invasive plants

It’s Time to Treat Stiltgrass

Stiltgrass A pernicious, non-native, invasive plant that is spreading like wildfire across our landscape. It’s time to treat stiltgrass, a pernicious, non-native, invasive plant that is spreading like wildfire across our landscape.  Vigorous patches of this invasive plant have been spotted growing along our roadsides, particularly along Farmview Road, creeping into our yards and lawns where it displaces desirable lawn grasses, and spreading into surrounding forests where it overwhelms and destroys biodiversity and natural habitat for animals, birds, and insects.Non-native plants become invasive when they put out huge amounts of seeds or send out large root networks and are hard to contain, usually because there are no natural controls like insects or disease.  Non-native plant species, like stiltgrass, are a leading cause of declines in native plant and animal…

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Did you know? February 22-26 is National Invasive Species Awareness Week.

Happy National Invasive Species Awareness Week (NISAW), the week we celebrate our native plants and their importance in our landscape.  Native plants are the plants that grow naturally in our area.  They are best adapted to our local soil and climate conditions and provide the best food and habitat to support native insects and wildlife.  By simple definition, invasive plants are an alien or non-native species that show a tendency to spread out of control, often crowding out indigenous plants that feed and shelter the animals we love.  Once “introduced” into the native landscape, invasive species displace native plants that are the foundation for the food webs that sustain life. In fact, invasive species have directly contributed to the decline 42% of the threatened and endangered species in the United States.” According…

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What to do if you see these invasive plants on the farm? Pull!

Hemp Dogbane Very invasive and toxic to livestock Discovered in Farmcolony’s hay fields, mainly pasture H3 Hemp dogbane is a very invasive herb in the milkweed family considered highly toxic to humans and mammals.  All parts of this plant exude a milky juice when bruised and all plant parts are toxic to livestock.  The plant has infested a large portion of our H3 pasture and is being treated with herbicide.  Smaller amounts have been pulled in another pasture. The hemp portion of its common name comes from the fact that Indians used fiber crushed out of the stems and roots of the plant to make rope and clothing. The woody bark became material for baskets. Ancient medicine used it as a sedative and treatment for syphilis, worms, fever, rheumatism…

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