Banish Burdock will be back in spring 2025. Come back in May 2025 to adopt your trail section!
What’s all this about | Sign me up! | Win prizes, donate prizes! | Links
Common Burdock may seem harmless at first glance, but this plant has a few tricks up its sleeve. Its large, shady leaves have a knack for smothering native plants and elbowing them out of their homes. This sneaky takeover can lead to a worrying drop in local biodiversity. But that’s not all—when Burdock’s leaves break down, they release chemicals into the soil, creating a hostile environment for other plants trying to grow. Once Burdock moves in, it doesn’t play nice with the locals!
What’s all this about?
Since 2018, Banish Burdock has reduced the negative impacts of common burdock in Whistler. Each spring volunteers sign up to ‘Banish Burdock’ by selecting a section of the Whistler Valley trail or other public land to ‘adopt’. SSISC supplies all the equipment and training required to Banish Burdock. Through spring and summer, the volunteers intermittently head to their trail section and remove the burdock present.
Committing to Banish Burdock means that you will be responsible for keeping a short segment of trail, or a small area of public land, free of Burdock for the length of the season (until the end of September). In doing so, you will help stop the spread of invasive species, keep our pets bur-free and get a little fresh air while you are at it!
As participants, you can form a team with your family, friends, roommates or co-workers, and help protect Whistler’s biodiversity!
Sign me up!
Our volunteers have made tremendous progress in battling Burdock along the Valley Trail, but we are not done yet. Banish Burdock season runs from May – October each year. We invite you, the Whistler community, to sign up to Banish Burdock in May 2025. Come back to this page on May 2025!
Are you ‘hooked’? Make sure to sign up for our newsletter to be the first to know when registrations open for 2024!
Win prizes, donate prizes!
At the end of the season, Banish Burdock volunteers are entered into a draw, and run the chance to win several draw prizes. This year, the Scandinave Spa graciously donated two thermal journeys to our Banish Burdock volunteers.
If you own or manage a local company and you want to support Banish Burdock, we’d love to work together! Please email us (claude-anne@ssisc.ca) and explain briefly how you view your contribution. We’ll be happy to work with you!
