Invasive Species Update

A Really Cool Tool: The Weed Wrench™

It’s November and quite late for removing invasive plants but a mild sunny day and a bit of spare time gave Barbara Thomson and me the drive to remove two invasive barberry plants from the front of the PLC office. Wearing tough gloves, and with pruners, loppers, shovels and the totally fun to use, Weed Wrench™ in hand, Barbara and I tackled the persistent thorny shrubs. We first carefully cut small berry-covered branches from the plant, placing them into large plastic bags so as to not lose the berries on the ground. Then we lopped off smaller base shoots so that we could get the weed wrench around bigger stems. Pressing down on the long lever-like “Weed Wrench™” we watched the plant, roots intact, come out of the ground. A small hand saw helped cut through the second plant’s larger roots. Final chores were to pick up the red berries that had fallen off and dispose of them carefully. Although it is illegal to move listed invasive plants, regulations allow for the disposal of them. The seeds on their small branches in the plastic bags went into a dumpster where they will be buried deep enough to not be able to grow. Other parts will be piled high on a burn pile for winter burning.

November isn’t the best time to remove seed bearing invasives because of the likelihood of berries being buried in the disturbed soil, but with immediate replanting of safe and hopefully native plants and yearly monitoring of seedlings, every invasive plant removed makes wildlife habitat and our ecosystem a bit more healthy.

If you have questions as to how or when to remove invasive plants or wish to borrow the Weed Wrench™, call PLC’s Invasives Committee at 487-5114 or 547-2816. The UNH Cooperative Extension Education and Info Line at 1-877-398-4769 can also help.

Lyn Lombard