As a passionate but amateur naturalist, Becky recently volunteered to work as a “Weed Wrangler.”
She is now part of a local team whose mission is to search for and destroy invasive species in the Johnson County area. She is now even more fierce in her determination to rid the area of a couple of her great villains, Autumn Olive and Multiflora Rose. Look out — Becky’s coming after you two.
In her struggles to make her part of the world safe for native plants, she has conversations with other eco-warriors. Some of these knowledgeable professionals had offered a guided walk-through of an owner’s property noting the good and intruder species along with suggestions for how best to deal with the bad ones.
Becky signed up for the offer and that is why Blair Beavers from the Johnson County Soil and Water Conservation District and Dawn Slack from The Nature Conservancy showed up on Monday morning to walk our property and help her learn. I tagged along.
Our guides knew their stuff. Before we left the driveway they had pointed out many significant plants and trees. Fortunately, most of the species they spotted are native to our area and the few problems they noted are small and relatively easy to deal with. We started a slow walk across the field we have been mowing only once a year because we are hoping to attract pollinators. A few butterflies were already flitting around. Our plan seems to be working.
At first glance, the recently cut field might seem to be ordinary “grass” and “weeds.” Ah, but to the experts it is filled with an amazing array of native grasses, curious flowers and small tree seedlings. For me, when I know the name of a thing, it seems more real.
As we stood there looking at the variety of tiny plant miracles, Dawn suddenly cocked her head slightly at a far-off screech and pronounced, “Red-tailed hawk.” I was envious of her knowledge. Not only were our guides able to identify just about every plant they looked at, but for the rest of the walk she would interrupt herself to identify particular bird songs.
I don’t know if it means anything, but as we were leaving the field for the woods, we all glanced up to see a bald eagle soaring in great circles over us.
We headed into the woods and made our way down a steep ravine to the creek. After pulling rocks from the running water and examining the life forms underneath, this part of the creek was declared relatively clean.
We then hiked across another field climbing up to an area we knew had massive tangles of multiflora rose. Becky and I have always resisted using chemicals on our property and so have worked to clear this area by hand.
Dawn agreed that she avoids herbicides almost always, but when she first started with TNC, she was handed a backpack sprayer and pointed toward a particularly nasty mass of plants. She explained herbicides used rarely and sparingly sometimes can be a good tool for the eventual health of a natural site. Good to know.
Eventually it was time to head back. As we came to a ford farther up the creek, Dawn stopped in her tracks. Japanese stilt grass. This invasive is very aggressive and can impact the diversity of native species, reduce wildlife habitat and disrupt important ecosystem functions. It spreads very easily, which is not a good thing. Killing this should be our first priority, she told us.
We returned home full to bursting with new knowledge. Becky and I thanked them both and they drove off.
Dawn had speculated that the stilt grass likely had come from somewhere upstream. Later, I thought about that. So much we can’t control comes from “upstream.”
Many times we don’t think through what we are doing. What we figured was a good or at least harmless thing turns out to be a bad thing, even a deadly thing. Perhaps we might take a longer view, make an effort to consider the ramifications of what we send “downstream.” I am thinking now of environmental concerns, but maybe this consideration applies across many areas of life.
If we could remember to pause before we send things downstream, it could make a big difference.
Norman Knight, a retired Clark-Pleasant Middle School teacher, writes this weekly column for the Daily Journal. Send comments to [email protected].
