How To Control Invasive Plants

Once people are aware of invasive plants and their problems, the next question is “so, how do I get rid of them?” There are many ways to control invasive plants, including prevention, cultural, mechanical, chemical and biological options. Weed management involves more than just removing weeds. It is important to set priorities for your land to determine the best approach. A good start is the seven steps to weed management:

1. Describe the property or management area.
2. Inventory and map the property or management area for weeds.
3. Set land management goals and weed management objectives.
4. Set priorities for weed management.
5. Select weed management strategies.
6. Develop an integrated weed management plan.
7. Develop a monitoring plan.

For more information on each of these steps, see the Seven Steps to Managing your Weeds manual.

Integrated Weed Management

The Coastal Invasive Plant Committee promotes Integrated Weed Management. Integrated weed management involves using a combination of appropriate control methods to reduce the weed infestation to an acceptable level, and requires monitoring these activities to evaluate the effectiveness of the control strategy. Click here for more information on weed control methods.

The best control option depends on a number of factors including; knowledge of the potential damage of the weed, relative abundance of the plant species, characteristics of the site, the cost of the control method, and the environmental impact of the weed and the control option. For management methods for a particular weed species, look up the weed on the Weeds BC website.

For an overview of alternative weed control methods, provided courtesy of the Central Kootenay Invasive Plant Committee, click here.

Biocontrol

Biocontrol has been used on Vancouver Island and surrounding coastal communities since the 1960's. Over decades, biocontrol can be an effective means of controlling plant populations that have grown too large or dense to be eradicated. Only some invasive plants have biocontrol agents, and of those agents only a fraction are capable of establishing in the temperate West Coast climate.

Invasive plants with successful biagents on Vancouver Island and surrounding coastal communities include: Canada thistle, tansy ragwort, the knapweeds, Dalmatian toadflax and purple loosestrife. Screening of additional biocontrol agents is underway. For more information on invasive plant biocontrol, visit the BC Ministry of Forests and Range’s Biocontrol webpage at:

http://www.for.gov.bc.ca/hfp/biocontrol/index.htm

Japanese and Giant Knotweed

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