Category Archives: Noxious Weeds

Batterson Greenbelt Survey June 21 2008

Field Monitoring, Land Stewardship, Noxious Weeds, Wildflowers, Work Days

Info added 9/1/09 Because of the Houndstonque at Gate 10 discussion…more info will be forthcoming.

Who: Linda Bell, Chana Fuller and Ellen Heath spent 7 person-hours working at the Batterson Greenbelt, where Charlie Bell and Butters Fuller accompanied us.
Weather: Sunny, low 70s
Description: At the Batterson Greenbelt, we mapped (with a Garmin nuvi 650) and weeded nine sites, see Google Earth map below. Linda helped us identify penny cress (PC), tumble mustard (TM), flixweed (FW), kochia (KO), and hound’s tongue (HT) which were there along with the usual suspects: Canada thistle (CT), Musk thistle (MT) and Dalmatian toadflax (DT). This area was very diverse and a nice contrast to Crellin Lake in terms of overall species diversity.

Map Notes:
Site 1–In a 50 ft diameter area, we clipped and bagged PC that had gone to seed, pulled or hand weed whacked KO, FW, and TM
Sites 2,3,4,6 — These were four test areas Linda Bell had flagged (last year?) to study the effects of stripping the leaves off of DT to weaken them. The numbers on the map indicate the number of plants in each 20 foot diameter area. Linda and Chana stripped the leaves in a downward motion.
Site 5 — This 50 ft diameter site had 100s of TM that we weed whacked before giving up.
Site 7 — We identified a 100 ft diameter area of disturbed soil as a weed hotspot that should be sprayed. The site had it all: CT, MT, HT, PC, F AND it is above Judd and Linda’s property. See photo.
Sites 8, 9 — These two sites are riparian areas with CT, MT.

Linda Bell’s Notes:

On June 24, 2008 Linda Bell emailed “Thanks Ellen for your very comprehensive notes and pictures. Just wanted to follow up with my own list of invasive plants from the reference names used in Weeds of the West. Cheers. Linda

Discussed, identified, not managed:
Stinging nettles
Canada thistle
Field bindweed
Smooth scouringrush (equisetum)
Cow parnisp

Identified and managed in very limited way
Dalmatian toadflax
Common mullein
Musk thistle
Flixweed
Houndstongue
Western sticktight
Smallseed falseflax
Tumble mustard (Jim Hill)
Field pennycress
Prickly lettuce (white sap)”

Helpful Herbicide Pracautions from Tim D’Amato

Noxious Weeds

8/12/09 Tim D’Amato’s email response to Wynne who asked him about precautions when using herbicides: “Hi Wynne, The label for each product has recommended PPE’s (Personal Protective Equipment). I personally would go with long pants, long sleeved shirt, sunglasses or some protective eye wear, latex or rubber gloves, and boots. The greatest risk to exposure is when mixing – concentrated material, chance of splash, etc. Rinse water for eyes, face and hands should be readily available when mixing. A mask should be available for those that feel it is important.

Maybe Steve could supply paper masks and latex gloves when giving out herbicide?

– Tim D’Amato

Eco SWAT Team Hits Gate 1

Noxious Weeds, Work Days

7/18/09 8 am: This morning 7 members of the Ecology Committee (Ellen, Harry, Jim, Jonathan, Judy, Peggy, and Wynne) tackled noxious weeds, mostly Diffuse Knapweed (DK), surrounding Gate 1. An estimated 700 pre-seed stage plants were removed in just over an hour, see 7/18/09 Work Log Report. During that time 30-40 vehicles drove by and Peggy suggested that we take advantage of the visibility by making an educational sign so passersby would know who we are and what we are doing…not wanting to be mistaken for those serving their Community Service sentences! Harry said that he and Judy have removed DK from under the fenceline along Red Feather Lakes Road in years past and they found many plants there again. The group was in favor of Jim’s idea to spruce up the rock island at the entrance by planting rugged, yet attractive, native plants. Jim reported that there are many DK plants at Gate 8, so hopefully this will be our next target.

Haystack July Site Visit

Land Restoration, Noxious Weeds

7/8/09 Tim D’Amato (Larimer County Land Steward Manager) met with members of the Ecology Committee (Ellen, Harry, Lee, Linda P., Jim, Judd, Judy, Susan, Wynne) to review the progress of the Haystack Weed Demonstration Plots. Tim passed out copies of his experimental design and it was obvious that the Milestone and KJM spraying had worked to reduce the target species: Canada thistle. Other species (grasses, sedges, cinquefoil and forbs), except wild rose, appeared unaffected.  Tim said “we should keep monitoring for at least a year and a half to see long term affects.”  Tim was impressed by the interest in the GVM property owners association, and would like to use us as a model. He is also looking for input for other test sites in GVM. We treated Tim to dinner at the Western Ridge Restaurant after the site visit and then attended our July Ecology Meeting.

Crellin Trails Maintenance & Plant Photos

Nature Trail, Noxious Weeds, Plant List, Wildflowers

June 28, 2009: Our June work day was a multipurpose one: Peggy weeded and identified problem spots on the Nature Trail, Jeff and Judd brought weed-eaters to clear the West Crellin trail, Judd diverted water from a slippery spot on the #4 marker on the Nature Trail, Jim and Ellen started a photo catalog of plants on the Nature Trail and removed a few Canada and musk thistles too. Person-hours worked: 7.5 Weeding and Trails Maintenance, 5 Plant Photo Catalog.

Haystack Site Visit, Dinner & Presentation on July 8

Committee, Field Monitoring, Land Restoration, Noxious Weeds

Tim D’Amato, Larimer County Land Steward,  will be at the Haystack Weed Demonstration site this Wednesday, July 8, at 4:00pm. We will have dinner at the Western Ridge Restaurant at 5:15pm before our July Ecology meeting at 6:30pm. Directions to Haystack Weed Demonstration Site: From Gate 10, drive south on Iron Mtn Dr, go right on Haystack Dr, continue on to near junction with Manhead Mtn Dr

Haystack Tour with Tim and Phil

Field Monitoring, Noxious Weeds

On 6/20/09 Jim, Wynne and Ellen accompanied Tim D’Amato (Larimer County Land Steward Manager) and Dr. Phil Westra (CSU, Department of Bioagricultural Sciences and Pest Management) to the Haystack Weed Demonstration area. Read previous blog post for more details. The Canada thistle (CT) plants were very small due to our cool spring. But CT seemed to be visible only in the unsprayed areas so Tim and Phil were pleased with the early results. A return site visit is planned for August 12 to allow the CT to grow larger.