Georgian Bay holidayers cut Phragmites in Woods Bay

2 teams of Phrag fighters (aka August Holidayers) spent a couple of hours cutting invasive Phragmites on the back of a beloved private island on Woods Bay. Our mission – cut and bag a relatively young stand using wetland ecologist Dr. Janice Gilbert’s suggestions which minimize interference with other native plant life.

Day 1

We prepared for battle with hand held garden shears , wetsuits from the 1980s,  paper yard waste bags, water shoes, and delicious snacks for the weary. There was high morale among the younger troops and some trepidation between the parental units.  Could we do this?  After 2.5 hours we had  cleared about 65% of the stand, had a few laughs,  and greatly increased our confidence that we could complete the mission.

We felt good – we had done something concrete to help the Bay! We were rewarded by our hosts’ amazing gin and tonics dockside where we strategized for day 2.

3 signs that the threat of invasive Phragmites is getting needed attention

As awareness builds about invasive Phragmites, solutions to control its spread seem more possible!  Here are some recent and and relevant signs of progress in getting attention for the Phragmites fight.

1. Non-native Phragmites was a topic on the July 17th Council Meeting of the Township of the Archipelago

At the meeting, Bob Duncanson, Executive Director of the Georgian Bay Association (GBA) urged municipalities to take action in a number of ways:

Bob Duncanson. Photo from Georgian Bay Association website

• Identify and map non-native Phragmites stands
• Implement cleaning procedures for ensuring heavy equipment does not spread Phragmites to other locations
• Advocate for the faster approval of chemicals that can be used near or in water with the appropriate government policy maker(s)

 

 

 

 

7 tips to help you identify invasive Phragmites

Are you concerned that you may have the wrong plant for crowd-mapping invasive phragmites when using the Phragspotter™ App? Or even scarier –  are you frightened you have invasive Phragmites australis on your property or invading an area you really care about?

Here are some tips I’ve collected to help you identify the invasive Phragmites australis subsp. australis.

1. Yes – there is a a NATIVE Phragmites (Phragmites australis subsp. americanus) that is not a threat to biodiversity. How can you tell them apart? There are fantastic details and pictures of the many differences including a downloadable brochure from the Michigan State University Extension , but I will hit a few highlights here:

7 year old hikes Wreck Island identifying species

As a parent, Minecraft can be great when you need half an hour to rest –  but I hope my little guy gets astonished by  the natural world and invested in its conservation. To get inspired, we boated off to Wreck Island in Massasauga Park!

Wreck Island gets its name honestly – a section of the steamship Waubuno, one of the most famous shipwreck tragedies in Georgian Bay history, lies off its shores. But today, our mission was to identify species for my son’s homemade field guide and explore its beauty – truly stunning in a Group of Seven kind of way. Our expedition set forth and found this amazing rock art:

5 ways the invasion of non-native Phragmites plants will cost you money

Don’t be fooled if you see this plant, Phragmites australis subsp. Australis, starting to grow. While it may look benign and relatively harmless when it starts to appear – it soon grows to monster height and sprawls and spreads at alarming speed wreaking havoc on biodiversity. (Photos: Heather Sargeant. Post updated July 15, 2015)

If you are not moved by potential environmental catastrophe,  here’s how the non-native Phragmites invasion can cost you:

1. Threat to property value. This plant propagates very quickly, blocking access to parts of your property and views. How? Non-native Phragmites can grow as high as 5m or 15 ft in dense stands of up to 200 stems per square metre. These stands are often largely comprised of tall dead stems with new growth on the edges . As a benchmark, lake property values in Vermont were diminished by up to 16% by  the invasive species Eurasian watermilfoil  according to the US Fish and Wildlife Service.

May long weekend cocktail party raises awareness for Phragmites

Talking about fighting Phragmites at Sarge Cottage. Photo credit – Christina Sine.

It was a beautiful warm Sunday when Barb and Tim Sargeant hosted their annual May Long Weekend Cocktail Party in Woods Bay.

Boats from all around converged on Sarge island to enjoy some cocktails, excellent food, great company, and something a little different.  A receptive audience crowded into the 100 year old living room to hear… a stimulating PHRAGMITES AWARENESS PRESENTATION. Our attention was quickly seized by Colin Dobell and Cameron Wood’s Phragmites Intro video from stoptheinvasion.ca, which effectively showed us how this invasive plant is threatening our waterfronts. We all felt  we need to do something!