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Re: [RC] weed free - Barbara McCraryI have recently had firsthand knowledge of tamarisk. In September, Lud and I did a 6-day river rafting trip down the Colorado River from near Moab to Hite (Utah.) We were told by the guides that tamarisk was imported and planted to stabilize the banks of the Colorado at its exit into the Gulf of California. But it had populated the entire 100 miles of riverbank that we passed. When I asked how it got upstream, the guide said, "And which way is the wind blowing?" This was in an afternoon when the wind was blowing up river. I took his point. It really is a dreadful plant. I had seen it for the first time at Valley Wells on the Death Valley ride many years ago, but did not realize then how invasive and awful it is. I thought is was native, anyway.We have numerous exotic, invasive plants here on our ranch, but they are just bushes, not trees. Nevertheless, one of the worst is wild hemlock, followed closely by Cape (or German) Ivy. Hemlock grows anywhere the soil is the deepest and most fertile, while the ivy grows along streams. It climbs its way up trees and simply kills them by smothering them. Like kudzu, in its own way. Other ornamentals that looks pretty, but can get totally out of control, are Pampas Grass, French and Scotch Broom and a plant related to St. John's Wort. The last of these can totally take over open grassland and kill off anything else. I learned a new word over that one..."allopathic" (not sure I spelled that right), meaning it will kill or prevent anything else from growing around it but its own kind. Barbara ----- Original Message ----- From: "Sky Ranch" <skyranch@xxxxxxxx> To: "Ridecamp" <ridecamp@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> Sent: Saturday, November 11, 2006 9:57 AM Subject: Re: [RC] weed free Here's a website regarding a shrub/tree that was brought in to the West, =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Ridecamp is a service of Endurance Net, http://www.endurance.net. Information, Policy, Disclaimer: http://www.endurance.net/Ridecamp Subscribe/Unsubscribe http://www.endurance.net/ridecamp/logon.asp Ride Long and Ride Safe!! =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
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