Weed Wrangle Knoxville 2018

Weed Wrangle Knoxville

March 3, 2018

Event Photos 2017

The first Weed Wrangle®-Knoxville on March 5, 2016 is gone but not forgotten. With a participation of almost 90 at 4 different sites, a great deal of honeysuckle (Lonicera maackii and L. japonica), winter creeper (Euonymus fortunei), English ivy (Hedera helix), Chinese privet (Ligustrum sinense) and other invasive plants were removed. It was amazing how much was done in just 3 hours, and the partners were pleased with the effort: Ijams Nature Center; Knoxville Botanical Garden and Arboretum; Lakeshore Park and Baker Creek Preserve (formerly the Wood Property)/Legacy Parks in South Knoxville. Members of the Tennessee Exotic Pest Plants Council and Invasive Plant Control Inc. were on hand to provide education, and Ijams already has ordered native plants for areas where invasives have been removed. A result of the Weed Wrangle®-Knoxville was the creation of a tool bank at Ijams where community organizations can borrow the tools that were used in the Wrangle to remove invasive plants elsewhere in Knoxville.

The Knoxville Garden Club, a member of the Garden Club of America, is sponsoring Knoxville’s second annual Weed Wrangle®-Knoxville on March 4, 2017 and invite the public to volunteer in the effort. Volunteers will gather from 9:00 am to noon at our partner sites; Ijams Nature Center, Knoxville Botanical Garden and Arboretum, Bakers Creek Preserve, Old Gray Cemetery and Lakeshore Park to help wrangle non-native invasive plants.

Weed Wrangle® is a Garden Club of America Partners for Plants (P4P) project that was created by the Garden Club of Nashville. In an effort to further the Garden Club of America’s commitment to conservation throughout the state of Tennessee, the Weed Wrangle® project has been adopted by the Garden Club of Lookout Mountain, Memphis Garden Club, the Little Garden Club of Memphis and the Knoxville Garden Club.

Supervised by experts in invasive weed management from Invasive Plant Control and the Tennessee Exotic Pest Plant Council, P4P members and community volunteers will learn about invasive pest plants, locate and remove them. Typical unwelcome plants are honeysuckle (Lonicera japonica and L. mackii), Chinese privet (Ligustrum sins), winter creeper (Euonymus fortune) and English Ivy (Hedera helix). The goal is two-fold: restoration and preservation. Organizers seek to raise awareness of the “green scourge” before more of our native plants lose the fight for light and nutrients they require to survive.

HOW YOU CAN HELP

You can also make a difference by removing any invasive plants that appear on your property; this prevents their inevitable spread to other yards and public spaces. Always try to landscape with native plants and avoid the purchase of potentially invasive species sold by some nurseries. A number of the traits that make plants highly desirable ornamentals also make them ideal weeds. The invasives which are being spotlighted for removal are: honeysuckle (Loniceri maackii and L. japonica), winter creeper (Euonymus fortunei) and Chinese privet (Ligustrum sinense). Finally, help us spread the word about the broadening fight against invasive plants. Knowledge, after all, is power.

Event contacts:  Michelle Albritton | Stacy Wilson

Weed Wrangle Knoxville Urban Wilderness (Legacy Parks Foundation), TN – Knoxville GC – Nancy J. Montgomery, Horticulture Chairman, Jackie Congleton, Conservation Chairman and Callie Cullom, President. Knoxville GC had its kickoff community meeting on October 7 for their Weed Wrangle, featuring speaker Steve Manning who also will be the professional invasive plant specialist for their Weed Wrangle next year. Members are working to finalize the specific sites for the event on March 6 and have enlisted support from their Legacy Parks partner and also are collaborating with the University of Tennessee (for volunteers). The invasives which are being spotlighted for removal are: honeysuckle (Loniceri maackii and L. japonica), winter creeper (Euonymus fortunei) and Chinese privet (Ligustrum sinense).

Click Here for TNEPPC Educational Resources

Tennessee Urban Riparian Handbook: A Practical Guide to Establishing Health Streamside Buffers