $52 nonmembers.  To register, log on to www.arboretum.harvard.edu.

    http://www.thewildflowersociety.com/wfs_images/fallopia_japonica_japanese_knotweed.jpg

  • Sunday, October 18, 10 am – 2 pm – Invasive Plants: Identification, Ecology and Control

    Ted Elliman, Vegetation Manager of the New England Wild Flower Society, in collaboration with the Arnold Arboretum, will present this one day class on Sunday, October 18, from 10 am – 2 pm at Garden in the Woods in Framingham.  This course will provide an introduction to about 40 of the most common invasive non-native plants in our local landscapes (see Japanese knotweed below). Through lecture, discussion, power point presentation, herbarium specimens, and a walk outside, you will become familiar with identification clues as well as the habits of a number of these plants which are so disruptive of natural ecosytems. Ted will discuss management techniques for many of these species, on both a home and a larger landscape scale. Homeowners and property managers who wish to get a head start on invasive control this year will appreciate the timing of this course, which will allow them to learn to identify young invasive plants before they become camouflaged by other vegetation. The New England Wild Flower Society’s Invader’s Magazine, as well as the Massachusetts Field Guide to Invasives, will be available for purchase at a discount. Fee $44 for members of the Arboretum or NEWFS, $52 nonmembers.  To register, log on to www.arboretum.harvard.edu.

    http://www.thewildflowersociety.com/wfs_images/fallopia_japonica_japanese_knotweed.jpg

  • Saturday, September 19 – Stewardship Saturday on Lovells Island

    Join the Boston Harbor Islands staff on Saturday, September 19 for some hands-on learning as they remove invasive plants from important natural and historic areas of the Park.  Explore the local flora and fauna and discuss the ecology and natural history of the Park as you work side by side with expert staff to improve habitat for the native birds, bugs and flowers of our local National Park. For this journey to Lovells Island you will search for possible Swallow Wort and Japanese Knotweed.  You will also cut back some multiflora roses bushes that have grown on the outlying areas of a recently planted forest.  For more information, and for time and place of departure, call 617-223-8666 during business hours – you will get a call back.  Their web site is in a redesign process so email contact is currently down.

    http://www.accultured.com/images/bhi/bhi-Thumbnails/10.jpg