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Please visit our "Education" articles. They change every month and are full of helpful information.
AUGUST 2010-Stop the Purple Invasion: Purple Loosestrife
Purple Loosestrife (Lythrum salicaria) is a plant from Eurasia that was brought to the northern US for decorative purposes. It also was accidentally transported in ship ballast water. While it may be pretty, native animals and insects do not eat it, so it tends to take over wherever it grows. The problem is purple loosestrife displaces native plants that animals, birds and insects rely on for food and habitat. In some regions of New York and other northern states, purple loosestrife has completely taken over marshes, lake shores and river edges. In short, purple loosestrife is an invasive plant that overcomes native plants and negatively impacts birds and animals.
How to Identify Purple Loosestrife
 Purple loosestrife is a short, bushy plant that dies back each year (“herbaceous perennial”). It is most commonly found in wetlands, along shorelines and other wet areas. It has been seen at Jackson Pond in Long Reach. Its peak blooming season is July to August. It has spikes of purple-pink flowers with 6 petals with yellow-white centers. The leaves attach directly to the stem with a pair (but sometimes triples) opposite each other at a joint. The leaves are long and narrow with pointed tips, smooth edges and a heart-shaped base. The stems (especially the older ones) are square and somewhat fuzzy. There are several plants that look somewhat similar to purple loosestrife, so just because it is purple, it is not always purple loosestrife. The MD Department of Natural Resources has an excellent description of purple loosestrife as well as a nice two-sided guide for field identification. The Maryland Sea Grant web site has a detailed description of purple loosestrife in the Chesapeake watershed.
Controlling Purple Loosestrife
Purple loosestrife has all the characteristics that make it very difficult to control including:
- Extensive roots make it difficult to dig out (plants re-grow from roots)
- Millions of seeds per plant that can survive for years
- Supposedly sterile plans (sold as ornamentals) can cross-breed and produce viable seeds
- Grows well in poor soils
- Thrives in drainage ditches and recently disturbed sites
Many common herbicides cannot be safely used in wetlands. Where purple loosestrife is a native plant, there are insects that specialize in eating it. Those insects are now being used in the US and Canada as biological control for purple loosestrife. The purple loosestrife growing in the wetlands in Howard County's Font Hill Wetlands Park is one of the sites where the beetles have been released.
What you should do if you find purple loosestrife
Sightings in Maryland should be reported for invasion monitoring purposes to the Department of Natural Resources through their online purple loosestrife reporting form. For sightings of purple loosestrife on CA properties, please contact the CA Open Space Management office at 410-312-6330.
 For non-CA locations in Howard County, contact Sue Muller at Howard County Recreation and Parks. If you would like to volunteer to help fight purple loosestrife in Howard County, contact Sue Muller for some small-scale removal. There are some more substantial purple loosestrife removal projects in the marshes along the Patuxent in Anne Arundel and Prince George's Counties. Check the events calendar at Jug Bay Wetlands Sanctuary or contact Lindsay Hollister at 410-741-9330 for more information about volunteer opportunities combating the purple menace.
-- Written by Jeffrey Campbell, Long Reach WAC Representative, who has extensive first-hand experience removing purple loosestrife from the Patuxent watershed. Campbell can be reached at ColumbiaWACLongReach@gmail.com.
JULY 2010 - Invasive English Ivy
Invasive English Ivy? How can that be? Yes, English Ivy is an excellent ground cover, but it doesn't know when to stop. It forms dense patches and effectively prevents other plants from getting sunlight and growing. That's why we see it as such a good ground cover. But, once it escapes from the area it was planted in and gets into neighboring woods and unmanaged areas, Its dense patches effectively exclude native plants and it takes over. It is also a vigorous climbing vine that can engulf and surround branches and leaves of trees. This prevents sunlight from reaching the leaves causing the tree to lose its vigor and eventually die if not removed.
To save the tree the ivy must be cut and removed from the lower trunk section of the tree near the ground. The remaining ivy in the tree itself can be left to die. To prevent further attacks on the tree it is recommended the ivy be pulled and dug out of the soil around the tree. A minimum of three feet on each side of the tree should be cleared of ivy. The cleared area at the base of the tree should be covered with pine bark mulch or a similar product. Proper mulching techniques can be found at: http://www.treesaregood.com/treecare/mulching.aspx.
For more detailed information on this invasive vine and its control, please visit http://www.nps.gov/plants/alien/fact/hehe1.htm%20.
The same type action described above should also be done to any bushes or shrubs infested with English Ivy.
-- Tom Frederick, Columbia Town Center WAC Rep.
JUNE 2010 - Canada Thistle
The Canada Thistle may look pretty and produce lovely flower heads, but it can overwhelm any landscape. The plants stand erect and can grow up to 4 feet tall. The flowers are purple to white and bloom in late June through August.
Canada Thistle produces an abundance of seeds which can spread by wind just like the dandelions in your lawn. The seeds can sprout within a year, or can remain viable in the soil for years. Due too its perennial nature, the entire plant must be killed in order to prevent re-growth.
Canada Thistle can also regenerate from root fragments less than an inch in length. If you see young thistle in your garden, dig out the plant with its roots, put it in a bag, and deposit in your trash. Do not place in your compose pile.
Click here for photos and more information.
-- Tom Frederick, Columbia Town Center WAC Rep.
MAY 2010 - Garlic Mustard
Invasive plants are those species which spread aggressively in an ecosystem in which they did not evolve. They cause damage by choking out native plants; thereby, degrading the ecosystem and reducing biological diversity. Garlic mustard is a major invasive plant in Columbia.
Garlic Mustard is a cool season herb that lives for 2 years. First year plants are a rosette of green leaves close to the ground. During the first year they can be pulled from the ground and left to die. In the second year, the plant can reach 2 to 3 feet in height and produces clusters of small white flowers.
Beginning in May of the second year, seeds are produced. A single plant can produce thousands of seeds. Once you see the flowers, it is recommended that they be pulled, bagged and deposited in your trash. Do not put the plants at that stage in a compost pile because they will reproduce wherever you place the compost.
When garlic mustard plants die in the summer, they can be recognized by the erect stalks of dry pale brown seedpods. The seeds are still viable throughout the summer. These are very invasive plants and can overwhelm other vegetation. Unfortunately, this is one plant white-tailed deer leave untouched. The leaves give off an odor of garlic when crushed.
Visit www.invasive.org/species/subject.cfm?sub=3005 for pictures of all stages of this very invasive plant.
-- Tom Frederick, Columbia Town Center WAC Rep.
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