Roping Up Invasive Plants

By Lauren Serra

Southeast Coast and Southeast Invasive Plant Management Teams Liaison

The Southeast Coast Invasive Plant Management Team, Palmetto Garden Club, and Congaree National Park staff and volunteers hand-pull invasive species beefsteak.

I first heard Cayce McAlister speak about Weed Wrangle® in December 2017. The goal of Weed Wrangle® is to connect public lands with volunteers to remove invasive plants, control invasive plant populations, and restore native plant habitat. The Weed Wrangle® model grew from the Garden Club of America’s Partners for Plants program. The goals are to conserve rare plants and restore native ecosystems on public lands.

Cayce spoke again in 2018 at the next Innovations in Invasive Species Management meeting in Nashville, TN. The first Weed Wrangle® was held in Nashville in 2015. Between 2015 and 2018 Weed Wrangle® had spread its tendrils across the United States. It expanded to 13 states and 110 cities. By 2018 it had reached Grants Pass, OR, where it has become an annual event.

The New York Times featured a story on Weed Wrangle® in March 2019. The story focused on how backyard landscape choices affect natural areas. Later that month Cayce presented on Weed Wrangle® at a meeting of North and South Carolina invasive/exotic species councils. She made a request of the participants, "Let’s get Weed Wrangle® on the map in these states." I took Cayce up on her offer.

The Palmetto Garden Club in Columbia, SC, was an enthusiastic partner on a Weed Wrangle® at Congaree National Park. The project focused on a road corridor where Perilla frutescens, or beefsteak plant, was spreading into natural areas of the park. Beefsteak is a basil-like plant from Asia used in cooking and as an ornamental. Beefsteak threatens native understory plants and can be toxic to cattle. Since these are annual plants, it is critical to remove them before seed is set.

On September 26, 2019, the Palmetto Garden Club, Southeast Coast Invasive Plant Management Team, South Carolina Exotic Pest Plant Council, park staff, and volunteers hand pulled 200 pounds of beefsteak from Congaree National Park’s majestic forest. Join the Nationwide Stay-at-Home Weed Wrangle®. Help by removing invasive plants from your own backyards. Let's work together to connect our own native habitats to the natural areas that surround us. Like Congaree National Park, we can all host our own Weed Wrangle®.