South West Piedmont Weed Team

• Provide a focus for issues and concerns regarding exotic pest plants in North Carolina
• Facilitate communication and the exchange of information regarding all aspects of exotic pest plant control and management
• Provide a forum where all interested parties may participate in meetings and share in the benefits from the information generated by Council
• Promote public understanding regarding exotic pest plants and their control
• Serve as an advisory council regarding funding, research, management, and control of exotic pest plants
• Facilitate action campaigns to monitor and control exotic pest plants in North Carolina
• Review incipient and potential pest plant management problems and activities and provide relevant information to interested parties

The South West Piedmont Weed Team has several on-going projects  at various locations including Shamrock Park, the Nature Museum, the three Nature Centers (Latta, McDowell and Reedy Creek) of the Mecklenburg County Nature Preserves and others.

A recent conference on Regional Biodiversity was attended and a edited version of the information is available.

Removing invasive plants at Shamrock Park.

South West Piedmont Weed Team in action!!!

South West Piedmont Weed Team on the Ground Projects,
Shamrock Park in Charlotte, N.C.

Exciting changes are happening at the three-acre Shamrock Park in urban Charlotte, NC. The lower third of the site has been converted from a "wasteland" heavily overgrown with exotic invasive plants into a demonstration garden for native plants and wildlife-friendly landscaping. The area includes a small creek that collects water from both springs and seeps in the upper part of the park as well as runoff from streets and fifty-year-old residences in this central-city neighborhood. The creek was dubbed "Vanishing Creek" because it emerges from a culvert beneath the upper portion of the park and disappears into another culvert as it exits the park.

Removal of the woody invasive species was undertaken on September 13, 2002, by experts from Mecklenburg County Park & Recreation. The process involved cutting out dense growth of invasives such as privet, ligustrum, mulberry, and Russian olive, as well as thinning of poplar, cherry, and black gum. Cut stumps were treated with Rodeo and some spraying was conducted to thin out poison ivy allowing access to the creek by children.

This access was facilitated by a crew of neighborhood residents, including Reed Patterson, Robert Bustle, John Brien, as well as Travis, Alicia, and Rebecca Pollock, who constructed a footpath along the creek complete with crossing logs and a stairway at the south end.

On the advice of neighborhood member and UNC Charlotte botanist, Dr. Larry Mellichamp, a native plant garden in the lightly wooded area is being installed in the adjoining area. The garden  demonstrates the advantages of using native shrubs, herbaceous plants, and ground covers in landscaping. Signage has been developed and placed detailing the benefits such as water conservation, reduced pesticide usage, etc.

Funding and materials for these improvements were provided by the Mecklenburg County Park and Recreation Department and the UNCC Botanical Garden. Additional funding came from Mecklenburg County Land Use and Environmental Services Agency, Solid Waste.

Roy Alexander, neighborhood representative for the project, is enthusiastic about the payoffs from the undertaking and stated, " We not only get more usable recreation space in our little park, but we get an ongoing educational resource to help us learn how to landscape our homes according to environmentally sound principles."