Stratford’s energy and environment committee working hard at TJ Dolan Natural Area

Through a thick bed of autumn leaves, Craig Merkley puts his muscles to work on the weed wrench to pry larger stems out of the ground as Anita Jacobsen holds other branches out of the way.

This fall has been a busy time for members of the Stratford energy and environment committee, who are continuing their work to remove invasive species from the TJ Dolan Natural Area.

The focus is on European buckthorn and Norway maple, two species that can spread and overpower other species if they are left unchecked.

Norway maple has a dense leaf canopy that blocks light from getting to the forest floor, and its seedlings can outcompete native trees such as sugar maples, which they are trying to encourage.

Buckthorn is a smaller plant, but will spread quickly due to the heavy seed crop it produces.

It also has the ability to change the nutrient makeup in the soil, robbing other plants of nitrogen required to grow.

Buckthorn is usually found on edges of woodlots, but once it enters the interior, it has a tendency to spread quickly.

Stratford‘s energy and environment committee members have begun to address the issue this fall by first engaging volunteers and school groups to remove the seedlings.

Previously, the group had planted six flats (128 plants) of woodland plants in the area where the periwinkle had been sprayed in the spring.

They were also removing isolated periwinkle patches in the area to prevent them from spreading to the newly planted plugs.

A tool called a weed wrench shown is used to pry the larger stems out of the ground.

This continues to be an ongoing effort guided by the city’s New Invasive Species Management Plan, but good progress continues to be made.