By Avice Meehan

Becky Eaton, a member of Norfolk’s Conservation Commission and foe of invasive plants everywhere, appeared before the Board of Education on Sept. 9 to present a problem and a proposed approach to containing rampant knotweed, mugwort, honeysuckle and multi-flora rose growing throughout the Botelle Elementary School grounds.

As a result, the commission will host the first in a series of invasive-plant removal work parties on Sunday, Oct. 19 at 1 p.m. The rain date will be Oct. 25, also at 1 p.m. Volunteers are asked to come equipped with clippers, loppers, weed wrenches and gloves. Refreshments will be served. Please email NCCinvasives@gmail.com to sign up or request additional information.

Eaton said that invasive plants were barely visible on the Botelle campus as recently as 2019. Since then, their growth has been exponential. “If you are willing, the Conservation Commission would like to be involved,” said Eaton, herself a retired teacher. “Improving the school grounds matters. It sends a message that this is not a school in decline.”

The plan outlined by Eaton will take several years to implement and will likely involve excavation of a knotweed-infested embankment by the town crew and use of tarps to starve the remaining rhizomes of sunlight. The knotweed would be burned on the refuse pile at the town’s transfer station. She said some areas infested with mugwort could be managed by mowing or brush hogging while other areas would benefit from repeated cutting, first in the fall and then in the spring. Eaton said the Conservation Commission would seek to replant cleared areas with native plants, which enhance biodiversity.