UAA annual Weed Pull nets bags and bags of invasive plants

Organizers of the UAA Weed Pull report that approximately 30 volunteers gathered July 12 to pick, pull and uproot 30 full garbage bags of troublesome invasive weeds from the UAA campus grounds. Grand total for the day: 850 pounds!

Erik T. Ohm, a horticultural landscaper for UAA, said some of the 30 different invasive weeds that volunteers pulled included:

• Canadian thistle
• bird vetch
• toadflax
• oxeye daisy
• orange hawkweed
• narrow leaf hawk's head
• white sweet clover

A video of last year's weed pull shows good images of Canadian thistle and bird vetch, if you don't know what they look like.

The reason removing these invasives is important is because they are overtaking Alaska native plants, Ohm explained, which are a part of the food cycle for animals living in Alaska. One of their mantras for the day was "Get the roots!" and Ohm said he saw that many of the bags were filled with plants attached to roots.

Tim Stallard, the municipality's new Invasive Plant Program Coordinator for Anchorage Parks, came over and helped pull weeds at UAA. He also shared some Invasive Weed Smackdown T-shirts from the muni's July 9 weed pull at Valley of the Moon park.