We have some good news about the bad news: two items of note.

First, you have heard of invasive plants, no? These are plants that have been deemed evil as they take over otherwise useful and often biologically diverse land.

Right now we are thinking of phragmites (sounds like frag-mighties) which is taking over much of the countryside and our urban green spaces.  It is a tall growing grass, about two to three meters high, with an attractive (we admit) plume head come fall that blows in the wind and showers seeds everywhere.

We have heard that the roots can extend four stories deep, and that there is effectively no control for it. Then we met Lynn Short, an Environmental Specialist at the Humber Arboretum in Ontario. She says that there really is a smart, not too difficult way to control phragmites using a sharp spade (a flat mouthed shovel).

She has done this many times, after 20 years of working out the bugs of her technique. Lynn says, “I have developed a technique (to control phragmites) that uses a sharpened spade to cut the stalks below the soil surface. The rationale is to prevent the plant from photosynthesizing and, thus, preventing production of energy for the plant. With repeated removals for a period of 3 to 5 years, the plant weakens and eventually dies. This technique can be applied by community volunteers and simple tools.

The rhizome structures under the surface are depleted of energy and begin to rot. It does take perseverance to be successful, however, the removals become easier each year because there are fewer stalks as the plants weaken. In subsequent years, there is still the need to be vigilant because there is a great seed source everywhere, but it is a simple task to remove seedlings before they become established. The beach where I began control methods is basically Phragmites free. 20 years ago, the plants blocked access to the water.”

Details at this link https://www.ontarioinvasiveplants.ca/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/OPWG-Spading-Postcard-1.pdf

More good news about bad news: COVID. No, we don’t have a quick fix for the disease, but we do have a suggestion that will make all of us feel better about the sacrifice that many Canadians made over the last three years to help us get through.

You can now say “Thank you” in a lasting and genuine way, by planting a tree to a front-line worker, health care professional, first responder or just someone you love and care about. Trees For Life/Trees For Heroes is a program designed to make it easy to provide a living legacy to someone you care about. For $150, the person you name will receive a certificate acknowledging your gift.

A tree will be planted in an urban area in Canada with your donation. Not a wimpy reforestation tree, but whip or young, branched tree between a meter and a half to a couple of meters high.