Weed Control Team

Pulling in the rain, just pulling in the rain

While the rainy days do seem to slow down the time between flower and seed set a little bit, it is important not to let garlic mustard go too long without attention. Garlic mustard is easiest to spot right now, and it pulls out of moist soil more easily. So keep pulling, rain or shine. If you are planning a volunteer garlic mustard pull, let us know and we can help publicize the event. And don't forget to bag and dispose of pulled plants.

Garlic Mustard is Bolting!

And so it begins - garlic mustard will be flowering soon. If you are hand pulling in an area where garlic mustard is mixed in with other plants, the flowers make it easier to spot. Our control efforts began this week. I'll talk about them at the garlic mustard meeting at Menucha on Thursday 4/14 at 7pm. Please join us if you have questions about how to control garlic mustard on your own property, and to learn about control plans along the roads.

Getting Ready for Garlic Mustard

Our garlic mustard control work continues again this year. I'll use this blog to update you about where our effort is at. If you are organizing a volunteer event, the blog can help you get the word out. We also will provide a dumpster for garlic mustard disposal this year beginning April 7th. On April 14th, Menucha will host a gathering to discuss garlic mustard at 7pm. Hope to see you there!

Weed control update

With garlic mustard work on a break until Fall, we are focusing our efforts on old man's beard (Clematis vitalba). This nasty vine is getting a foothold in the Gorge, but we think that control now could prevent a total infestation. We are offering free control to landowners east of the Sandy River. Right now most of the infestations are along the Sandy River and the Historic Columbia River Highway. Our goal is to begin treatments on infested properties near the Columbia Gorge in 2010 and expand the project to include areas near the Sandy river in 2011. To learn more about this nasty weed, click here.

Look for us at the Corbett Fun Festival

In addition to a float in the parade, we will have a booth at the school in the afternoon. Be sure to stop by and enter our free raffle for 1 day of a crew of 4 to do weed control work on your property. The crew can tackle garlic mustard, blackberry, ivy, old man's beard, knotweed, spurge laurel, and/or scotch broom. See you on the 4th!

Keep it clean

With your help we prvented a lot of new garlic mustard seed from forming and spreading to new areas. As hard as we tried, there are garlic mustard plants going to seed in some areas. You can help by teaching your friends, neighbors, and everyone you meet to clean their shoes, clothing, gear, bikes, pets, and off road vehicles to avoid unknowingly spreading seeds. Enter public trails with clean shoes and clothing. Be aware of the potential for pets and livestock to collect and carry weed seeds in fur and hooves. Simply brushing animals, boots and clothing before leaving sites will help prevent the spread of noxious invasive weeds to other areas of Oregon. This year's slogan for Oregon's Invasive Weed Awareness campaign says it all: Spread the word, not the weed.

Dumpster extended until June 25th

By popular demand, the garlic mustard dumpster will be available until Friday, June 25th. Fill it up and let us know where you pulled!

What about the cliffs?

Many of you have noticed that garlic mustard can grow on the cliffs in the Gorge. We noticed this a few years ago. When I was interviewed by the Oregonian last year, I described this discovery as 'a very low day for me' and it remains something we have not been able to comprehensively address. Some groups, like Oregon State Parks, have the expertise to use climbing ropes to get to it. In most cases, we can only control it above and below the cliff to try to contain it. In future years, we may be able to hire crews that can rope up and take care of it on some sites. If you know of a cliff that you think is a priority for control, please let us know.

Dumpster available until June 16th

Just a head's up that the garlic mustard dumpster is only available until June 16th. If you have plans to pull after that date, get in touch and we will look into keeping it out there until the end of June. We know the weather may have delayed some of your efforts. If you do have plans to pull, we would love to know where and when. We have found that it pays to have a central place to keep track of where the garlic mustard is, where it is being controlled, what method is used, and the timing. This information helps us all plan our future efforts, track the spread, and contain garlic mustard.

Weed watchers needed

You've seen how quickly a new weed can take over, and how much work it takes to beat it back. Let's prevent the next new weed from getting started. If you see a plant you don't recognize popping up in your area, let us know. We have a list of the most likely next invaders here. Click on the plant name for a description and photos. We also have a free training coming up next week where you can see samples of these plants: Wednesday, June 1, 2010 at Mt. Hood Forest Headquarters (16400 Champion Way in Sandy) from 10:00 am—noon. Hope to see you there.