U.S. DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIORBUREAU OF LAND MANAGEMENT
 
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News.bytesNews.bytes Extra, issue 332

Free loaners to fight Scotch broom

With its brilliant yellow flowers and dense, bushy stands along highways, Scotch broom is one of the most recognizable plants in northern California.  It is also one of the most threatening to native plants and landscapes.
 
To combat the invasive plant, member agencies of the Humboldt-Del Norte weed management area are loaning tools to help property owners remove the plants.

Below: botanist Jennifer Wheeler, with BLM-California's Arcata Field Office, attacks a Scotch broom infestation with one of the loaner tools:
BLM-California botanist Jennifer Wheeler uses the tool to attack an infestation of Scotch broom

A field of Scotch broom may look attractive in bloom -- but like other invasive weeds, it crowds out native plants. Seeds are known to survive at least five years in the soil and possibly as long as thirty years. Cutting the plant off at the base will not kill it as is readily resprouts. The entire plant with root system must be pulled manually, before flowering or seedling.
Attractive invader: A field of yellow flowering Scotch broom

More information: "Agencies will loan tools to defeat Scotch Broom" (BLM-California news release, 2/24/09)

Photos: Jeff Fontana, BLM-California, 5/21/08

BLM-California News.bytes, issue 371 (2/25/09)
BLM-California News.bytes, issue 332

 
Last updated: 02-25-2009