Getting back in the swim

I have not dropped off the face of the planet (yet), nor have I given up on facing down knotweed and other invasives! I've taken a hiatus, during which time my husband and I bought our first house and during which time I forgot how to log into this blog. *naughty!*

So look for an update soon on the demo site as it sits next to Route 11. I should be taking photos next week or the week after and will publish them here, along with findings and musings about the next steps to take.

Thank you for your patience!
~ Kelly

Headed down to check it out this weekend

Hopefully we'll see some new growth of the plants we WANT to have flourishing on that site!

Spring is ready to spring!

It's soon going to be time to square away the landscape fabric after a peek underneath. Will there be any new growth? Will poison ivy have taken over the plot? Will my crocuses be taking hold? How about the jewelweed and milkweed we scattered last fall?

Depths of winter

Well, I've spread jewelweed, milkweed and some crocus bulbs in the nooks and crannies of the site, as well as around the edges. It'll be interesting to see if we can compete with the knotweed and the poison ivy this year!

The bigger picture

I'm holding a handful of jewelweed seeds and some tree seed from down on River Street (about a mile up the road from the knotweed site), with the intention of spreading them at the knotweed site in the next week or two. I'm thinking of mulching right on top of the landscape fabric and putting down things like:

Ferns
Plantain
Jewelweed
Dandelion
Dogwood
Aster

Any plants that grow strong early in the spring would be terrific; please e-mail me your suggestions or post here as a comment!

Help identify these plants!

Any ideas or leads will be most helpful. Email me: blackrivercleanup(at)yahoo.com

Interesting developments!

Spent an hour at the site last week, and got lots of photos thanks to Karen Bennett's keen eye! Beneath the black landscape fabric, the knotweed seems dormant if not dead. One very sickly little tendril had squeezed up through a tear in the fabric, but there seemed to be no new growth poking up from below.

The few stalks growing up in-between the seams of the pieces of fabric were narrow, no thicker than a pencil.

I am amazed at the response of the poison ivy ~ it is all over the site, growing vigorously under the knotweed's canopy along the edges of the landscape fabric. There are a number of other hardy plants keeping it company, but I'd venture to say the knotweed site is currently "owned" by poison ivy.

We could positively identify Queen Anne's Lace (delicate, carrot-like leaves ~ NOT triangular, like Wild Chervil! ~ and a tiny purple blossom in the middle of each flower cluster. We also noted some soapwort and goldenrod, as well as the determined sumac trees.

Other plants are on site and we could really use your help identifying them!