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corapegia

Invasive alert

corapegia
17 years ago

Thanks, Philomena, for the link to Catskill Native Nursery.

Did you notice the alert about "Mile a minute vine?" Please tell everyone who will listen to look for it and tell them. When the wild garlic mustard first started growing at my wood edge, I thought it was kind of pretty. Now, (when it's nearly impossible to get rid of) I've found out how quickly it becomes a pest. (sure, it's edible and was probably planted for that reason a 100 years ago, but like loosestrife, it's gotten out of hand, and how much can one person eat?"

I've seen how quickly spotted knapweed has taken over every rock face along the thruway and all the roadsides as well. A couple of years ago, one of the free local mags featured photos of fields of them, offering them as beautiful purple.

Comments (6)

  • philomena
    17 years ago

    Yes, I keep an eye out for the mile-a-minute vine. It can move so quickly you're supposed to contact your local cooperatives if you spot it, so they can help make sure it gets wiped out - horrid sounding stuff !

    Garlic mustard is a long-term pet project of mine - getting rid of it in my backyard, that is. It was brought here by the colonists back in the 1700's as a food source, as it greens up so early. It is edible, but I haven't tried it. Since it's a biennial, I try to nip off any flowers from the 2-year plants, and attempt to rip up any new growth that I see. Its sort of like trying to keep the tides back with a pail, but it's slowly working. I figure another couple years and I should have very little of that plant in my little yard.

  • yng_grdnr
    17 years ago

    Hello all. I copied 'garlic mustard' and put it in my web browser and hit enter (without adding www., .com, etc) and I came to this website http://www.nps.gov/plants/alien/ It has a list of all invasive plants in the U.S. The main site has all sorts of info on other plants: http://www.nps.gov/plants/

  • oldroser
    17 years ago

    I don't remember galic mustard as a weed when I was a kid - a long time ago! Think a lot of it came in with bird seed when bird feeding became an accepted hobby. I'm still working on eradicating it but think I'm getting the upper hand after 20 years!
    I'm more concerned about cow parsley - another relatively new weed and a lot harder to cope with. It has a huge tap root and even seems resistant to round-up. That's the one that looks like Queen Anne's Lace but flowers early in the season. There is actually a bronze leaved form being sold as a choice perennial - and it's fully as invasive as the green version.

  • lagrangeny
    16 years ago

    Are you guys able to attach a link to a picture of these "invasives" so we can recognize the ones that you mentioned ?
    Please ?

  • philomena
    16 years ago

    check this out, from an earlier post - follow the links to various pics:

    Here is a link that might be useful: invasives

  • corapegia
    Original Author
    16 years ago

    The garlic mustard is blooming now so it's easy to spot. I found it growing EVERYWHERE...all through the woods along the Thruway, along the roads at North Lake, in every back yard I have been to, absolutely everywhere. The seeds are small and remain viable for up to 5 years, I suspect they get tracked around by feets. I have found a couple of my vege garden volunteers (like purslane and wild arugula) show up on my stone walkway, which lies between the garden and the back door.
    I have pulled every one growing on my property but I couldnt doo all the woods at the back or in my neighbor's overgrown former vege garden. I know it will be back.

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