The Vermont Chapter of The Nature Conservancy and Green Works, Vermont Nursery and Landscape Association have joined forces in a new initiative called PlantWise Vermont. Through PlantWise, horticultural businesses are encouraged to sign on to a Voluntary Code of Conduct to stop selling and using invasive terrestrial plants. Green Works has issued a letter to its 180 members urging them to join the effort and 58 horticultural professionals throughout the state have already signed on.
A number of non-native exotic plants can still be legally sold in Vermont, including burning bush, Norway maple, Japanese barberry, common barberry, yellow iris and all cultivars of these species. Green Works is asking its members to voluntarily stop the sale and use of these invasives.
‘Our goal with the PlantWise Vermont program is to encourage our members to reduce their environmental impact during the course of their business operations,’ said Rebecca Lindenmeyr, president of Green Works and co-owner of Linden L.A.N.D. Group in Addison.
‘The Vermont Nursery and Landscaping Association has a unique opportunity to show leadership and be part of the solution, and we’re excited to be educating our members about the issue and giving them the tools they will need to help remove invasive species, and plant suitable alternatives.’
Much of Vermont’s woodlands, including some of The Nature Conservancy’s protected lands, have been invaded by dense, impenetrable layers of honeysuckle and barberry that prevent native trees like sugar maple, oak, shagbark hickory and cherry from regenerating.
The Conservancy, along with Vermont landowners, foresters and sugar-makers are spending increasingly more time and money trying to manage invasive plants to ensure that the native plants and trees we depend on ‘ for timber and firewood, shelter and food for wildlife, and maple trees for syrup ‘ will still be in the woods 20, 50, 100 years from now.
Invasive terrestrial plants have an enormous negative impact on the quality of our woodlands and wetlands, said Sharon Plumb, The Nature Conservancy’s Invasive Species Coordinator.
‘Wildlife habitat in woodlands and along river and stream banks suffers when Vermont’s native wildflowers, shrubs and trees are replaced by non-native invasives,’ Plumb said. ‘Many of our insects cannot feed on these invasive plants, so their populations drop. When that happens, native bird and fish populations that feed on native insects also suffer. It has a ripple effect all the way up the food chain.’
After several years of public outreach by The Nature Conservancy and the Vermont Invasive Exotic Plant Committee (VIEPC), along with the support of horticultural professionals at Green Works, many Vermonters now recognize invasive plants and are choosing native plants as safe alternatives.
The Nature Conservancy
The Nature Conservancy is a leading conservation organization working around the world to protect ecologically important lands and waters for nature and people. The Vermont Chapter has helped to conserve over 183,000 acres of significant natural areas throughout the state. Visit nature.org/vermont for more information. Green Works is a non-profit professional organization for the horticultural industry in Vermont. Members include growers, retailers, garden centers and nurseries; landscape architects, designers and contractors; arborists, turf specialists, industry representatives, allied trades people, students, and educators. Find out more at greenworksvermont.org.
Source: The Nature Conservancy
The Nature Conservancy and Green Works partner to eliminate invasive plants
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