In the last couple of months, our volunteers have been busy at work removing Common Burdock from trails and public spaces in Whistler. Removing burdock can be hard work and can sometimes feel overwhelming due to its persistence (how does it keep growing back?!). With that said, it is certainly possible to ‘banish’ it if you arm yourself with a good dose of patience, a willing attitude, and some elbow grease. (A good shovel helps, too!)
We are so grateful to our volunteers, who, despite burdock’s tenacity, manage to ‘dig’ just a little deeper and get the upper hand on this pesky plant.
It might not look like much, but notice how burdock-free this field is! The lot 3, 4, 5 parking lots in Whistler village used to have substantial amounts of burdock, but thanks to our volunteers, we’ve seen the burdock infestations there dramatically reduced.
Reminders and Tips:
- When removing burdock, please make your best effort to remove the entire taproot! Burdock stores lots of energy in its root system, so even a small amount of taproot can grow back into a thriving burdock plant.
- If you’ve got a lot of burdock flowering/about to flower but you don’t have time to dig it all up, deadheading the plant (with loppers or pruners) is a temporary solution that can prevent its seeds from spreading.
- Do not compost burdock! All invasive species materials should go into the general waste garbage to prevent contaminating our local compost.
Below are some progress pictures and success stories from some of our volunteers.
These photos were taken by Ben (a.k.a the Benevolent Order of Alpine Meadows Trail Fairies) and his dog, Garbanzo. They have been hard at work removing burdock around Alpine.
Our volunteers Paddy and Sydney have a good eye for baby burdock plants hiding in the bushes. They are extremely diligent!
Have you signed up for Banish Burdock yet?
Thank you to our sponsors
We also thank our funders, including the Whistler Community Foundation, the Squamish Community Foundation, and the BC Hydro Grassroots Grant. Our weed pulls and community events are made possible in part by their generous contributions.
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