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Re: Prairie planting in the UK

I would recommend you stick with native UK species....

Look at what Purple Loosestrife has done to our wetland areas in the Midwest.  It has choked
out all of the native wetland vegetation in many areas.  When I vacationed in Wisconsin in the
late '80's, all of the wetlands were just a sea of loosestrife everywhere we went.  For the
last 6 years the Natural History Survey has been rearing and releasing a leaf feeding beetle,
native to Europe, which only eats Purple Loosestrife.  This is why Purple Loosestrife is not a
problem in Europe.  This beetle defoliates the plant and diminishes its vigor.  The beetles
have been over wintering well and are starting to bring the loosestrife under control in our
5-6 test areas.  There are good reasons to control the import of exotic species from one
continent to another.  This is a perfect example.

Another is the longhorn Asian beetle that has infested trees in Chicago and New York.  We
cannot spray chemicals in densely populated urban areas and there is no known biological
control.  The only solution, at this time, is to cut down the infested trees and burn them.
Researchers at the Survey and across the country are working on control methods for this new
exotic pest.

Another is garlic mustard in our woodland areas, teasel in our prairie restorations, etc.

I am sure many of us could go on and on with this list of noxious, exotic species....

We need to do a better job of educating the public about the dangers of introducing exotic
species and the ecological inpact they can have on our natural areas.





Richard S Rhodes II wrote:

> Why would anyone be thinking about introducing even *more* exotic plants into areas where
> they do not naturally occur?  Have we not yet learned that we really have no idea
> whatsoever about the potential for exotic organisms to become noxious invasive pests?  How
> many more 'horticultural' escapes do we need before we learn not to freely move organisms
> around the globe?
>
> Apologies if this seems a 'flame,' but, please think very long and very hard before
> introducing plants from distant places to settings where they do not belong.
>
> If you want to find out more about only some of the horror stories resulting from both our
> intentional and accidental introductions, look at some of the links on this web page:
> http://bluegoose.arw.r9.fws.gov/FICMNEWFiles/Links.html
>
> Sandy Rhodes
>
> Charlotte Gordon wrote:
>
> > I’ve been following the debate on planting preparation
> > with some interest.  Being a Garden Designer in the UK
> > I would like to research further the use of prairie
> > planting around domestic settings.  Are there any
> > sources that you could recommend that arte available
> > in this country, or indeed any examples that I might
> > visit?
> >
> > Charlotte Gordon
> >
> > cgordon64@yahoo.com
> >
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