Library wages war on weeds

• Volunteers want to rid library lawn of 17 invasive species
By Naomi Klouda
Homer Tribune

A particularly menacing and meddlesome plague has unfortunately taken root at the Homer Public Library on two separate fronts.
As in many instances of new construction, soils onsite often prove especially vulnerable to invasive plant species that are seeking stripped landscapes to take root. And the library’s lawn is no exception.
“The library is close enough to the Bay that onshore breezes can blow across the property,” said local invasive species expert and gardening consultant Brenda Adams. “The seeds are looking for an opportunity to establish themselves.”
Birds and animals also deposit the non-native seeds.
In the case of the library, experts identified 17 invasive plant species taking over the library’s lawn. A plan is afoot to attack the problem at the roots at a community weeding project this weekend. Another is planned for May 17.
The first “War on Weeds” Day will be this Saturday, following the Soil and Water Conservation District’s weed workshop on Friday. And since May 1 is also already designated as the Homer Chamber’s Clean-Up Day, organizer Kyra Wagner called this “another way to ‘clean up.’”
Volunteers can learn about the issue on Friday as experts present overviews on what to look for, the worst offenders and other information for eradicating the plants. The community education effort then will give people a hands-on experience at identifying and weeding out the plants, as well as helping to tackle a growing concern on the library lawn.
“Plants evolve wherever they happen to start life. The way they survive is to adapt to conditions they find themselves in; if it’s dry, they come up with a mechanism to deal with draught,“ Adams explained. “One in a wet climate does the opposite. When you take weeds that are fine in one place and put them in another place where conditions aren’t so severe, they can go wild.”
Library planners sought out a natural landscape bouquet of yarrow, fireweed, irises, Monk’s Hood, Jacob’s Ladder and other Alaska plants growing the wild to complement the library building. However, Adams said it is difficult to re-establish a natural landscape wherever the soil has been disturbed.
“It takes a lot of work and patient monitoring to make sure invasive and aggressive plants keep from establishing,” Adams said. “Certain plants are so aggressive and successful in techniques for dominance that when they are introduced in our environment, they can out-compete other plants.”
Adams said the library group therefore needs help with manpower at the weeding projects, hoping to get at the newly springing plants before too much summer takes root.
That will make the task less difficult as the years go by.
“We did have a later spring than anticipated, but some will be easier to identify than others,” she said.
Invasive clover and the Oxeye Daisy will be easy enough to target, as well as budding greens near last year’s stalks. The guide book used for identifying plants is a publication put out by the U.S. Departments of the Interior and Agriculture, in conjunction with the University of Alaska Fairbanks Cooperative Extension.
Plants identified with a “red alert” are first in a hierarchy of degrees for concern, Adams said. In this case, a reed canary grass — particularly bad because it is carried through waterways — will be targeted. Hairy vetch or bird vetch, as well as a weed called “butter and eggs” also need to go.
The goal is to establish a more habitable environment for the spread of native plants: more shooting stars, the native Siberian iris, native yarrow, native geraniums, goats beard, Jacobs ladder, monks hood and fireweed.
Check out more information on eat: http://www.kenaiweeds.org/programs.php

Invasive Weeds Workshop
Friday, 9 a.m. – 3 p.m.
Kachemak Bay Campus

Invasive Plant Identification Workshop
Friday, 3-4 p.m.
Kachemak Bay Campus

War on Weeds
Saturday, 9 a.m. – 5 p.m.
Homer Public Library
Bring gloves, shovels and spades

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Posted by Newsroom on Apr 28th, 2010 and filed under Headline News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. Both comments and pings are currently closed.