WSU Kitsap County Noxious Weeds

Volunteer Opportunity

2008-11-06T10:55:00.001-08:00

The Centennial Park committee will be planting trees at Centennial Park on Friday, November 7 from 1-3 pm. A second volunteer opportunity to plant in the bioswale will be on Saturday, November 8 from 12-2 pm. Please bring trowels, shovels, work gloves and rakes. The park is located at the corner 7th and Iverson Street. Everyone is welcome!

KOTA Radio 1380

2008-10-14T14:29:00.000-07:00

That plant you put in your yard could be an invasive species threatening their neighbor native plants. Invasive species are brought in by nurseries, people transporting plants or seeds from other states, or carried into the state by the wind. How ever they travel here, they’re more resilient and resistant to traditional management planning.

Jerry Boyer, acting secretary of the newly formed South Dakota Invasive Species Management Association, or SISMA, said the association was formed because the state needs to unify private and public entities and resources, too. He said we’re losing the state’s natural natives and wildlife habitat. A good example is Spearfish Canyon, which has been inundated with noxious weeds… .

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Noxious Weed Control Program Public Hearing October 8th

2008-09-19T14:05:00.000-07:00

The Noxious Weed Control Program will be holding a public hearing on October 8th and would appreciate your input. If you are unable to attend the hearing please provide written testimony to Dana by the 3rd of October.

Kitsap County's Noxious Weed Control Program must grow. Just as the weeds continue to grow so must our efforts to keep them under control. Our program desires to be an active program that not only identifies problems but offers assistance in solving problems. While we seek to provide more assistance to landowners, our staff (of one) is tied with a very short budget string that is continually getting strapped and
constrained. Our program seeks to help the citizens of Kitsap County by adjusting the individual assessment. This adjustment would allow our program to be more productive and effectively control noxious weeds in our county. This funding adjustment would allow for many of the citizens of our county to obtain assistance for noxious weed control, and facilitate control of noxious weeds on county owned lands.

The Kitsap County Noxious Weed Control board will be holding a public
hearing Wednesday October 8th at the Silverdale Community Center at 7pm
for the proposed adjustment of the Kitsap County Noxious Weed
Assessment. The hearing will be followed by a regular Noxious Weed
Control Board meeting. Inquiries should be directed to the Kitsap County
Noxious Weed Control program. 360-307-4242

Ivy Cuts in Port Blakely Park

2008-09-19T13:56:00.000-07:00

The Bainbridge Island Municipal Parks and Recreation Dept has agreed to allow and provide support for ivy cuts in Port Blakely Park starting at the bottom of the Tani property on October 4, from 1 - 4 p.m.. They will have equipment and a supervisor present.

This is a great opportunity to save the trees on that very special property,
as well as help protect the restored salmon stream that is becoming strangled by ivy. This was facilitated by Dan Hamlin, and he would like me to let him know in the next week approximately how many will be attending. Thanks so much for replying to him if you can come, and for passingon the word. Your efforts will be making a lasting, important and positive difference!

Noxious Weed Public Hearing

2008-09-11T13:47:00.000-07:00

The Noxious Weed Control Program will be holding a public hearing on October 8th and would appreciate your input. If you are unable to attend the hearing please provide written testimony to Dana by the 3rd of October.

Kitsap County’s Noxious Weed Control Program must grow. Just as the weeds continue to grow so must our efforts to keep them under control. Our program desires to be an active program that not only identifies problems but offers assistance in solving problems. While we seek to provide more assistance to landowners, our staff (of one) is tied with a very short budget string that is continually getting strapped and constrained. Our program seeks to help the citizens of Kitsap County by adjusting the individual assessment. This adjustment would allow our program to be more productive and effectively control noxious weeds in our county. This funding adjustment would allow for many of the citizens of our county to obtain assistance for noxious weed control, and facilitate control of noxious weeds on county owned lands.

The Kitsap County Noxious Weed Control board will be holding a public hearing Wednesday October 8st at the Silverdale Community Center at 7pm for the proposed adjustment of the Kitsap County Noxious Weed Assessment. The hearing will be followed by a regular Noxious Weed Control Board meeting. Inquiries should be directd to the Kitsap County Noxious Weed Control program, 360-307-4242.

Work Parties at Poulsbo's Fish Park to Change Days and Expand Hours

2008-08-28T09:35:00.000-07:00

The monthly work parties at Poulsbo's Fish Park will be held the third Saturday of the month from 9:00 am - 1:00 pm beginning September 20. The public is welcomed to join in to help this nature park grow into an urban experience for all to enjoy. A variety of tasks will be available each month, including eradicating noxious weeds, blackberry removal, park clean up, the planting of trees and shrubs, and more. With the addition of 7.43 acres, the park will have plenty of work for everyone to enjoy. Be a part of improving your community!

For more information or to added to the Fish Park email information list, please contact Mary McCluskey at Poulsbo Parks and Recreation - 360-779-9898.

