Some invasive species require specialists and heavy equipment to remove. However, many invasive plants can be removed with some elbow grease and community support. Last week’s event in Pemberton put the proof in the pudding!
Becky (Education and Outreach Coordinator) and Sara (Education and Outreach Specialist) headed to Pemberton on Wednesday, August 7th, armed with garbage bags, gardening gloves and a positive attitude. Their mission? Remove invasive Yellow Lamium from Staehli Park!
Yellow Lamium, what’s that?
Yellow Lamium (also known as Yellow Archangel) grows in dense mats, and can generally be found in shady spots, such as forest floors. Yellow Lamium is an evergreen, perennial plant, which means that:
- it doesn’t lose its leaves in winter (evergreen), so it has a head start on other species in the spring, and
- it lives for many years.
These features allow Yellow Lamium to dominate a habitat very quickly. Native plants can’t compete with this invasive plant, and suffer in its presence.
Luckily, Yellow Lamium is easy to remove. To remove Lamium, gently pull at the plant’s stems; with a little practice, you’ll become a pro at holding the stems where they meet the ground and wriggling the roots free! Make sure to bag and bin all plant parts, from leaves to roots. See? It’s not so hard!
When an invasive species has such negative impacts and (fairly) easy manual removal, it is the perfect candidate for a community weed pull event.
Taking action!
When our team received reports of Yellow Lamium in Staehli Park, plans for a community invasive plant pull began! On Wednesday, August 7, these plans became reality. On a gorgeous sunny afternoon, our team was joined by some lovely volunteers in Pemberton to remove Yellow Lamium.
Luckily, Lamium enjoys the shade as much as we do! Our team spent an enjoyable two hours removing Yellow Lamium from the shady forest floor in Staehli Park. To pass the time, they chatted about native pollinators and invasive garden plants. Within two hours, our volunteers had removed three heavy bags of invasive Yellow Lamium. Well done team, you rock!
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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