Agropyrum repens (Courtesy photo)
Invasive plants? Weeds? What’s the difference?
When we feel defeated by a weed that has claimed our garden as its exclusive territory, it must be an invasive plant. Call out the army! (No, not the herbicide bottle. At least not without very thoroughly educating yourself.) Package labeling must meet minimum regulations, but its purpose is getting you to buy and use the product. Even the word “natural” is unreliable. What could be more natural than our native poison ivy, a valued winter food for birds?
Invasives are defined as species that are not native to a particular ecosystem, whose introduction does or is likely to cause economic or environmental harm, or harm to human health. Of the many aliens, only a very few become invasive; but those few, like European humans, cause great ecological harm.
Witchgrass, high on my weed enemy list, has been here at least as long as my invasive ancestors. Some think it was here before us and it keeps coming, in seed packages, trouser cuffs, etc. It is thoroughly at home here; way past ever being eliminated.
Cows and horses like it green or as hay and even dogs nip off a tender leaf once in a while. If you like to chew on a grass stem while you pull witchgrass, I recommend its flavor and durability. Taxonomists seem to like it as a challenge: Agropyron repens, Elymus repens, and Elytrigia repens; and plenty of common names.
In the garden, recognize it by its bounding green vigor, and the long white rhizomes running under the surface of the ground. At every node, this rhizome sends up a new lusty little plant. The rhizomes goes on around the garden, sending up its children. “Catch me if you can!” It doesn’t bother to go around a carrot. It just drills right through.
I couldn’t find witchgrass listed as invasive around here. Not surprising considering its many names, and its thorough naturalization of our continent. It certainly costs crop farmers money, and gardeners frustration and low yields, but livestock loves it, and it quickly stabilizes disturbed ground. There’s no getting rid of it, anyway. It’s here to stay.
There are plenty of other invasive plants that we can and should try to limit or eradicate. Of course, try hard not to add new ones to the lists! Go native!
(Nancy Holmes prowled Linekin Neck in Boothbay as a child, then an Illinois bottomland while earning a master’s degree in wildlife management. Once back in Maine, she raised children and kept assorted animals, wild and domestic. She and her Carolina dog roam their woods in Newcastle. Write to Holmes at castlerock@tidewater.net.)
