Last Wednesday, Dawn Slack of the Nature Conservancy, Director of Stewardship and Chair of the Invasive Plant Advisory Committee returned to our Woods for management update. She was happy to see so many violets, wild strawberries, and sedges serving as groundcover. As I’ve posted in past articles, these same changes are supporting so many pollinators. (Great spangled fritillary is one of several fritillary butterflies that use violets as a larval food source. Wild strawberry’s spring flowers attract bees and butterflies).
Dawn was excited to see our 19 year old woods and the wonderful variety that it provides for birds, animals, insects and plant species. She did, however, give us some assignments to continue to improve the habitat and keep the invasive plants under control.
To that purpose, a mighty band of peaceful Quaker warriors, armed with loppers, shovels, gloves, saws and the fantastic weed wrench, did battle with several of the top priorities on Dawn’s list. Dan Mitchell was expert in privet and larger honeysuckle shrub removal. Brad Jackson and I took a team approach to white mulberry treatment: he sawed and girdled the trunk, and I carefully applied brush killer to be absorbed by the xylem down into the roots, minimizing any negative effect on the environment. Amy Perry, Linda Lineback and Terry Trierweiler pulled honeysuckle, wild onion, and burning bush.
While not everyone finds this a fun way to spend 2 hours on a hot day, we had a delightful time, as you can tell from these photos. We invite you to join us next time or have fun tackling your own invasives in your backyard. For more information, see:
https://www.extension.purdue.edu/Marion/article/32299
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1XWtXDIrBKAd486-uxcExB0YawlzBixVX/view