Services

What is it? 

The most important thing to do on your property or landscape. 

Invasive Plant species are everywhere including your property. You might've even planted one without knowing it. These plants are still commonly sold at nearly every retail nursery and plant center. Invasive Plant species are plants that come from different continents or parts of the globe. These plants are new to our ecosystems and have none of the checks and balances that they had in their native territories. They then have a competitive edge over natives and can smother local ecosystems reducing biodiversity. 

Why is it important? 

1 Burning Bush can produce THOUSANDS of seeds. These seeds are then dispersed by birds and other wildlife spreading into local ecosystems. In Connecticut nearly every park and preserve has some number of invasives species present. Many areas are completely inundated with no native plants in the understory. One big storm or hurricane will then blow down the remaining native trees resulting in the death of that forest and in place an impenetrable thicket of invasive plants. We do not want this on our public or private lands. These areas are usually infested with ticks, reduce the ability to traverse the land and eliminate biodiversity. 

How its done and costs: 

WilderGardensLLC offers a competitive and affordable rate of bulk invasive chop down and removal. This is done at 250-300$ a man per day.

Typically I send my guy Brian out to do this work. 

Process:

Selection of area and Consultation

Chop down and piling of brush. (Brush chipping or removal can be requested but that can be costly. 

Yearly chop down should take half or a quarter as long as initial work. 

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We do not use any herbicides. 

These areas will need successive chop downs but will need diminishing work as the natives fill back in. The bulk of the work is done at the beginning with the chop down of large invasive plants. These plants will then try to come back with vengeance using the remaining energy in their roots in their futile attempt to re-establish. The second chop down will kill much of the infestation and native plants will start to establish. 

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Invasive Plant Removal is different for different types of plants. 

For large shrubs and trees such as: Burning bush, Buckthorn, Barberry, Multiflora rose:

Successive chop down is needed but will diminishes year to year. 

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For Herbaceous plants like Mugwort, Purple Loosestrife, Phragmites:

Need successive chop downs over the course of the year. Best thing to do is to chop while they are flowering. 

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For vines like Bittersweet, Porcelain, Black Swallow wort: 

Need intensive management/digging or regular maintenance. 

 Bittersweet and Porcelain vine climb trees and produce thousands of seeds. These vines can be chopped at the base to reduce seeding. Then can be cut every few years to prevent regrowth. 

In sunnier spots they need regular mowing or digging out to fully eliminate. 

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Due to the Nature of Invasive Species, there is no way to full eliminate them from our landscape. That doesn't mean we shouldn't do something about them. If left unchecked, they will continue to reduce biodiversity locally and regionally. 

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