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There may be a monster lurking in your backyard; [National Edition] National Post. Don M ills, Ont.: Aug 17, 2000. pg. B.2 A bstract (Summary)
Purple loosestrife, Jam ie M otta says, is a m onster, "a Freddy Krueger of plants." Not that it slaughters sc ream ing teenagers in Nightm are on Elm Street m ovies. M ore in the sense that no m atter how hard you try to kill it, Lythrum salic aria c an keep c om ing bac k for m ore. M otta is Alberta Agric ulture's purple loosestrife eradic ation program c o-ordinator. She's paid to battle the invasive weed, whic h c am e to North Am eric a in the 1800s, likely in the ballasts of c argo ships. "Eac h individual plant produc es about 2.5 m illion seeds annually," M otta says. "T he seeds from one produc tion season c an rem ain in the soil for m any years in a dorm ant state." Purple loosestrife, whic h m any c onsider the zebra m ussel of weeds, is a noxious weed under Alberta's Weed Control Ac t.
Full Text (398 words)
(Copyright National Post 2000) Purple loosestrife, Jam ie M otta says, is a m onster, "a Freddy Krueger of plants." Not that it slaughters sc ream ing teenagers in Nightm are on Elm Street m ovies. M ore in the sense that no m atter how hard you try to kill it, Lythrum salic aria c an keep c om ing bac k for m ore. M otta is Alberta Agric ulture's purple loosestrife eradic ation program c o-ordinator. She's paid to battle the invasive weed, whic h c am e to North Am eric a in the 1800s, likely in the ballasts of c argo ships. "Eac h individual plant produc es about 2.5 m illion seeds annually," M otta says. "T he seeds from one produc tion season c an rem ain in the soil for m any years in a dorm ant state." Purple loosestrife, whic h m any c onsider the zebra m ussel of weeds, is a noxious weed under Alberta's Weed Control Ac t. Landowners are required by law to c ontrol it. Just rec ently, Edm onton bylaw offic ers served weed notic es to six residents with Lythrum salic aria in their gardens. T hat som e gardeners still grow loosestrife tells M otta that m uc h m ore work needs to be done in the way of public educ ation. "Som e people do not realize ... they have this m onster growing in their garden." In the c ity, as in c ottage c om m unities, loosestrife's undeniable esthetic qualities have worked in its favour. "Cottage owners look at this loosestrife and they think: 'Wow, what a beautiful plant.' But in fac t it's c hoking out native plant spec ies whic h provide food to m any of our riparian and aquatic organism s, suc h as duc ks, fish, other birds and insec ts," says M otta. Of c ourse, with so m any things going for it, the weed has spread ac ross the c ountry. But M otta believes Alberta has the potential to bec om e loosestrife-free in the sam e way the provinc e previously c losed its borders to rats. T he best way to get rid of loosestrife is to dig plants out with a shovel, taking c are to rem ove all roots and stem s. Pulled plants m ust be sealed in a blac k plastic bag for disposal at a landfill site or dried and burned where perm itted. Sites m ust be revisited in the following years to rem ove any regrowth from undetec ted roots or seedlings. "It is extrem ely deep-rooted," says M otta. "Last week I dug one up that was 10 years old. I had a young kid, 16, helping m e. It took half an hour to dig it up and it took both of us to c arry it bac k to the truc k." T ake that, Freddy. Indexing (document details) People:
Motta, Jamie
Document types:
News
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Column Name:
In the Garden
Section:
Arts & Life
Publication title:
National Post. Don Mills, Ont.: Aug 17, 2000. pg. B.2
Source type:
Newspaper
ISSN:
14868008
ProQuest document ID: 248639491 Text Word Count
398
Document URL:
http://proquest.umi.com.my access.library .utoronto.ca/pqdlink?did=248639491&sid=2& Fmt=3&cl ientId=12520&RQT=309&VName=PQD
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