When: Saturday July 17, 9 am – 11 am.
Rain date: Sunday, July 18, 10 am – 12 pm.
Where: The Preserve State Forest, Old Saybrook
Sponsor: Connecticut Invastive Plant Working Group
Learn about a barberry removal project, now in its fifth year. Located on three acres in The Preserve State Forest, one section was treated with herbicide in fall 2016, then with winter cutting each year since. Another section was treated with cutting alone.
Learn the details of the process, why cutting and dropping works, and what has happened to the field in the years since this project began. (Hint: Lots of native plants emerged, but so did some invasive plants.) We’ll also walk to an area where new barberry is becoming established along the red trail and do some cutting. Learn why and how barberry and other invasive plants spread in a forest.
Bring your own clippers or loppers or borrow ours. Wear insect protection. Bring water. The terrain is moderate, and the walking not too rigorous, but boots are recommended.
Attendance is limited to the first fifteen people who register. Contact Rose Hiskes at rose.hiskes@ct.gov to register and get directions.