No, we’re not talking war here – though to the flora of GSWA’s recently acquired 23-acre property in Harding Township, it amounts to the same thing. Call it a botanical insurrection, where plants that have found their way here have ousted native counterparts. Through rapid growth, fast reproduction and a lack of competition, the newcomers have run roughshod over the natives.

In 1999, GSWA’s regular volunteers, along with corporate, civic and religious groups, made significant progress in the fight against invasive species in the GSWA Conservation Area. These helping hands logged about 1,500 work hours: building bridges, clearing trails, installing nesting boxes, building a shed, and planting over a thousand native plants representing 35 species.

Once that work was done, they took on the labor-intensive maintenance that went with it: watering plants during a drought, protecting them against deer, water-sealing wood bridges, keeping trails clear, filling bird feeders and painting the shed. Sincere thanks to all who have joined the battle to date!

The Major Invaders

So far, the work force has concentrated on a six-acre battleground northwest of Silver Brook, putting invasive plant removal at the forefront. Tartarian honeysuckle, garlic mustard and multiflora rose have been drastically curtailed. (It’s no coincidence that this trifecta of noxious invasives is the first to bear leaves in spring, stealing the sun’s rays and converting its energy into fast growth, thus granting a competitive edge over any juxtaposed native.)

Japanese barberry is less of a problem here, but we eradicate it when we find it in the hope it will not become a nuisance. Japanese stiltgrass, on the other hand, is a forbidding ground cover whose survival skills are relentless. Only in areas planted with natives have we attempted to eradicate stiltgrass by hand. Unless a targeted herbicide is found, this is one plant that may get the best of us.

The Work Ahead

Looking ahead, we’ll be monitoring the survival of the herbs, trees and shrubs that we planted last year. From early spring observation it appeared that at least 70 percent of our plantings have small buds and green basal leaves indicating that if not browsed by deer, they stand a chance for renewed growth. We’ll also be erecting six strategically placed deer-proof enclosures. We’ll plant native species inside and outside the enclosures and monitor their progress. The purpose is to protect our investment of native plants inside the fencing and to record the ability of plants outside to withstand competition and deer-browsing.

Regarding the property’s additional uses, the Conservation Area sub-committee of GSWA’s Science and Technology Committee recently agreed on an environmental-education focus, with emphasis on the local community’s role in watershed management. We hope that the work we’re doing will rub off on groups that visit the site, and help them become better stewards of their own properties. This process has already borne fruit based on the responses of volunteers, who tell us they’ve taken the lessons learned at the Conservation Area back to their own backyards.