The Green Miles vs. Mile-a-Minute

I arrived at Potomac Overlook Regional Park on Saturday to find the hill covered knee-high in invasive plants. Just two months earlier, we'd planted small saplings (only a few inches high) at the site. With the web of mile-a-minute weed, Japanese stiltgrass, and other non-native plants taking over the area, it was going to be a challenge to find the saplings, never mind clear enough space for them to be able to continue to take root.

It was my first time dealing with mile-a-minute, a vine that combines the worst characteristics of several invasive species. It grows as fast and climbs as quickly as kudzu, and its thorns are just as painful as multiflora rose. In short, a real bastard.

On top of all of that, a grand total of zero Community Role Models volunteers showed up to help. I spent an hour clearing some multiflora rose roots out of the top of the hill, but I had no idea where to even start with the mile-a-minute and stiltgrass below. Things were looking bleak for The Green Miles.

But a surprise visit would turn the tide.

First, a step back. People often ask me why invasive plants are such a concern. After all, if they beat out native species, isn't it just survival of the fittest.

Survival of the fittest applies to species that have had millions of years deal with predators and competitors, carving out roles in an ecosystem. Expecting trees to suddenly be able to deal with mile-a-minute would be like dropping a pack of wolves onto an island with a flock of penguins and telling the penguins, "Better evolve some flying or running skills in a hurry!"

Trees are the backbone of the American ecosystem, providing shelter for birds and mammals and holding topsoil in place so other plants can grow. Ordinarily, a dead tree would just be replaced in the canopy by younger trees.

But invasives smother young trees before they can ever grow. Some even release chemicals into the soil that retard the growth of young trees. Deer are known to ignore invasives and stick with their usual diet of native plants, exacerbating the problem.

So invasives are a problem that we need to deal with. Especially since we introduced them into the ecosystem. Ooops.

And thanks to Jake and Wilson, I was able to win my first battle in the war on mile-a-minute.

Jake and Wilson are interns at Potomac Overlook who heard there was some wacko trying to clear a whole hill of invasives by himself and took pity on me. They came armed with rakes, tools they've found works much better than the simple grab-and-pull technique I'd been using. Within an hour I had two shoulder-high piles of mile-a-minute and other invasives. OK, so it's not like I'd stormed the beach at Normandy, but it was pretty damn satisfying.

And best of all, we uncovered over a dozen of the saplings CRM volunteers planted back in April, still marked by their little strips of orange tape (at the center of the picture to the left). Even though they were getting hardly any sun under the net of invasives, almost all showed signs of growth, sprouting new leaves.

In a matter of weeks, the invasives will have reclaimed the hillside, so let's hope the saplings can take advantage of this window. But Jake and Wilson promised to keep an eye on them, and I'll be back later this summer for round two against the invasives.

Come Help Clean Up Four Mile Run! (Or: If I Have to Get Up Early, So Should You)

NOTE TO WONKETTE READERS: THIS EVENT OCCURED MARCH 9. CHECK OUT THE ORGANIC WINE TASTING COMING UP ON MAY 11TH!

I'll be up early tomorrow morning helping lead a major Arlingtonians for a Clean Environment cleanup! There will be cleanups at three different sites -- Arlington Mill Community Center, Barcroft Park, and Shirlington Park. I'll be at the Barcroft location at 9am trying to look awake and not cold.

The forecast for Saturday afternoon actually looks great -- sunny and a high of 60 -- but according to weather.com, it'll be cloudy and 39 at 9am. At early cleanups like this, I usually go with layers, a couple of sweatshirts that I can peel off as it warms up.

We'll be cleaning up Four Mile Run, and the more people we get, the more trash we'll be able to remove from the stream. I've seen everything from a portable toilet door to a car bumper to an American flag pulled out of the stream, but the most common items are plastic bottles, pieces of styrofoam, and cigarette butts (contrary to popular belief, they're not biodegradable). ACE is partnering on the cleanup with OneBrick, a nonprofit that helps connect young volunteers with local service projects.

You can get more details at the ACE website, and if you plan on coming, please let us know!

The Green Girlfriend watches The Green Miles lay the smackdown on an invasive multiflora rose bush at Barcroft Park. Note The Green Miles' stylish layered sweatshirts.

Invasive Plants: Good Intentions, Destructive Results

Arlington County Board Member Jay Fisette often tells the story of how as an adult, he looked for a home with English ivy on it, because it reminded him of his childhood home. Only after he'd bought the house did he learn that English ivy is an invasive species not native to the area, and it was with a heavy heart that he cut the vines down.

And that's the story of invasive plants in Northern Virginia -- the best of intentions. Homeowners are just trying to make their property look nice, and don't realize the damage invasive plants do to our environment. Big garden centers are just trying to sell lots of plants and turn a profit.

But the bill for these bad choices is coming due in some of our region's most beautiful places. Invasive plants have spread incredibly fast from backyards to local parks, quickly overtaking them. According to Arlington environmental expert Steve Young, "Our parks here in Arlington have some of the most severe invasive problems you're going to find anywhere in the country." At Potomac Overlook Regional Park, 60 percent of the acreage is now covered by invasive plants. Naturalists there warn that number will only grow. As old oaks and poplars fall, young trees can't sprout up through the tangled mat of ivy and other invasives covering the forest floor.

Arlingtonians for a Clean Environment chose Roosevelt Island as the site of our 3rd Annual Hike & Happy Hour to draw attention to the invasive plant problem there, and to raise funds for invasive removals and education. Environmental volunteer Steve Campbell has spent the last couple of years battling invasives on Roosevelt Island, and estimates that more than 80 percent of the Island's arable land is covered by invasives like garlic mustard, Japanese honeysuckle, porcelain berry, and English ivy. He says, "Some parts of the island look like a bomb went off, with trees falling all over."

And science is starting to back up Mr. Campell's anecdotal evidence. The New York Times reported last month scientists now believe garlic mustard kills off beneficial fungi in soil, stunting the growth of young trees. A recent study estimated the economic cost of invasive species damage and control efforts nationwide at more than $138 billion every year.

You can learn more about invasive plants and native plants at The Virginia Native Plant Society's website. You may notice some of those same plants in front of your home or office. And if you do, we hope you're willing to change your own assumptions as Jay Fisette did, and take one step towards reclaiming Northern Virginia's green spaces for native wildlife.