Phased ban of invasive Japanese Barberry plant in PA

[Bon]

Phased ban of invasive Japanese Barberry plant in PA

Berberis thunbergii shoot with fruit, photo credit Wikipedia user MPF, Oct. 9, 2004

Posted on November 15, 2021 by wcednews

Harrisburg, PA – The PA Department of Agriculture added Japanese Barberry, or Berberis thunbergii, to a list of noxious weeds — plants that cannot be legally sold or cultivated in the state.

The popular, non-native, ornamental shrub forms dense, prickly thickets that crowd out plants and disrupt native ecosystems. It is also thought to harbor black-legged ticks that spread lyme disease. The ban on sale and cultivation took effect October 8, 2021.

Enforcement of the ban will be phased in over two years to allow time for nurseries to eliminate it from their stock, find non-harmful alternatives, and develop seedless, sterile varieties that pose less threat to the environment and agriculture. Landscape and nursery businesses will receive notices of the timeline, procedures and exemption process for sterile varieties. Property owners should consider eliminating the shrubs on their land.

“Many seemingly attractive plants can actually harm our environment, our food supply and our health,” said Agriculture Secretary Russell Redding. “Pennsylvania does not take banning the sale of a plant lightly. Prevention is the best alternative — choosing native plants that harbor pollinators and allow a healthy, natural ecosystem. Carefully considering the potential impact of what we plant can prevent lasting damage that is difficult, expensive or impossible to reverse.”

 

Japanese barberry was originally brought to the U.S. from Japan and eastern Asia in the 1800s to be planted as an ornamental.  It is widely used as a landscape shrub because of its fall coloring and resistance to deer. It has garnered attention in the past several years as a prolific invader that can easily spread into woodlands, pastures, fields and natural areas.

The timeline for the two-year rollout of the ban is as follows:

• November 2021 – Nursery and landscape businesses will receive notice from the department, advising them to immediately begin adjusting propagation, ordering and planting of Japanese barberry to decrease inventory.
• Fall 2022 – The department will issue letters of warning to any plant merchant still selling Japanese barberry, providing a date in Fall 2023 after which remaining inventory will be subject to a destruction order.
• Fall 2023 – The department will issue Stop Sale and destruction orders to plant merchants selling or distributing Japanese barberry.

Merchants with questions should contact ra-plant@pa.gov.

Effective October 8, 2021, the department added two other plants to the noxious weed list: garlic mustard, Alliaria petiolata, and Japanese stiltgrass, Microstegium vimineum. These plants are generally not sold in nurseries but are invasive and common in Pennsylvania. Landowners with these plants on their property are encouraged to remove them.

[lavender]

3 hours ago, Bon said:

Effective October 8, 2021, the department added two other plants to the noxious weed list: garlic mustard, Alliaria petiolata, and Japanese stiltgrass, Microstegium vimineum. These plants are generally not sold in nurseries but are invasive and common in Pennsylvania. Landowners with these plants on their property are encouraged to remove them.

Getting rid of garlic mustard is next to impossible. I've tried.  Excerpt from one of DTEGC's newsletters:

    "Garlic mustard is not a weed that you want growing anywhere. It is harmful and has some very nasty habits. First it is extremely invasive. The first recorded sighting was in New York State in 1868. Whether the seeds were inadvertently carried into the country or it was introduced as an ornamental is unknown. Since then it has invaded 30 US states to the determent of native plants. It  chokes out native plants due to its rapid spreading depriving the more delicate natives of light and nutrients. This is facilitated by the deer population preferring to feed on native plants. The areas in which the native plants grew are rapidly taken over by garlic mustard compounding the problem of regrowth of the natives.  Often the seeds are carried in by the deer starting the process that results in large monocultures of garlic mustard carpeting the forest floor. What remains of the native plants after the deer have fed on them are quickly forced out by the rapid growth of the garlic mustard.
    Garlic mustard reseeds readily. Each plant produces approximately 5000 seeds. The seeds are tough and it takes stratification to  get them to germinate. They will live in the soil for 5 years or more and still grow into plants. The plants drop their seeds near the mother plant and this clustering of plants contributes to the monoculture that crowds out native plants that cannot compete. Garlic mustard will grow in sun or shade so no area is really safe from it. It does prefer moist soil although it can be found growing along roads. It is important to destroy the plant by burning or placing it in a plastic bag after it is pulled as a plant will still set and ripen seed after it is weeded out or mowed. Any roots left in the soil will regrow. 
    If this isn’t enough the plant produces a substance from its roots that inhibits the growth of other plants. Plants that do this like the black walnut trees are called alleopathic. Because this substance is present in the plant it cannot be composed or plowed into the soil. Any compost from a pile that has a significant amount of garlic mustard in it will inhibit the growth of ornamental or food plants when added to the soil. This substance also inhibits the growth of beneficial soil fungi that is needed by various plants for growth." 

