Expert To Offer An Introduction To Invasive Plants

RIDGEFIELD — Invasive plants are lush green in the understory of woodlands and wetlands busily crowding out native plants. Usually from other continents with colder climates, these aliens are immensely hardy and tolerant of different growing conditions, have few predators, and are prolific producers of seeds and berries spread about by water, wind, or birds.

Those very successful properties have made them a threat to native vegetation and the creatures that depend on native plants. The low green sea of Japanese barberry, winged euonymus, multiflora rose, and Japanese honeysuckle awash in fields and woodlands this spring is the signal that people need to become aware of these plants, their threat to biological diversity, and methods for selected control.

On Saturday, May 31, from 9:30 am to 12:30 pm at Ridgefield Library, the Norwalk River Watershed Association (NRWA) and Ridgefield Conservation Commission will provide an excellent opportunity to learn more on this topic. In a slide lecture entitled “Introduction To Invasive Plants: Issues and Identification,” Charlotte Pyle from the Natural Resources Conservation Service of the U.S. Department of Agriculture will explain why invasives need to be controlled, how to identify them, and successful management techniques. She will bring specimens for examination and answer questions from the audience.

Ms Pyle is a well-known authority on invasive plants.  She has created handy, small laminated cards that provide easy field identification of invasive plants and a new pamphlet, Non-Native, Invasive Organisms Create Problems in Connecticut, that clearly explains the invasive problem and the most common invasives in Connecticut.

After the lecture the audience will be encouraged to go on an easy, short local field trip to see two properties where the Norwalk River Watershed Association, in conjunction with the Ridgefield Conservation Commission, has been working to control invasive plants. Those wishing to go on the short field trip should wear clothes and shoes appropriate for outdoor exploration.

The issue of invasive plants is an important one, and NRWA has been at the forefront in educating the public and officials about the problem and in taking on specific work projects. NRWA has organized a statewide symposium on invasive plants and most recently co-sponsored, with the National Park Service at Weir Farm, a show of original paintings of invasive plants by artists from the National Guild of Science Illustrators.

Ridgefield Public Library is at 472 Main Street/Route 35. For directions to the library call 203-438-2282. For information about other Norwalk River Watershed activities visit www.NorwalkRiver.org or call 203-846-8210.