Birchbank natives & invasives

[Teresa Gallagher]

Here’s a video taken yesterday at the beginning of Birchbank Trail where all the Japanese knotweed used to be. Lots of Dutchman’s Breeches. The knotweed patched covered the trail for 350 feet, about 10 feet tall, and I’ve been working at it for years. The removal of the knotweed then lead to other invasives like garlic mustard, mugwort, and stiltgrass, and there had been other invasives such as bittersweet, barberry, and burning bush all along. But there are also a lot of unusual native plants due to the distinctive growing conditions and calcium in the soil, like Green Dragon and Wild Ginger. So I’ve been working on clearing the invasives over the years.

 

Last year, after seeing how few invasives were inside the deer exclosure, I started spraying that area with deer repellent. The natives can outcompete the invasives if the deer stop eating them. The previous few years, Dutchman’s Breeches were noticeably smaller outside the deer exclosure, but not this year so far.  Video: https://photos.app.goo.gl/WNL9kq41Zk51NZ2PA

 

 

Teresa Gallagher

Natural Resources Manager

City of Shelton

54 Hill Street, Shelton, CT 06484

203-924-1555 x1315

 

[thomas harbinson]

Looks great.  Good work.  I have a big clump of Japanese Knotweed at my house.  Uggh.

If you ever think it would be beneficial to have one of these videos on our YouTube channel - let me know.

In the past I uploaded some of the RecPath bridge rigger, if anything to have a historic reference.

Tom Harbinson

Tel: 203SirTomH

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