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permaculture - Re: [permaculture] Invasive Plants revisited - comments welcome

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  • From: BrandoM3@aol.com
  • To: permaculture@lists.ibiblio.org
  • Subject: Re: [permaculture] Invasive Plants revisited - comments welcome
  • Date: Mon, 9 Jan 2012 10:02:50 -0500 (EST)

We discussed invasive plants last night. At the MNA's
(michigannature.org) copperbelly reptile preserve here in Michigan, after the
reorganization 6
years ago, the Stewardship Director, along with many volunteers, removed
russian olive shrubs on a field hill, also targeting purple loosestrife
around the wetlands.

The snakes didn't mind those plants being around - they used them as
cover, shade and basking sites, just like they do on cattails, buttonbush,
tree
limbs, logs, brush piles, muskrat and beaver lodges, in the water itself.
Don't buy into any propaganda that says that purple loosestrife displaces
cattails, which has very strong rootstalks.

Kudzu is a great ground cover, especially on slopes subject to erosion.
The vines can be cut back should they start to go onto roads or start up
trees.

I have Japanese cane here, a type of bamboo. It forms a perfect, tall
(12'+) hedge across our front yard, giving us perfect privacy from the road.

It grows and spreads from underground root stocks (rhizomes) laterally. We
let it spread, but not into the yard or driveway. One other driveway has
been almost completely covered as we no longer use it.

It is a shame and atrocious that all the naturally-growing hemp in the US
has been systematically eradicated. What a waste of natural resources!

In none of my organic gardens have I used herbicides or pesticides. I
relocate praying mantises and toads into the garden to deter plant pests.
Woodchucks and rabbits pose no threat to the garden other than rabbits
liking
beans. Woodchucks feed on the main cause of allergies - ragweed (goldenrod
is not an allergen). I put mulch - hay or over-wintered tree leaves I
pile up - between the rows to deter overgrown "weeds" - a wildflower simply
displaced into the wrong area (garden). I also grow flowers around the
garden edges or in their own beds here and there.

I use my compost pile as fertilizer. It's also good as mulch.

Since my legs got weak, I cannot manage it by myself.


In a message dated 1/9/2012 7:02:33 A.M. Eastern Standard Time,
lflj@bellsouth.net writes:


I am including parts of my replies to posts about eleagnus umbellata:
<>

They are not on _my_ list (of invasive plants), nor is kudzu or sericea
lespedeza. I think you'll find that much of this "invasive plant"
propaganda may well be spawned by the herbicide industry and nurtured by
lazy gardeners and landscapers. Herbicide use is a creeping scourge.

The worst invasives, across the globe, are GMO crops.

There's a use for them (plants with edible fruits). Instead of
destroying them, harvest and eat them. Allow wildlife to use them.

It is certainly erroneous to be concerned about significant spread of
eleagnus in the Piedmont Bioregion. It is too dry and for the most part
has poor soil. As they spread by seed stands are slow to develop though
birds and deer can help with this. They just grow too slow and have too
much competition from other plants to really become invasive. Apex
Nurseries sold the eleagnus varieties fruitlandi and angustifolia to
landscapers. They are welcome additions to any yard, placed properly,
especially if you are one who likes traditional english cottage gardens
and it is ideal as part of an element in a permaculture system, aka
landscape.

It is hysterical to recommend massive removal in areas where they are
not a problem, which seems to be happening. I also challenge, rightfully
so, claims of "invasives" _causing problems_; i.e. unwarranted trumped
up charges against a plant. Often, follow the money trail to see the
root cause of this. I grant no special consideration for conventional
agriculture, i.e. broadacre monocrop farming; everything other than the
cash crop is invasive. They need to practice natural farming. The third
world will not starve w/o conventional, chemical-based or gmo
agriculture, a ploy to gain control of a nation's food supply,
destroying traditional farming infrastructure in the process. Again, I
challenge the "causing problems" rationale to justify eradication of
certain plants. To tell homeowners that they need to go out and cut down
and dig up eleagnus wherever it is found is ludicrous and ridiculous.
Look at the lists of invasive plants and think about how many have
positive attributes and can easily be controlled with careful planning
and manual labor. Less TV and more hand weeding.
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