Tansy Typhoon!

2008-08-18T20:45:00.000-07:00

This year has brought us a particularly health crop of tansy ragwort. What do these plants look like? A sea of yellow along our roadways and in many fields. The stems are stout, branched and have a hint of purple at the base. Often, groups of stems arise from the plant crown. Its leaves are dark green on top, whitish-green underneath, and have deeply cut, blunt-toothed lobes with a ragged/ruffled appearance. Flower clusters develop on stout, leafy elongated stems that grow up to 6 feet tall; each flower cluster is composed of many bright-yellow flowers with (usually) 13 petals. This plant is a biennial plant that will set 150,000 seeds (per plant), which may lie dormant in the soil for as long as 15 years. Have you seen this plant in your neighborhood? Did you know that just by pulling one plant (bagging it and putting it in the trash) you can help drastically slow the spread of this invader? In Whatcom County one large road side site was completely controlled in 3 years just through pulling! You also have a friend in the fight to control tansy, the cinnabar moth larva. This yellow and black little larva eats the plant weakening it so that it will produce fewer seeds. Watch for it as you pull tansy in your area. If you see it, leave the plant stem but still take the seed heads with you.

Happy weeding!

Cinnabar Moth

Larva Eating Tansy

Poison Hemlock

2008-06-26T09:41:00.000-07:00

Poison hemlock(Conium maculate) is rapidly becoming a problem here in Kitsap County. This dainty weed almost goes unnoticed if it were not for its numerous flowers and tall gangly stocks. Slowly but surly this plant is gaining ground by the millions every year. This plant has a history of destruction, not only of ecological destruction but it can also destroy lives. In fact this is the plant that Socrates had to ingest for his death sentence and still today it holds its potent abilities to kill.

POISON HEMLOCK is a biennial herb growing 3 to 8 feet tall and has a smooth purple-spotted stem and triangular, finely divided leaves with bases that sheathe the stem. Fresh leaves and roots have a parsnip-like odor. The small but attractive white flowers, arranged in umbrella-like clusters, open in early summer. The fruit is tiny, flattened, and ridged. Underground is a fleshy, unbranched white taproot. Unlike wild carrot (Daucus carota, parsnip family), there are no hairs on the stems or leaves of poison-hemlock and no branching, feathery bracts beneath the flower clusters. These plants are commonly found along roadsides, edges of cultivated fields, railroad tracks, irrigation ditches, stream banks, and in waste areas.
Be on the look out for this weed as it spreads like wildfire. Take action and cut down this plant, put it in a trash bag and send it to the landfill. You can make a difference just by cutting down one plant with thousands of seeds. Do your part, don’t let this weed start to spread.

Weed of the Month

2008-06-17T14:57:00.000-07:00

What is this?

This is easily the most noted noxious weed this time of year. It comes in numerous colors including white, red and yellow, yellow and white and just yellow. We all see it, sneeze at it and have many choice words for it, but what can we do about it?

This aggressive, rapid spreading plant can grow 3 feet in the first year. It can form dense impenetrable stands that degrade natural areas. It invades rapidly following logging, land clearing, and burning. It can form pure dense stands for miles along highway and country roads to crowd out native species and destroy wildlife habitat. These plants contain a volatile oil and are considered potential fire hazards, in fact one town in OR burnt to the ground due to scotch broom and its cousin gorse. They are also often an eye sore and can irritate many individuals’ allergies.

Controlling just one scotch broom plant can stop more than 500,000 seeds from being produced. As with many noxious weeds there is no “cure” that can be implemented in one year but rather a management plan needs to be created with realistic goals for removal. Scotch broom can be controlled and maintained in many sites with great success. You will need to address not only individual properties but community shared spaces.

You can do a weed pull in your neighborhood or just on your own property. If you need help contact your local school and see if students need volunteer hours or contact the local Boy Scout troop in your area. Weed wrenches are available from our office and can but are in great demand so make sure to call well in advance of needing one.

Happy weeding!
Dana
360-307-4242

What is this?

2008-06-17T14:51:00.000-07:00

A new(er) weed has been catching my eye lately, along the roadsides and moving into new areas of construction and newly logged areas. It is a member of the borage family and it is not surprisingly a pretty plant brought in as a garden ornamental. This little plant has bright blue flowers on it and looks similar to a forget-me-not but is much more aggressive. Many of the reasons why I fear this plant are the reasons that others revere this plant “It blooms almost all Summer, DOES WELL IN POOR SOIL, and is DROUGHT TOLERANT. Cut back after blooming for a new flush of growth.” All of the attributes listed above call out to me that this can be our next big problem.

So, what is the plant? Anchusa azurea it has many common names and is listed as being bread in Germany. The plant has brilliant blue flowers with stout hairs on the stems and leaves. It stands approximately 3 feet tall and will bloom all summer and is very apparent right now.

Watch for it along the roadways and in our garden edges but make sure that when you see this plant you pull it out.

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