Dear Resident,
You may have noticed volunteers working in green spaces and along pathways near your home. They are helping with a serious problem that is damaging our forest community – the spread of invasive plants.
Many times, plants that are not native to our region are introduced to our pathways from residential landscapes. When an aggressively growing non-native plant, such as Air Potato Vine, escapes from yards and overgrows our native trees and shrubs, we lose valuable habitat for butterflies, birds, and beneficial insects. Over time the trees and shrubs can die from lack of sunlight and losing nutrients these invasives remove from the soil.
You can help with this problem by reducing or eliminating non-native invasive plants in your landscape, or by carefully controlling their growth to keep them within the yard. Not sure which plants you see are bad guys? Check out the “most unwanted” plants or learn more with this helpful guide
Warning: Japanese honeysuckle, nandina, Asian jasmine, and other invasive species are available for purchase at many plant nurseries; shop in the native plant section to avoid them. If invasive plants are already in your landscape, consider replacing them with a native one. Not only will you prevent further invasion, but get to enjoy the butterflies and birds that native plants invite into your yard.
Join the fight to save our forests! You are invited to help remove these culprits from our pathways and green spaces. Attend the next training on August 19 to learn more about our worst non-natives, then register to join The Woodlands’ Invasives Task Force to receive notices about workdays and classes.
Thank you for your interest in helping the Township maintain the forested reserve that benefits our native trees, plants, and wildlife! For questions, contact Environmental Services: enviro@thewoodlandstownship-tx.gov