A Symposium:
Invasive Plants in Public Landscapes
Meeting the Challenge
by Susan Faulkner
A waving sea of lavender blossoms, shimmering leaves on a slender tree, red shrub fall foliage - all are plants we have loved, and planted. Some now have been labeled "invasive." But why? What is an invasive plant? Why should we eliminate purple loosestrife (Lythrum salicaria), autumn olive (Elaeagnus umbellata) and burning bush (Euonymus alatus) from our plant lives?
Early in November, more than 250 people interested in our natural world gathered at the Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection (DEP), Sessions Woods Wildlife Management Area, to examine how we manage invasive plants.
Presented by the Connecticut Invasive Plant Working Group, the symposium, "Invasive Plants in Public Landscapes - Meeting the Challenge," was cosponsored by 25 organizations, services and societies, including the Connecticut Horticultural Society. Peter Picone, of Sessions Woods, and the Connecticut Invasive Plant Working Group (CIPWG) committee served as hosts.
Invasive plants establish and reproduce easily, disperse over a wide area, need no cultivation, crowd out native species and thus threaten biological diversity.
Keynote speaker Bonnie Harper-Lore, plant community ecologist for the Federal Highway Administration, noted that more than 10 million acres of roadsides are the corridors of the highways that cover our nation. A vegetation manager's job for the care of these acres can be, and is, just as difficult as the care of the roads and bridges they surround. Invasive plants do not honor state boundaries: a problem for one site can become a problem for the rest of the nation.
In Connecticut, our DEP has authority from the legislature to deal with nonnative invasive plant species, but has no formal policies or overall program. A DEP representative noted that most of its control efforts have been on aquatic plants. The Tidal Marsh Restoration Team works on Phragmites control and is considered a leader in marsh restoration. Over the past several years it has located and eradicated other invasive plants and has had the assistance of conservation and wildlife organizations. The DEP no longer cultivates or plants any nonnative invasive plants.
Speaking for a Town Inland Wetlands Commission, a resident noted that in her town, anyone who disturbs wetlands must replace plants with native plants and maintain the site for five years. She also demonstrated two tools used to destroy invasives: the Weed Wrench and a drip bottle filled with an herbicide.
The retail landscaping and nursery industries presented the commercial perspective on invasives. The speaker for the Connecticut Nursery and Landscape Association acknowledged the invasives problem and the group is supportive of research and other efforts to reach a solution. The parent national organization sees invasive plants as a national issue, and their Voluntary Codes of Conduct (just updated) may have far-reaching results. The five codes range from those for professionals to government to architects to the gardening public and to botanical gardens and arboreta.
A commercial wholesale nursery manager reviewed many of the criteria for the plants it grows. Extensive evaluations are made of plants from the economic as well as the environmental perspectives. The owner of a nursery specializing in wetlands outlined the nursery's work in eradicating invasive plants and using native wetland plants. A native plant nursery discussed the value of contracting with specialists in the growth of native plants but warned that it is vital for customers to realize the lead time needed to obtain them.
Two professors and two architects (one in private practice, the other employed by a state government) presented their perspectives on how educators of landscape architecture and architects themselves can meet the challenge of invasive plants in our landscapes. All speakers recognized that there is a problem with invasives: "Rules" are still evolving and definitions of invasives are still being questioned. One professor also discussed 20 alternatives to invasive plants that might be used in common designs.
A wildlife biologist examined how invasive plant encroachment affects the habitats of wildlife. Our judicious selection of native plants for wildlife food and cover will result in a healthier future for wildlife and our ecosystem.
A speaker for the nursery industry noted that education about invasive plants is necessary both for the public and the industry - that while the industry is not responsible for all the problems, it can do many things to help. Words like "phase out" and "alternatives" may be key in plant production.
Background of CIPWG
The Connecticut Invasive Plant Working Group (CIPWG) first met in spring of 1997 with 30 attending. Dr. Leslie Mehrhoff spearheaded the project and in following meetings broadened the attendance and solidified the purpose. Donna Ellis of the University of Connecticut, Department of Plant Science, joined as co-chair. Since that first meeting, CIPWG has established a web page (www.hort.uconn.edu/cipwg), developed a guide, supported introduction of legislation as well as tying in with national and regional activities. Two posters, a logo and T-shirts, distributed statewide, are aimed at informing and educating the citizens of our state.
An extensive CIPWG pamphlet lists nonnative invasive and potentially invasive vascular plants in Connecticut, with plants listed under headings such as "widespread," "restricted" and "potentially invasive."
CHS Member and Garden Designer Susan Faulkner is on the
Board of Directors of the Natural Resources Council of
Connecticut and is a committee member of NEPCoP (New
England Plant Conservation Program). She runs Green Gardens,
a design company in Darien, Connecticut.
Reprinted with Permission from the Connecticut Horticultural Society Newsletter, Volume 46, Number 4, January 2003
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