ITS EVERYWHERE This illustration by the author shows Japanese knotweed, an invasive plant often seen along Sullivan County roadways, in flowering bloom. Rebecca Gashinsky illustration
Nasty invasive, or just a nuisance?
By Rebecca Gashinsky | Manor Ink
Livingston Manor, NY – Spring is finally here. After a cold and dreary winter, spring brings a breath of new life. But unfortunately, not all the life the season brings is welcome. Manor Ink delved into the impact of invasive plant species in our area to learn what it is being done to manage them. The focus was on that pesky plant that never seems to go away and may be invading your backyard garden or forever encroaching on our roadways – Japanese knotweed.
Got Knotweed?
Here are a few benefits of the bamboo-like plant from the buckwheat family that we all love to hate.
Bees use its nectar to make honey.
Early spring shoots are edible and can be used in a variety of different recipes, and the taste is described as a mix between asparagus and rhubarb.
Studies show that it might be a better remedy for Lyme disease than current antibiotics.
Knotweed can be found all over the Catskills, and is most commonly seen growing along roads and waterways. Ali Abate, executive director of the Catskill Fly Fishing Center and Museum in Livingston Manor, explained how knotweed affects fishing and stream habitats. “Fewer trees, fewer pools, fewer bugs and thus fewer trout due to the plant,” Abate said. “And, given the nature of how the seeds travel and the rhizomal nature of its roots, it’s a plant that is here to stay.”
Rockland’s Highway Department does not do anything about knotweed other than mow it down when they do their normal clearing of the county’s road shoulders. The Catskills Forester Association, however, has an invasive species program to combat knotweed and other problem plants that may be interfering with forest management goals. Ryan Trapani, director of Forest Services for the CFA, explained the association’s efforts to manage knotweed. “We will typically cut it down in the early summer, and then treat it with herbicides later in the summer,” he said.
But Trapani offered a different perspective regarding the plant. He agrees that it is annoying and impeding, with it being so hard to walk thorough and difficult to manage, but he believes that it is more of a nuisance than a terrible invasive threat. Trapani felt people jump too quickly to conclusions about plants, based solely on whether they are native or not.
“Nowadays, people will tend to not like any plant that is not native, but I like to see the evidence first,” he said. “A lot of times the term ‘invasive’ will be synonymous with an exotic or non-native species, but there are plenty of non-natives that are good. There are lots of natives that are just as ‘invasive’.”
Other than the fact that knotweed may be growing in the place of other, more beneficial plants, Trapani likes to consider these plants as interfering rather than invasive. “I like to use the term ‘interfering’,” he said. “To me, really, whether a plant is bad or not is whether it’s interfering with your forest management goals or other goals, regardless of whether it’s native or not.”