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BEND, OR -- Many beautiful plants are blooming across the High Desert; unfortunately, so are the weeds. Deschutes County Forester Ed Keith says it’s important property owners take steps now to get rid of noxious weeds. "A lot of themhaven’t started blooming yet – especially our most common ones, including spotted knapweed, which is located across a good portion of the county. Now is the time to really get those things under control before they do bloom and go to seed and create all those new seedlings for the next growing season." Noxious weeds are typically non-native invasive plants that can choke out native species.
Keith tells KBND News, "We get a lot of calls from people when these things start to bloom, then your options are really limited as to how you can treat them because they’re so far along in their life cycle. So, we really try to get the word out earlier in the growing season that 'hey, now’s the time to get out and pull these things, or treat them with herbicide, or call somebody for help' if you have too many to deal with on your own."
There is financial assistance available for treatment, in some cases. "We also provide technical assistance, so I can come out to people’s property and help them identify exactly what they have," says Keith. "It’s hard to give general advice; some tactics might work with one particular species and not with another. So, we’re happy to provide that either over the phone or come out to people’s property."
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