After last month’s discussions about oxeye daisy I started looking around for the official list of plant pests in BC — every province has one. So here it is, and even includes a handy field guide to help you determine if that pretty plant taking over your yard is a native species or an out-of-control [...]
Filed in Gabriola Island,invasive plants Comments Off
I often see equestrians on Gabriola trails, particularly in the part of the Elder Cedar Nature Reserve that’s near Windecker, and in the 707 Acre Community Park. I like horses and they (both horses and riders) always seem to be friendly and polite, so this is fine by me. But are horses OK for Gabriola’s [...]
Filed in Gabriola Island,invasive plants,RDN 9 Comments so far
If Gabriola’s wild daisies do your heart good, this is the time to go visit all those untended areas where grass grows tall in the summer-time. These daisies are at the Gabriola Commons. There are bound to be millions in bloom in the 707 Acre Woods, too. I’m very fond of these flowers. The bad [...]
Did you know that Gabriola’s holly trees – well, some of them, anyway – have flowers at this time of year? I hadn’t a clue, and am feeling a bit sheepish about that now. (Although it is hard to know what’s up with the holly trees, because I pass one that always seems to have [...]
Filed in insects,invasive plants,trails 7 Comments so far
Now that Gabriola’s invasive Scotch broom is starting to flower again, my mind turns to the matter of how to get rid of this troublesome plant. So far we have volunteers, mostly led by Gabriola Land and Trails Trust, going out for a few hours now and again to pull broom or cut it back. [...]
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At Drumbeg, Gabriola’s battle against invasive Scotch broom continues: Gabriola Land and Trails Trust organizes broom-pulling work-parties, and volunteers yank broom from the ground so that native plants can re-establish themselves. The progress this year is amazing. Next time you’re at Drumbeg, wander out to the place where the most broom grows, and take a [...]
Everybody on Gabriola knows about the broom problem at Drumbeg, and there are other invasive plants in the park as well. What I don’t understand is this: why take the time to tie an invasive plant label to this broom plant? In the time it took to do that, the person doing the tagging could [...]
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What did Gabriola look like hundreds of years ago? If you could go back in time and see Gabriola before European contact, you’d see some gorgeous Garry Oak meadows, with flowers and plants that are in short supply these days. Garry Oak ecosystems are endangered now, but perhaps we can help change that, at least [...]
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On Gabriola, we have serious problems with invasive plants. Broom, daphne, honeysuckle, holly, English ivy, blue iris — these are just a few of our problems, and they’re spreading at an alarming rate. They Aren’t From Here. They take more resources than they should, and steal nutrients and water that native plants should be getting. [...]
Filed in Gabriola Island,gardening,invasive plants,Nanaimo,native plants 2 Comments so far
Here’s another invasive plant that’s taking over swaths of the Gabriola forest. Pretty isn’t it? Beautiful, in fact. But oh, such a problem! At least when I find honeysuckle strangling trees, I can get in there with my clippers and free the trees in a matter of minutes. But this? I think I’d need knives [...]
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Last spring I chatted with a Gabriola gardening friend about what I was planning to plant in my garden. What she recommended was a thing called Daphne laureola, which depressed the hell out of me. It’s an invasive plant, it’s poisonous, it’s a huge problem in the Gabriola forest, and it’s something a person can [...]
Filed in Gabriola Island,invasive plants,native plants One Response so far
Here’s periwinkle (vinca minor), one of Gabriola’s prettiest non-native flowers. You’ve probably seen it for sale at a garden centre, where they’ll tell you that it’s a great ground-cover because it spreads so nicely and covers up everything in sight. It’s just starting to bloom at Drumbeg. So pretty! And so invasive.
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The other day at Drumbeg I spotted some broom plants bearing tape that says invasive plant management. The tagged plants looked kind of sickly — are they being poisoned with chemicals, or what? It looks as if some kind of experiment is underway. I know there’s been a huge effort on Gabriola (thanks, GALTT) to [...]
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We stopped in at Silva Bay for lunch a while ago, and browsed through a few boating magazines while waiting for our food to arrive. One magazine had an article on teak and holly flooring. People use holly wood? I had no idea. If it’s good enough to be mentioned along with teak as a [...]
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This year, please deck the halls with all the holly. In fact, how about cutting down a whole holly tree to use as a Christmas tree? Holly is an invasive plant on Gabriola. It’s native to England, not BC, and it’s doing bad things in the Gabriola forest. The Greater Vancouver Invasive Plant site explains [...]
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These are thistles, gone to seed. I watched them waver in the sunlight this morning, all shimmery and bright. Then came a gust of wind, and they were gone, along with Gabriola’s summer. Welcome to the autumn rains. I think I’ll put the fire on tonight.
Filed in Gabriola Island,invasive plants,photos Comments Off
There are a lot of mysteries for me on Gabriola, like what’s that weird gloop on the beach, and why there are suddenly swirls of white stuff in the winter woods. Sometimes web searches help me find the answers to puzzles like this, but sometimes not. I have a long list of unsolved island mysteries. [...]
Filed in environment,Gabriola Island,insects,invasive plants Comments Off
You know we’ve been working on our garden. You might have guessed that I’m seriously interested in native plants, and quite concerned about invasive plants on Gabriola. My plan is to eradicate all traces of invasive plants from our yard, and encourage lots of native plants. It’s been going pretty well, or so I thought. [...]
Filed in gardening,invasive plants Comments Off
