April Invasive Plant Journal

March and April are great months to walk your property and take stock of any invasive plant vines, Japanese knotweed stalks, poison ivy (not an invasive plant, but a nuisance), and other plants that can easily be identified without their foliage.

The lack of understory foliage permits a full view of what's really growing and what to expect in June. Once the ground has thawed you can get in and pull up shrubs like burning bush (winged euonymus), Japanese barberry (which is not only invasive but a favorite hangout of deer ticks) and other invasives.

It's also a good time to cut oriental bittersweet and poison ivy (remember, poison ivy oil can trigger an allergic reaction year-round; it's not just the leaves that get you). Cutting ahead of foliage and berry development will significantly reduce potential for spreading infestation, but you will need to keep after resprouting of cut vine stalks. Treatment with herbicide is an option to be considered only after careful research.

For cutting oriental bittersweet vines consider following "The Glastonbury Method." CLICK HERE for a general description. This can be used with or without herbicide treatment and again, that is a decision to be made by property owners only after doing careful research. It is up to you to do the necessary homework to make good decisions, to work safely, and be responsible for your own decisions and actions.

At least 50 vines of varying sizes cut from a heavily infested tree following The Glastonbury Method.
Now the tree can be monitored, new vine growth easily identified, and vine resprouting controlled.

Hartford Courant: Southington Park Under Attack From Invasive Plants

Thanks to Della W for sharing the following article from the 3/21/14 issue of The Courant.

Click here to view article.