Massachusetts Proposes Ban/Phase-Out of 140+ Plants

Jim McKenney jimmckenney@starpower.net
Tue, 06 Sep 2005 12:02:37 PDT
Lee's post prompts me to mention something which is happening in my own
neighborhood. We're having a big problem locally with mile-a-minute vine
(Polygonum perfoliatum) here, and also with kudzu (Pueraria montana v.
lobata); additionally, certain areas are over-run with Garlic mustard
(Alliaria petiolata, aka officinalis).

This year local authorities sprayed something - probably Roundup - to kill
these plants. This was a huge success. Just about everything green within
the spray zone is now dead.

What I'm dying to see is this: what comes next? Is the area going to be
re-planted with native plants? This area is by nature woodland, and such
fields as exist are ruderal in origin. Furthermore, very few if any woodland
native plants are inexpensively available in nursery channels. 

The site slopes, so something will have to be done soon. Will cost
considerations force the use of lawn grasses? Will the area be re-planted
with plants which in the chauvinistic sense are native but which correspond
to nothing in the local ecosystems? Is someone going to show up out of the
blue with thousands of Erythronium americanum? 

Getting rid of the aliens was the easy part. Successfully reintroducing the
natives strikes me a being a huge challenge. 

Jim McKenney
Montgomery County, Maryland, USA, USDA zone 7, where if the aliens have to
go, my garden will look like a plucked chicken. 


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