Category: Invasive Plants Pacific Northwest

  • Invasive Shrubs in the Puget Lowlands

    Invasive Shrubs in the Puget Lowlands

    On the tallgrass prairies of the American Great Plains, woody shrubs are replacing grasses, and in the aging deciduous forests of the Puget Lowlands, woody shrubs are replacing trees. In our region, the shrubs include native species, especially Salmonberry, but also various invasives including Feral holly, Cherry laurel, and Himalayan blackberry.

  • Winter Forbs — Friends and Foes

    Winter Forbs — Friends and Foes

    Freezing weather in the Puget Lowlands does not typically last long enough to stop the growth of numerous forb species, both native and non-native. Earlier identification enables easier removal of undesirable forbs, and selective hand weeding in winter saves time in the spring when we would rather be planting. However, the key to early removal…

  • An Invasive Mushroom in Forest Park

    An Invasive Mushroom in Forest Park

    My interest in mushrooms has nothing to do with foraging and is strictly related to the fascinating world of mycorrhizal fungi and their symbiotic relationships with native plants. When scores of small, plain mushrooms started to appear in Everett’s Forest Park, I was hoping they were part of that network.

  • Why I Cut Down the Cherry Tree

    Why I Cut Down the Cherry Tree

    Last summer, I noticed a cherry tree growing in the backyard forest. Since it had come up wild, I thought it might be the Pacific Northwest native Bitter cherry, Prunus emarginata. But after some help from Arthur Lee Jacobson on two of his excellent plant tours, I concluded it was the naturalized non-native Mazzard cherry,…

  • Seven Non-Native Deciduous Trees Invading the Puget Lowlands

    Seven Non-Native Deciduous Trees Invading the Puget Lowlands

    The evergreen laurel and holly may be the most invasive trees in the Puget Lowlands, but we have invasive deciduous trees as well. The seven described in this post are all naturalized in the Pacific Northwest and at minimum take up space in our forests that would be better served with native trees.

  • Noxious Weeds and Native Plant Berries

    Noxious Weeds and Native Plant Berries

    As July winds down in the Puget Lowlands, there is good news and bad news. The berries are ripening on the native plants, but many of the flowers blooming are noxious weeds.

  • The Weeds of August in a Dry, Dry Season

    The Weeds of August in a Dry, Dry Season

    It’s been a dry, dry season but the weeds keep coming.

  • Baneberry, Hedge Nettle, and Hedge Mustard

    Baneberry, Hedge Nettle, and Hedge Mustard

    The Amazing Ability of Plants to Spread Far and Wide

  • The Nipplewort Dilemma

    The Nipplewort Dilemma

    Is it time to make my peace with Nipplewort and its ilk?

  • Removing or Allowing Plant Siblings

    Removing or Allowing Plant Siblings

    As we weed our backyard forests and their edges, we are constantly making decisions about which plants to remove and which to allow. For some plant species those decisions are complicated by various factors, and different restoration practitioners may have different, legitimate opinions.

  • Annual Winter Weeds

    Annual Winter Weeds

    Among the annuals that germinate in winter, several are Eurasian introductions that deserve our attention once we have eliminated the more-invasive weeds from our backyard forests.

  • Blackberry Bradley Line

    Late fall seems to find me in a wetland untangling Himalayan Blackberry from Salmonberry. Most recently I was working on maintaining and extending a Bradley Line that protects an area of Salmonberry and Black Twinberry from old-growth Himalayan Blackberry (Rubus armeniacus).

  • Removing Creeping Buttercup and Herb Robert in the Dry Season

    I think the dry season can be a good time to remove Creeping Buttercup and Herb Robert.

  • Watch for Pathfinder and White-Flowered Hawkweed

    If you are ridding your backyard forest of weedy Nipplewort and/or Wall Lettuce, try not to inadvertently remove any indigenous Pathfinder or White-Flowered Hawkweed. All four plants have similar structural appearances, their ranges overlap, and they can all survive on “sunflecks.”

  • Keeping Invasive Grasses Out of Our Backyard Forests

    Keeping Invasive Grasses Out of Our Backyard Forests

    How do we keep invasive grasses out of our backyard forests? How do we avoid removing indigenous grasses? I don’t think there are easy answers to either of these questions, but I have a few ideas and a confession. My Basic Strategy is Also a Confession I confess that I routinely try to remove any…

  • Trailing Blackberry X Himalayan Blackberry Hybrids

    Does the native Trailing Blackberry hybridize with the invasive Himalayan Blackberry, and if so, what does this mean for backyard forest restoration?

  • Hedera Etcetera, Part Two

    Hedera Etcetera, Part Two

    In terms of controlling erosion, is it better to allow existing blankets of “Seattle’s worst weed” to remain on steep slopes?

  • Hedera Etcetera, Part One

    Hedera Etcetera, Part One

    Backyard forest restoration begins with the removal of Ivy. There are two main types growing wild in Northwest forests. Is it important to be able to tell the difference?

  • Ranunculus Repens (Creeping Buttercup)

    Ranunculus Repens (Creeping Buttercup)

    Ranunculus repens has been creeping up on me for thirty years.

  • September Himalayan Blackberry

    September Himalayan Blackberry

    Himalayan Blackberry is one of those invasive weeds whose removal is important, but not urgent. It can be put off for a while, but not forever. September, the end of the dry season, is not my ideal time to work on it, but lacking any urgent tasks in the forest, I was able to get…