Sunday morning--- what a gorgeous morning to set out on the road! I love traveling along uncharted territory, waiting to see what the world has in store for me.
This day was a day of interesting surprises. The biggest one was not pleasant. But I'm a little ahead of myself. We overnighted in Commerce, GA, about an hour south of the mountains. As we approached and started up HWY 441 onto Scaly Mountain, Aunt Gina pointed out the kudzu vines on her side of the road, then on my side of the road. Then everywhere we could see on that side of the mountain!
Now for those of you who don't know what Kudzu is, it is an invasive plant, a vine, introduced into the US to control erosion? Unfortunately, no one checked to see what would happen if it got loose, and it did. It grows uncontrollably, crowding out the native species, killing trees with the weight of the vines. If it is allowed to take over an area, it will require an enormous, coordinated effort to rid the area of the plant, probably with herbicides particularly designed to eradicate this species of plant.
As we traveled north, through the country roads and past two national forests, we continued to see vast areas of mountainside covered with the kudzu.
In Florida, we spend $40 million+ very year to eliminate invasive species in both our waterways (like hydrilla, water hyacincth and water lettuce) and kudzu, Tropical soda apple, and others on the land. The only vines - so far - that have caused us greater concern than kudzu are the Old World Climbing Fern, and it's starting to show up everywhere!!! It is hard for me to imagine how the kudzu has gotten so out of control here.
So - here are some tips if you find an invasive plant or plants in your yards
- Go to your local USDA Web Site (US Dept. of Agriculture) for help identifying them:
- In Florida, the University of Florida's Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences is the best source: known as IFAS...
The plants will be different depending upon their adaptability to an area.
- There is also the SE Exotic Pest Council that has a complete list of plants, fish, bugs, reptiles, etc. Check out their site at:
Or go to you local nursery - take a sample with you of the leaves and stem... they can help you identify the plant and what to use to remove it.
*** if it is a chemical removal-MAKE SURE YOU FOLLOW THE DIRECTIONS ON THE LABEL!!! These are serious chemicals...
I wouldn't recommend chemicals - except most can't be burned (spreads seeds), dug up or chopped down (encourages new growth) etc.... and they need to be removed before they spread more and really disrupt the ecosystem they have invaded!
So, that's the invasive species lecture for this evening... tomorrow - more on the real estate activities
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