Park interpreter Marty Drut at Police Point Park in this September 2019 file photo. The Interpretive Program and Grasslands Naturalists are hosting invasive weed workshops around Medicine Hat.--NEWS FILE PHOTO
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The Interpretive Program at Police Point Park and Grasslands Naturalists are co-hosting the Hidden Neighbours – Weedy Workshops in four areas of the Hat starting June 19 to make Hatters aware of invasive weed species growing in the area.
“We want to go to various places in Medicine Hat, have people attend and then see what is growing around their properties, learn how to identify them, learn why they need to control them and then give them some tips on how to deal with the problem,” said Marty Drut, park interpreter with the Interpretive Program.
Drut says the event comes on the heels of a 2019 indoor event at the Nature Centre where experts from all over the province came to inform people about invasive species. He says they wanted to do an event like these workshops last year, but COVID-19 restrictions delayed them to 2021.
If left untreated, invasive species can spread throughout the environment and cause a number of problems, says Drut.
They can cause all kinds of problems to natural areas and to agriculture as well. If left uncontrolled, it will take over a system or just give farmers all kinds of problems where they have to spend lots of money toward controlling them,” he said. “Some of these plants are growing within the city and if we can control them, maybe we can prevent them from going into the green spaces and our agricultural land.”
Some of the common species found throughout the city are downy brome, creeping bellflower and field bindweed.
“That’s the ones we’re concentrating primarily on,” he said. “Those are some good examples of things that are growing around people’s yards and their alleyways and those type of things,” said Drut.
Drut says if everyone does their part and keeps their yard or property free of these plants, then the city will be able to get the situation more under control.
He adds people are aware of another invasive plant called leaky spurge because of the goats they bring in to take care of it, but these workshops increase the awareness about some other plants lurking around the city that people can take care of on their own.
There are a total of eight workshops starting on June 19 and happening on every Saturday and Wednesday through July 14. Drut says the reason they broke the workshops into four different neighbourhoods was to keep the information as local as possible.
“Even Medicine Hat is a pretty big place, so we had hoped that people from these areas would come to these workshops that specific dates were set up for them, just so they would have the sense of these things are growing right where I live,” said Drut.
North neighbourhood workshops are scheduled for June 19 and 23, north-central areas are scheduled for June 26 and 30, south central residents are scheduled for July 3 and 7 and south neighbourhood workshops are planned for July 10 and 14.
Those interested in taking part in workshops have to register by calling the nature line at 403-529-6225 and will be notified of the meeting point.
