A very quick follow-up to the report I circulated yesterday. 

Just as it was beginning to get dark yesterday evening, I managed to get over to the JKW site for a half-hour or so to test out the machete.  It does appear to be a fairly effective way of slashing through the very large stands of JKW that have grown up among the trees along the bike path.  It would seem to be within the realm of possibility to begin a long-term process of repeatedly cutting that JKW once or twice each summer to weaken the plants and prepare for their ultimate removal.

 There are two immediate downsides to use of the machete.  First, I found that when I cut the stalks the large over-story of the JKW plants would fall down on top of me – not inherently a problem except that the blossoms on the plants seemed to be populated with small, stinging ants – fire ants? – that would fall on my neck and down my shirt and sting away, which was fairly painful.  Second, I found that I developed blisters on my hands fairly quickly from the rubbing of the handle.  The first problem might be solved by working during the daylight hours when one can see better what one is doing.  The second might be remedied by wearing work gloves.

 On the whole, however, I can’t imagine a better-suited or more efficient tool for this kind of job.  It is no accident that the machete is the tool of choice for cutting sugar cane and whacking one’s way through the jungle.  The long, strong blade and short swing are well-suited to getting through these cane-like stands and working among trees and rocks.  A mechanical weed whacker probably comes in second but makes a lot of noise and is susceptible to being damaged by rocks and tree trunks.

 During the relative short time that I worked yesterday evening, I was able to cut through the rest of the lower bank and also began moving east through the woods a few yards from the waste pile.  I am hoping to be able to continue this effort to open up an extended vista of the meadow through the trees as one approaches the current JKW project area from the Brandon Street entry point, and perhaps begin the process of weakening this next huge stand of JKW with a view toward its ultimate eradication.  -   John B.

I have done a fair amount of JKW work over several evenings during the past week.  Here is a quick report for the record.

 After our Steering Committee meeting last week, I “weeded” out most if not all of the JKW that has continued to re-sprout in the central grassy area.  In general, I find that these shoots are fairly toughly rooted.  Some will come out with a small section of root but others can only be broken off.  At least the area looks better now, clean and JKW-free. 

Then, over several evenings beginning during and after the intense rain we had last week and continuing into this week, I have tackled the JKW that was growing profusely on the lower part of the bank on the east side of the project area.  Although most of these plants grew quite large this summer, five to six feet or so – and were completely blanketing the lower bank to the exclusion of all other vegetation – they are definitely showing signs of weakness from our repeated assaults over the past four or five years. 

 My strategy at this point has been exclusively “pull, pull, pull,” grasping the plant at the bottom and trying to uproot as much of the root system as possible.  I would say that about 70% can be uprooted along with a good clump of the root system – half quite easily and the other half with a more strenuous tug (which can be a bit hard on the back).  The remaining 30% or so are still quite strongly rooted in the soil and can only be broken off.  I have also, in accordance with our discussions, cleared out a number of sumacs that are proliferating quite rapidly through the area.   

At this point, I have cleared out most of the lower bank from the edge of the grassy area through the area immediately below the waste pile.  About another hour’s work would finish off the last segment to the east of the waste pile.  I have generally been working in the evening, from about 7 p.m. until 8 or 8:30 when it becomes too dark to see any more.  It is a bit cooler at that time, and the mosquitoes, though definitely present, have not been too bad.

 In  hindsight, it might have been better to have done this work earlier in the summer.  I am not sure of the plant’s life cycle, but by this time the stems may have started to send some of the energy created during the summer back to the root systems.  Nevertheless, given how much of the root systems can be pulled up, I still feel as though we are making long-term progress.

 One more task that needs to be done to completely clear the east side of the project area is to weed out sporadic shoots of JKW that have sprouted up among the weeds and wildflowers that are now  growing prolifically at the top of the eastern bank.  Although JKW, when it becomes thick, will shade out and destroy virtually all other surrounding vegetation, it obviously does not work the other way around.  As long as there are bits of root system in the soil, the JKW shoots will make their way through them and up into the sunlight.

 Looking forward, I still have in mind the possibility of continuing the “cut, cut, cut” strategy further up and down the edges of the bike path since that seems by far the most efficient long-term way to battle the JKW.  As an experiment, I purchased a machete today from Ace Hardware ($15-16) and will try it out soon to see how well it works.  If it does prove useful, perhaps the purchase will qualify for reimbursement and can be used in the upcoming meadow-clearing effort.  -  John B.

Over the past two weeks, with some significant and much appreciated recent assistance from my son Chris who has been home for a few weeks following his graduation in May from college, I have cleared out  by the “pull, pull, pull” method most of the knotweed growing in the following locations: 

·         Bottom of the bank that was most recently uncovered and planted with the native seed mix by Sandra Ruggiero and her Waldorf High School troops.  The upper areas of that bank, where the black plastic cover was in place for four or five years remain remarkably knotweed-free.  That length of covering time definitely seems to be enough to eradicate any remaining living rhizomes immediately underneath the plastic.  However, at the lower border of the bank next to the wetlands, which probably did not get adequate cover, the JKW was re-growing in profusion. 

·         Throughout the area from which the plastic was earlier removed, and that has been planted with native grasses for two or three years now.  This area has continued to experience considerable sprouting of new JKW plants from underlying rhizomes, or remnants of them, that were left after the JKW was initially dug out a number of years ago.  At tentative conclusion is that the 1-2 years that this area was covered in black plastic is not long enough to destroy the rhizomes.  Keeping the JKW out of this area will be tedious and difficult. 

·         Most of the “top of the bank” (as well as a portion of the bank further down) to the right (or East) of the replanted area.  Perhaps because this area was not cleaned out as thoroughly as might have been desired last year, there was quite a bit of new growth, on both sides of the wooden rail bordering the bike path.  JKW plants were 2-3 feet high and interspersed among a profusion of other wildflowers, meadow grasses that have spread from the planted area, and other weeds and plants.  We removed a very large quantity of these plants, perhaps adding 4 feet to the massive storage/composting pile on the far east side of the plot.  I also removed a number of sumac “tree-lets” that are spreading swiftly westward from the tree line and grown anywhere from 2-3 feet to 4-5  feet in height just this spring.   I would say that somewhere between 50% and 75% of the JKW plants, depending on location, can be uprooted with relative ease.  The remaining 25-50% are obviously sprouting from much healthier underlying root systems and had to be broken off at ground level rather than uprooted.  The effect of breaking stalks off at ground level is similar to cutting but can be done more selectively without cutting down neighboring plant material.  With this work completed, the visual appearance of this area from the bike path looks terrific and offers a marvelous view of the eastern portion of AGM. 

Now that the top of the bank on the eastern portion of the plot has been cleared, we could continue to use  the “pull, pull, pull” method on the more profuse JKW growing at the bottom of the bank.  However, for efficiency’s sake, and because there is much less other plant material  here,  I think it would make more sense to go back to the “cut, cut, cut” procedure for this area.  A few more seasons of cutting should definitely weaken and thin the JKW in this area and make future pulling much easier.   

Mike, I wonder if I might have access again before too much  time elapses this summer to the CLC weed whacker.  Alternatively, it occurred to me that I might be able to buy a machete somewhere that could be used to cut down the larger JKW stalks on the lower part of the bank broad-scale, and also to begin to venture into the wooded area farther to the east.   -  John B.