Are invasive plants taking over your yard?
After a cool wet spring, summer has finally arrived and many gardens are starting to showcase their blooms. Cooler conditions this spring in many areas of the province have helped invasive plants to thrive. While spring planting is likely complete, it’s still a good idea to grow plants that benefit the environment in your garden.
Are There Dangers In Your Garden?
Have you ever wondered what’s lurking in your garden waiting to escape? Could you be unknowingly harboring invasive plants?
Beware of hitchhikers on your boots - each step of prevention counts for a kilometer of trail
Exploring BC`s wilderness is rewarding, and avid outdoor enthusiasts know that having the right gear and preparing properly can make all the difference.
Economic Impacts of Invasive Plants in BC
The sudden ignition of a brightly lit wildfire on the horizon sparks immediate actions and budgeted resources. After all, the loud, crackling, hot flames are hard to ignore as they advance toward communities. So how should we respond to the silent, but significant, threat of invasive plants that appear pretty and harmless along the highways and farmer’s fields, in public parks and backyard gardens of British Columbia?
European Fire Ants
One of the world’s 100 worst invasive species—European fire ants (Myrmica rubra)—is emerging in areas of BC in alarming numbers, packing a punch with its surprising swarm and sting.
Fall Garden Clean-Up: Proper Disposal of Invasive Plants
With the onset of cooler temperatures, it’s time to prepare the garden for winter. It’s important to plan ahead and dispose of invasive plants and seeds hidden in leftover hanging baskets, planters, and yard debris.
Invasive Plants are Beautiful, but Harmful Bullies of Biodiversity
Avid gardeners are always searching for new, eye-catching plants to add to their backyard collections. Among these attractions, however, lurk invasive plants that pose a hazard to the environment, the economy, and human health.
Make Christmas wreaths from English ivy and English holly
Ring in the holiday season and reduce the spread of some invasive species by using them in your seasonal decorations!
The History of Invasive Plants in BC: How did they get here?
One of the greatest joys of traveling can be returning home with souvenirs for friends and family. Today’s travelers tend to purchase luxury items, while the first European settlers in British Columbia traded livestock and feed, plants, seeds, and other essentials for basic survival. This early movement of goods included the transfer of plants with beneficial characteristics into BC, but also those with invasive tendencies.
The Impacts of Invasive Plants in BC: Why are they a Problem?
Did you know that taxpayers help pay for control measures to stop the spread of invasive plants that threaten biodiversity and local economies? Or that people unknowingly transfer invasive plants to new areas in British Columbia (BC) through activities like gardening, recreation, or even on the job? Growing rapidly and spreading quickly, invasive plants are non-native to BC, and can cause significant damage to the environment, economy and human health and safety.
Watch for invasives when you’re out boating this summer – you can be part of the solution!
Invasive plants are rapidly filling ditches, taking over fields and cluttering our roadsides, but did you know they also impact our wetlands, fresh-water lakes, and beaches?
Weed of the Week - Hottentot Fig
Carpobrotus edulis commonly known as iceplant or Hottentot fig, is a mat-forming succulent native to South Africa. It is invasive primarily in coastal habitats in many parts of the world.