[Petee]

19 hours ago, Bon said:

Phased ban of invasive Japanese Barberry plant in PA

Berberis thunbergii shoot with fruit, photo credit Wikipedia user MPF, Oct. 9, 2004

Posted on November 15, 2021 by wcednews

Harrisburg, PA – The PA Department of Agriculture added Japanese Barberry, or Berberis thunbergii, to a list of noxious weeds — plants that cannot be legally sold or cultivated in the state.

The popular, non-native, ornamental shrub forms dense, prickly thickets that crowd out plants and disrupt native ecosystems. It is also thought to harbor black-legged ticks that spread lyme disease. The ban on sale and cultivation took effect October 8, 2021.

Enforcement of the ban will be phased in over two years to allow time for nurseries to eliminate it from their stock, find non-harmful alternatives, and develop seedless, sterile varieties that pose less threat to the environment and agriculture. Landscape and nursery businesses will receive notices of the timeline, procedures and exemption process for sterile varieties. Property owners should consider eliminating the shrubs on their land.

“Many seemingly attractive plants can actually harm our environment, our food supply and our health,” said Agriculture Secretary Russell Redding. “Pennsylvania does not take banning the sale of a plant lightly. Prevention is the best alternative — choosing native plants that harbor pollinators and allow a healthy, natural ecosystem. Carefully considering the potential impact of what we plant can prevent lasting damage that is difficult, expensive or impossible to reverse.”

 

Japanese barberry was originally brought to the U.S. from Japan and eastern Asia in the 1800s to be planted as an ornamental.  It is widely used as a landscape shrub because of its fall coloring and resistance to deer. It has garnered attention in the past several years as a prolific invader that can easily spread into woodlands, pastures, fields and natural areas.

The timeline for the two-year rollout of the ban is as follows:

• November 2021 – Nursery and landscape businesses will receive notice from the department, advising them to immediately begin adjusting propagation, ordering and planting of Japanese barberry to decrease inventory.
• Fall 2022 – The department will issue letters of warning to any plant merchant still selling Japanese barberry, providing a date in Fall 2023 after which remaining inventory will be subject to a destruction order.
• Fall 2023 – The department will issue Stop Sale and destruction orders to plant merchants selling or distributing Japanese barberry.

Merchants with questions should contact ra-plant@pa.gov.

Effective October 8, 2021, the department added two other plants to the noxious weed list: garlic mustard, Alliaria petiolata, and Japanese stiltgrass, Microstegium vimineum. These plants are generally not sold in nurseries but are invasive and common in Pennsylvania. Landowners with these plants on their property are encouraged to remove them.

Be sure to cut them off at ground level, or better yet if it is a small plant, dig out the roots which is very difficult.  Burn or trash bag the plants and all seeds.  You will have to check the area for sprouts in the next year.  Keeping them cut back on a weekly basis will starve the roots eventually.  

In our area, they generally do not spread well because of our higher elevation, but further south they can spread very widely, choking out native vegetation.

Spread a tarp around the plant.  Using long handled pruners or a chain saw, cut off all branches so you can easily get to the stem.  Dig around it a bit and cut as low as possible.

Another option to stop regrowth may be to try to starve it of oxygen and sunlight by piling many layers of cardboard and some bricks or cement blocks on top of it.  Just be sure that no sunlight can sneak under the covering.

[Petee]

These plants are also linked to Lyme Disease by being an excellent collection point for the Lyme Tick.  Animals who pass by the plant will collect them easily.