Invasive Plants Removal

Tennessee Eastman Hiking and Canoeing Club
Contact: Greg Kramer, 423-349-6125

TEHCC has been working in the location for the past four years to eradicate invasive plants which were imported to the US but can out-compete native species. The first focus was on Garlic Mustard,imported to be a salad green, that readily spreads as the seeds attach to clothes and animal fur thus dropped in new locations. The plants are easily pulled; however, the seed bed requires multiple annual treatments to exhaust. We’ll remove any new plants that have emerged or were overlooked. The second objective, started last year, is chemical treatment of Autumn or Russian Olive which is a large shrub imported to provide food and cover for birds. However, it crowds out native foliage. We will be cutting Autumn Olive and painting their stems with herbicide to keep the plants from growing back from its roots.

Let’s leave from the Colonial Heights at 8:30 am to arrive at Devils Creek Gap by 9:30 am. Current plans are to work until 1 pm. Matt Drury is scouting out other nearby sites if we are quickly successful in knocking out both of these tasks in Devils Creek Gap.

In case of inclement weather, a back-up date of Tuesday, April 30th has been selected.