Indiana Native Plant Society
A nice presentation to view: Melissa's presentation on going native
SICIM
Indiana Invasive Species Week, April 19-25, 2020
Saturday: Who’s up for a backyard Weed Wrangle?
We
have been touting stay-at-home Weed Wrangles® for about 5 weeks now in
Indiana and several of you have met the challenge with some amazing work (truckloads
of garlic mustard removed, acres of bush honeysuckle eradicated, acres of squill
managed, piles and piles of periwinkle pulled, etc.). Thank you so much for
sharing your work with us (the Indiana Invasives Initiative Regional
Specialists and myself). It is inspiring!
The
work we do in our landscapes has far reaching effects. We know that 85% of the
invasive plants in our natural areas, our beloved green spaces, come from our
landscaped areas. We know we need to create natural habitat, using plants that
are native to our respective areas. We know we need living landscapes instead
of landscapes that are comprised of plants that are not from here and plants
that are not part of our area’s food web. Landscape choices that each one of us
makes has an impact. When we choose to use native plants in our landscapes, we
become part of the solution for healthy lands, water and air and for supporting
our insects, pollinators, birds and other native wildlife. We hope you have an
opportunity to remove some invasives from your landscape and incorporate native
plants instead. The rewards are
tremendous. Just this week we have watched a kinglet engulf a cranefly and
several species use old plant stems for nest material.
Not
only are we here in Indiana asking for your help but the National Weed Wrangle® founders are asking all of us to remove invasives and let
them know what we have done.
They challenge us
to “choose that one invasive plant, in our own space that has
been nagging us. Plan and implement a mission to eradicate it in
the next two weeks. Let's free our neighborhoods from invasive
plants!” If you need help on how to manage your Invasives-at-Home, we
are here to help. Please contact SICIM.info to find your regional
specialists. We make house calls.
The Stay-at-Home Weed Wrangle® is a Nationwide event and anyone can join. When you have completed your work, share a before and after photograph with us at sicim.info@gmail.com and info@weedwrangle.org and we will post them on our webpage and Facebook pages.
The Stay-at-Home Weed Wrangle® is a Nationwide event and anyone can join. When you have completed your work, share a before and after photograph with us at sicim.info@gmail.com and info@weedwrangle.org and we will post them on our webpage and Facebook pages.
Stay-at-Home and Weed Wrangle® to remove invasives
and restore your habitat for native plants and wildlife.
Today’s plants:
Regulated terrestrial invasive plant: Oriental bittersweet (Celastrus
orbiculatus)
Non-regulated terrestrial invasive plant: Periwinkle (Vinca
minor)
Native alternatives for your landscape in Indiana:
Herbaceous
plants:
Vine: Woolly pipevine (Aristolochia
tomentosa)
Low growing shrub: low bush
blueberry (Vaccinium angustifolium) – pollinator connection: host for
pipevine swallowtail
Native ferns and sedges:
Christmas
fern (Polystichum acrosticoides) – holds soil in place and is used for
concealment by some wildlife
Common
wood sedge (Carex blanda) – pollinator connection: many sedges are host
plants
Graceful
wood sedge (Carex gracillima) – pollinator
connection: many sedges are host plants.
I use native ferns and sedges in
my garden, and they are lovely! I pair them with everything. They replace
periwinkle and wintercreeper that was here (65 truckloads and counting of both
invasive species) when we moved in. Native ephemerals and other native forbs
have returned to the forest floor and the garden area since we removed both
wintercreeper and perwinkle. We now find caterpillars on the native plants,
salamanders in the leaf litter and birds galore. Dogwoods, redbuds and
musclewood line our driveway (they are stunning right now). We are excited to
replace the plastic looking landscape that was overflowing with invasives (at least 20 species) with a living landscape that looks natural and beautiful
and brings us joy because it’s stunning and we know it’s part of the local food
web.
Additional
resources:
Southern Indiana
Cooperative Invasives Management (SICIM): http://www.SICIM.info
Indiana Wildlife
Federation: https://www.indianawildlife.org/wildlife/native-plants/
Indiana
Department of Natural Resources: https://www.in.gov/dnr/
Indiana
Invasive Species Council: indianainvasivespecies.org
The Nature Conservancy in Indiana:
https://www.nature.org/en-us/about-us/where-we-work/united-states/indiana/
Purdue Extension: https://extension.purdue.edu/subcategory/16
The Indiana Invasive Species Council
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