Thom Smith | NatureWatch: Invasive plants are something to be reckoned with – Berkshire Eagle

By Thom Smith

Q: Regarding your recent article about the disappearance of purple loosestrife, what has happened to the beetles that help control the loosestrife? Having run out of it, are they now dying off or have they found a new meal?

I also wanted to raise with you the issue of the vast increase in the extent of vines growing up trees all over the area, most visibly along many of our roads, as they reach to the top of the trees, winding their very tough vines around the trees, and ultimately damaging or killing them.

We live at Twelve Oaks, off of Routes 7 and 20, and have taken action to eliminate them, and wonder if any public authority is seeking to counter the growth and damage of the vines along the roads, or on private property in terms of guidance, support, tree work or whatever.

I spoke with one knowledgeable landscaper, who agreed with me that the extent of vines in some areas is so strong that in 10 years the trees they envelop will be dead and we'll be left with nothing to look at but vines on dead trees.

This will change the visual look of the Berkshires. We don't want to look like the Saw Mill River Parkway in New York, which has been overrun with kudzu, an invasive southern vine.

It also raises the issue of whether the vines here are invasive or historically resident in Massachusetts. In any event, they are out of control, even crossing highways on wires, and make this place look not the way we wanted it to look.

Martin, Lenox

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A: I will save the loosestrife-eating beetles for another time and will focus on "the vines growing up trees all over the area." In the late 1960s, I would drive to Great Barrington, somewhere in the vicinity south of Monument Mountain, to pick a small bunch of bittersweet for an autumn bouquet. Today, I know better!

Oriental Bittersweet is an invasive climbing vine said to be introduced to our shores by gardeners in the 1860s and may have reached The Berkshires just before or with the Great Estates. At any rate, as with this species and other invasive plants that have a "mind" of their own, they need little help from us. It is as if God was speaking just to them when saying, "Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, etc."

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Plants like bittersweet, water chestnut, common and Japanese barberry, autumn olive, garlic mustard, winged euonymus, purple loosestrife, and even the common shade tree along our streets, Norway maple, along with about 60 other common plant species, should not be here. Don't encourage them.

This vertical burst of color in the fall originated in Asia and, unfortunately, can and does kill trees, eventually reducing our bio-diversity. Oriental Bittersweet climbs other plants, wrapping itself like a holiday decoration, gripping tightly around a lamp post. With a living tree, as its diameter increases, it will crush and girdle itself against the unyielding vine. Additionally, the bittersweet vine will form a thick canopy, shading out the tree it climbed, as well as other plants on the forest floor.

A solution by Massachusetts Audubon Society, massaudubon.org/learn/nature-wildlife/invasive-plants:

"For young vines, hand pulling can work, and repeated mowing may be effective in fields. When large vines have grown into trees, cut the vines when the leaves aren't present, and apply a systemic herbicide to the freshly cut stems. Any dead vines that cannot easily be removed can be left to decay on the trees. The triclopyr-based herbicide Garlon usually works when applied as a foliar spray, whereas foliar applications of herbicides based on the active ingredient glyphosate are generally not effective. Always read and follow the directions on the label when using herbicide. This plant is frequently found in areas subject to the Massachusetts Wetlands Protection Act; anyone planning control measures in wetlands should first check with the local conservation commission, use only herbicides registered for use in these areas. Always read and follow the directions on the label when using herbicide."

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And do not "plant" it as a winter decoration in your flower boxes! Or think it would make a lovely addition to your already lovely yard!

For interested individuals and groups, visit massnrc.org/MIPAG, grownativemass.org/Know-Your-Landscape/invasive-plants and an informative program by WGBH News, which aired in October 2019: wgbh.org/news/local-news/2019/10/15/massachusetts-lakes-and-ponds-are-under-siege-by-invasive-aquatic-plants

TIME TO HEAD SOUTH

Q: I have noticed a lot of robins around our yard. Are they local robins flocking up and getting ready to head south or are they robins from farther north who are on their way south?

Bill, Pittsfield

A: I suspect that the robins are local birds gathering to head south and to confirm my suspicion that their parental duties have concluded, I checked with Professor Tom Tyning at Berkshire Community College. He answered my query on Aug. 23, "The last young were being fed a week ago. The first of the migrants are about on time, though, as you have seen, will continue for several weeks. They may get delayed by the hurricane Laura that will hit the Gulf Coast in a couple of days and then bend north and east; probably reaching just south of the Northeast by Friday or Saturday. That might back up robins and a few other species."

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Thom Smith | NatureWatch: Invasive plants are something to be reckoned with - Berkshire Eagle