On Tuesday of last week, the municipality’s parks and environment manager, joined by the new park operations and Snug Cove maintenance lead Mark Edmonds, who has a horticulture background, headed to the Scarborough neighbourhood to inspect a number of properties where Giant Hogweed has been reported. Brokenshire says that a lot of plants were found on three particular properties. She calling the neighbourhood a “hot spot” for hogweed.
On Thursday, Edmonds and a team from Home Farm Gardens helped to remove as many hogweed plants as possible from the properties.
“There are some plants hidden among the brambles and blackberries so they may have been missed,” says Brokenshire. “But I know we got many before they went to seed. Many of the plants we saw were at the flowering stage.”
Brokenshire says that this is just the beginning of a vigilant monitoring program for hogweed and other invasives on Bowen.
“Having the invasives email set up through the municipality has been very helpful, and we have received a number of tips from the public that have allowed us to identify the plant on other parts of the island,” says Brokenshire. “Hogweed in particular is such a sinister plant that can be devastating both to human health and our waterways, it is important that we do whatever we can to prevent it from spreading.”
If you think you might have giant hogweed on your property contact the municipality at: [email protected] or call 604-947-4255
