Invasive plants

Volunteers pull sweet clover at our Farm Trails North preserve.

Volunteers pull sweet clover at our Farm Trails North preserve.

Our volunteers have contributed many hours over the years to eliminate obnoxious weeds and woody plants in our prairies, wetlands and woodlands, and now we are asking homeowners and municipalities to join us.

Some of the really aggressive invasives are garlic mustardbuckthornreed canary grassteaselcommon reed and dame’s rocket. These extremely invasive species of plants are taking over our beautiful yards, countryside and roadsides. Invasive species crowd out the desirable native plants, drive away the birds and butterflies that depend on the natives, and reduce biodiversity creating monocultures of undesirable plants. Most of them are ugly! Just look at dense stands of buckthorn along roadways, in park areas or even in your yard. It will take a concerted community effort to make a difference against these plant bullies, and we encourage your participation.

The Community Education Committee produced flyers on each of these invasives to show what they look like in various stages of growth, why they are bad, and how to eliminate them from your property. We invite you to download these flyers for your own use in removing invasive plants.

Community Education also created a twelve-plant table for you to use. This table is available as a 11 x 17 poster, or it can be downloaded as a simple two-sided 8 1/2 x 11 handout for you to distribute. Carry the table with you when taking a walk so that you can identify these twelve invasive plant species as you go.

Through our Habitat Corridors program, CFC volunteers who are experienced in eradicating invasives are available to help property owners identify invasives, advise on removal procedures and suggest desirable replacement alternatives.

We provide information on how to restore creek, lake, and waterway banks. This document includes planning, prep-work, removal of invasives, design, where to source the appropriate native plants, and long term maintenance steps.