Category: April 2012

We needed a plant strong enough to stand up to the knotweed. Rosa rugosa “Sandy” was planted over the area where some of the biggest and toughest knotweed rhizomes had taken up residence.

This just goes to show, that you have to plant something, or else a weed will come up, on the slope here. That’s probably because the slope was “disturbed land,” full of cheap fill. We are trying to rehabilitate it, or rather, habilitate it, I should say. The sneaker is there for scale.

There was one area in particular, that seemed to have such a high concentration of huge rhizomes, that I actually used the backhoe. This is NOT something I’d necessarily recommend. Why? Because you have to be really careful about breaking the rhizome into little pieces; then if you miss taking up those little fragments, they will resprout into monster plants.

The backhoe was useful, because there were giant rhizomes around giant boulders underground. They were not going to come out with a shovel. However, I sorted through each and every bucketful of dirt, filtering out as many fragments as possible.

How many rhizomes did we dig out of that area? The following photos will give you an idea:

A photo of the “knotweed” area of the slope, from April, 2012. The straw is still helping to suppress the low perennial type of invasives, such as Euphorbia cyparissias (“cypress spurge”), which is rampant on the slope. While tiny, it’s still very difficult to get rid of. It’s listed as “likely invasive” on the MA invasive plant list.

Some low, nuisance plants seen in the above photo:

• Lepidium campestre – “field pepperweed,” was ubiquitous. This particular plant is not on the MA invasive plant list, however, Lepidium latifolium, “tall pepperweed,” is. Still, field pepperweed is not native, and will take over, given the chance.
• Tanacetum vulgare – “common tansy,” in lower left corner, is another aggressive perennial on our site, and is hard to get rid of. Constant mowing in the back acre takes care of it. We don’t mow the slope, so we’re constantly pulling it out. (A different plant, Senecio jacobaea, “Tansy ragwort,” or “stinking Willie” is listed as likely invasive in MA)
• Verbascum thapsus – “common mullein” in middle right, is a perennial herb. In its first year, it forms a low rosette that sort of looks like lamb’s ears. There are always a few around the slope, however, they haven’t ever become a problem. I’ve just let them be mostly; sometimes we pull them out.

We purchased dozens of baby trees and shrubs. If they’re babies, they’re affordable. We did splurge on twenty quart-sized Green Giant arborvitaes and three “whip” Princeton elm trees (a newer cultivar, resistant to Dutch elm disease). We placed our order in January, 2012, to be delivered in April. I had no idea of how I was going to get all this stuff planted, but at least we had a tractor!

10 River Birch (Betula nigra) – 2-yr seedlings
10 Silky dogwood  (Cornus amomum) – for wildlife
10 American Elderberry (Sambucus canadensis) – for deer
10 Pieris japonica ‘Scarlet O’Hara’ – for the front yard
25 “Sandy” rosa rugosa – to plant over where knotweed was
10 Royal Purple Smokebush – (cotinus coggygria)
10 Weeping Willow (salix spp.) – for the back acre
10 Nigra Pyramidal Arborvitae (thuja occidentalis “nigra”)
10 Rheingold Globe Arborvitae (thuja occidentalis “rheingold”)
10 Sherwood Frost Pyramidal Arborvitae (Thuja occidentalis)
10 Blue Chip Juniper (Juniperus horizontalis) – for the slope
10 Blue Star Juniper (Juniperus squamata) – for the slope
10 Old Gold Juniper (Juniperus chinensis) – for the slope
10 Black-eyed Susan (rudbeckia fulgida “Goldsturm”)
10 Purple Coneflower (echinacea purpurea)
20 Dragon’s Blood sedum (sedum spurium) – for septic field
15 Grass (festuca glauca “Elijah Blue”) – for septic field