RED DEER – A $20 plastic spotted knapweed plant has been one of the best ways to teach people how to identify the restricted weed.
“It’s one of the best investments any group or industry can get,” Monique Veitch, a natural resources technician at the Canadian Forces Base in Wainwright, Alta, said during a presentation at a recent Alberta Invasive Plants Council meeting.
“It’s a great tool.”
The plastic plant is instantly recognizable as the purple flowered plant quickly taking over pastures and rangeland across Western Canada.
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Spotted knapweed was first found on the 620 sq. kilometre military base in 2003. It has since spread to 73 sites. Five sq. km of the base have been fenced and closed to livestock and military vehicles because of a severe infestation.
The base, 200 kilometres southeast of Edmonton, is one of the armed forces’ primary training facilities in Western Canada.
The land is also used by hunters, hikers and four grazing associations. About 15 percent of the land belongs to the federal government and the rest is provincial lease land.
With so many users, Veitch said it’s important to have everyone on the lookout for the weed.
“The more eyes out there, the better.”
After the first knapweed was found, the military base put together a noxious weed program to identify and control the spread of weeds. Each identified weed is marked with a metal picket and a GPS location is taken.
All vehicles entering and leaving the land are thoroughly washed to slow the spread of weeds. Weeds are also cut with weed whackers, picked by hand or sprayed with chemicals.
Veitch said hand picking has been one of the best control methods. The number of bags of handpicked weeds has dropped to seven in 2008 from 31 in 2006.
“We have great results,” she said.
The bagged weeds are incinerated.
Veitch said the heavily infested area was burned last fall to reduce litter around the weeds and speed up germination. Spotted knapweed seeds can stay viable in the soil for seven to nine years.
“We believe it will exhaust the seed bank faster and force the seeds to germinate.”
