Knotweed, mugwort are priorities

By Avice Meehan

As a member of Norfolk’s Conservation Commission, Becky Eaton finds herself thinking a great deal about 21st-century road and property maintenance and building relationships with folks like Troy LaMere, the town’s public works supervisor. The motivation is clear: invasive plants like bittersweet kill trees and create roadside hazards while other invasives, such as Japanese knotweed, can inadvertently be carried along by mowing equipment or contaminated fill.

Eaton, LaMere, members of the town road crew and other interested Norfolk residents joined public works staff and elected officials from a dozen area communities for a nuts-and-bolts educational seminar at the end of July. Organized with the help of the Northwest Conservation District, the program drew on experts from the State of Connecticut and invasive plant management, as well as leaders in conservation, including Tom Zettestrom of Canaan.
“Let’s undo the damage done,” Zettestrom told the assembled group, who gathered on a blisteringly hot day in the Winsted public works garage. “Each town truck, each DOT truck should not be planting more knotweed.” That rapacious plant, the focus of much discussion, can grow up to 15 feet high and develop root systems that extend more than 30 feet. The trick is knowing how to manage it—understanding when to cut the plant back, when to leave it alone (when it is in flower) and when to use herbicides (carefully and after it has bloomed).

From LaMere’s perspective, knotweed is not Norfolk’s worst problem when it comes to invasive plants. He believes that dubious honor goes to mugwort (artemisia vulgaris), which is almost ubiquitous in town, including at the public works garage on Old Colony Road. Eaton agreed that the town garage is a significant priority.

Nonetheless, LaMere hopes that Norfolk will be able to tackle knotweed where it grows along town roads. He has spoken to First Selectman Matt Riiska about the potential for hiring outside experts to spray where necessary and has begun research into preliminary cost estimates ahead of a meeting with the selectmen and the Conservation Commission.

“My thinking is that we have to have plans in place. Not having a budget line [for invasive removal] is a thing of the past,” Eaton said. “What Norfolk has to protect is its natural resources. Japanese knotweed is very much a presence in town, [but] we can treat that early. It is a very aggressive plant and once it gets established, it is very difficult to eradicate.”

For the moment, Eaton and her colleagues continue to mark patches of knotweed with pink tape so that town crews know to avoid it with mowing equipment. More than 50 infestations have been identified to date on both public and private land—including new sites that were shared during WIN weekend by property owners. Eaton estimates that there are about 10 knotweed patches on town roads—some of which are connected to large stands on private property—and another eight or 10 along state roads, some of which were treated last year.

Eaton and Billy Gridley, who leads the Aton Forest, are also strategizing about how to educate contractors and property owners before they start a construction project since disturbed soil is an easy target for invasive plants. They met with Stacey Sefcik, Norfolk’s zoning enforcement officer, about creating an information sheet that outlines best practices, which could be distributed with a permit.

Data about Norfolk’s Japanese knotweed locations is also now being fed into a regional map developed by Stacy Deming of the Housatonic Valley Association. That effort uses a software tool called epicollect5 that anyone can use (https://five.epicollect.net/). Eaton encouraged Norfolk residents to email NCCinvasives@gmail.com with questions about invasive plants. She additionally suggested that a plant identification app, such as Seek, can be helpful.