Volunteers wanted to remove Pampas & Jubata Grass from our San Gregorio Valley.
Plant removed near Lower Reservoir in Cuesta La Honda
Let’s control these grasses so they won’t spread as they have in Pescadero, Half Moon Bay, and along the coast. SGERC has received permission from Caltrans to control and remove invasive Pampas and Jubata grass along Hwy. 84 between Hwy. 1 and La Honda. If you’re interested in helping with this project, please contact Neil Panton, (650) 854-8038 or [email protected].
We use manual methods, no chemicals. We plan to clear the Hwy. 84 corridor, but since a number of plants exist on private property as well, we’d like to help interested landowners remove these invasive plants from their property. For those who’d like to keep ornamental grasses on their property, there are several non-invasive alternatives, like these suggested by the Native Plants Society and Yerba Buena Nursery:
http://calscape.cnps.org/loc-California/cat-Grasses/ord-popular?srchcr=sc56a0f45be321b
http://www.yerbabuenanursery.com/Avail.php
Anyone 16 years or older can participate. We’ll schedule several morning work days over the coming year beginning in April. All safety and other training will be provided. Removal of seed heads is the first step in preventing further spread. Next we cut back vegetation to control plant growth, and finally remove the plant. Smaller plants come out in a few minutes. Larger, established plants take more effort, but can be removed with pick axe and shovel. The root balls are amazingly small and shallow considering the size of these plants.
The biggest concentration of plants is around the 2.0 and 3.0 mile markers on La Honda Rd. With team effort, we should be able to remove the remaining plants along the highway in short order. After that, we just monitor for new growth.
Feel free to pass this information along to anyone you think may be interested. We can use help on work crews, communicating with neighbors, and identifying remaining plants in the watershed. With your help, we should be able to remove Pampas and Jubata grass from San Gregorio and La Honda completely in a year or two. As one of our community leaders says “It Takes a Village”! We look forward to hearing from you!
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