27th
2009
Step One of Invasive Plant Eradication: This afternoon, I pulled up 2 tansy plants that I was using to control insects on my apple trees (I never did notice that they were doing any good). As I pulled up the plants, the strong odor from the crushed leaves enveloped me. Tansy is a natural insecticide. Well…it is a natural Lauriecide as well. I had a major allergic reaction to it and ended up with my tongue, throat, and nostrils burning for hours afterward, followed by major clogging of sinuses. I had to take an antihistamine to calm things down. It was a rough evening.
Important Note: Pull the invasive plants up before they flower and go to seed!
Invasive Plant Atlas of New England: I am currently using this web site as my guide for eradicating the invasive plants in my yard. I have found that I must pull up the following plants: Burning Bush, Celandine, Dame’s Rocket, False Indigo (boo hoo…I just bought it last year!), forget-me-not, and yellow loosestrife (aka garden loosestrife). I have found that moneywort has been creeping up from a drainage area behind my north facing flower/shrub garden, and I must tackle that as well. I am also going to chop down any new black locust trees that try to grow up. Click on this link to go to the Invasive Plant Atlas of New England Web Site: http://nbii-nin.ciesin.columbia.edu/ipane/index.htm
