Now is the time to address your stiltgrass (Microstegium vimineum). Stiltgrass is a
Category 1 invasive plant that was brought to the US as packing material when porcelain was shipped
from Asia around 1919. It is an annual and can be controlled by removing it
before it flowers; in Georgia that is usually in September. Deer do not eat it
so you’re on your own.
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| Stiltgrass (Microstegium vimineum); notice the small silver stripe down the center of the blade. |
My new house has a large floodplain area next to the creek. The stiltgrass is abundant there. I whacked it last fall and have been doing so already this summer. It is easy to do with a battery-powered weedwhacker, and I can leave the debris on the ground since it hasn’t flowered. I noticed that clearing it revealed a number of hazards, not to mention that stiltgrass can help breed mosquitos.
- Holes in the ground that can become homes for yellow jackets. I fill these in.
- Leaves that hold water in the shade below and help breed more mosquitos.
- Trash that holds water – I found old glass bottles, plastic bottles, aluminum cans. All of these can help breed mosquitos as well.
- Other invasive seedlings/weeds – I have found beefsteak plant (Perilla frutescens), mulberry weed (Fatoua villosa), mock strawberry (Potentilla indica), Japanese hawkweed (Youngia japonica) growing with it. All of these could have flowered and made seeds if left alone.
Stiltgrass is also easily pulled by hand because the roots
are not very strong. Pull the biggest ones first! Once I weedwhack most of it, I hand-pull the stragglers as
well as the plants in less dense areas. In the morning, it is part of my stroll
through the woods before it gets too hot. If the plants haven’t flowered, you
can just throw them on the ground after pulling. If they have flowered, bag
what you pull.
In addition to hiding hazards, stiltgrass can smother young
native seedlings that are trying to germinate or grow.
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| A section showing where I whacked it; I should have done it sooner. |
I expect that I'll need to repeat this for several more years, hopefully seeing less of it each year as the seedbank is reduced. I'll add more native perennials such as ferns, sedges, and wet-tolerant shrubs (I've got some spicebush (Lindera benzoin) waiting to be planted). I'm going to enjoy bringing this space back to a more productive woodland.
as prolific as stiltgrass is, i'm grateful you don't have to break your back to pull it, the seeds aren't constantly being distributed a billion miles away by birds, and the deadline until its flowering period is pretty generous compared to its fellow noxious peers. apparently stiltgrass roots are edible when cooked too, and i'll never say no to an opportunity to eat my problems.
ReplyDeletealso, i never thought about it being prime mosquito breeding habitat but it definitely makes sense, and it really makes me wonder how many bug bites and expensive spraying treatments people could've saved themselves from if they just did something about the stiltgrass, english ivy, and japanese honeysuckle that's smothering their backyard.
I was just pointing out some green perilla a couple of hours ago to a lady in her yard as a potential cooking herb.
ReplyDeleteI didn't even consider any potential invasiveness.
I did point out that there were alternatives to her turf.
She was like what's wrong with turf?
I gave her the link to backyard national park and a download link to Tallamy's book "How Can I Help".
Good luck with the stilt grass!