It’s Knotweed Time

Restoring our environment is a process. Each season brings new opportunities. Now, the knotweed is blooming, which means soon it will go to seed, spreading further into our gardens and our woods and making our environment less diverse and endangering our habitat.

Intersection of E Morris Ave and Carriage House Rd.

Last year, the knotweed you see blooming in the background reached the curb. You can see the progress we made with just one year of proper treatment. This year, we have begun another round. This included cutting the canes to just below knee level before the plants go to seed and spraying them with an herbicide. You can see in the above image piles of canes that have been cut. While the cut pieces of the knotweed can propogate new plants, by placing them in a pile in the sun, they will mostly dry out and die. We are leaving them in the areas we are treating so even if some parts survived, they aren’t spreading beyond our targeted areas.

While knotweed is recognized as causing harm to the ecosystem, economy, as well as human, animal, and plant health it is actually doing some work feeding our pollinators and since it has outcompeted more beneficial native plants, if we remove it without replacement, pollinators may suffer.

Simultaneous to our efforts removing these plants, we have begun the work of replanting native species.

Earlier this spring, we seed several areas, including the knotweed site seen above, with a deer resistant meadow mix.

Unfortunately and despite our signage, our town’s grounds maintenance crew mowed down our efforts mid-season. Some plants managed to survive and you can see in the above video, they have been a new site for pollinator sustenance.

As with the removal of invasive species, replanting native varieties takes a concerted effort and correct timing. While certain planting is recommended for spring, it is a challenge watering new seedlings in these wild areas with no access to nearby water. Often species have a unique life cycle, some are annuals, some biennials, some perennials. It is important to have patience as these areas evolve and grow. What may appear as a weed is actually a crucial part of an evolving ecosystem and/or may be at an important stage of its development and the development of the site as a whole.