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Poppy - all cleared
Welsh Poppy (Meconopsis cambrica) seen in just about every Vancouver alley and most gardens is wrongly called 'California' poppy. These have very different flat, lobed leaves and never have deeper orange centre petals. Petals vary between plants from light yellow to light orange - mostly yellow. Gardeners gave me warning that unless you dig out the complete and VERY long tap root, they will regrow.
My 2021 digging left a lot of those root tips behind. In 2022 and 2023 there was no obvious re-growth, but a few I attributed to seed remaining in the soil. In 2024 (mid-May) maybe a quarter of the original plants showed up. I did a quick dig without attempting to get the full root. We'll see.
Burdock - all cleared
I have noticed only six Burdock sites along the very edge of sunny stretches of trail. It is becoming more common around Lost Lagoon, so its spread should be nipped in the bud when noticed. Its leaves remind you of rhubarb's with a thick stem and spreading flat over the ground. The branching spike with flowers (you will think 'thistles') that become burrs, only grows in the second summer. Check the beginning of July. I have been unable to remove the complete root at two sites, yet seen no regrowth. However, seeds already scattered have produced progeny in the immediate area in the second year following.
Foxglove - work in progress
Foxglove (Digitalis purpurea) is easy to spot, to identify, and just as easy to pull up by the roots with one swipe of a hand cultivator. I have found most along the unofficial paths used by bikers, and in the ditches on the sunny side of gravel trails. It is surprising how tolerant it is of the recent summers of drought, given how shallow its roots are.
The web says the whole plant is 'toxic' because its parts all have the heart drug digitalis. So far I have had no symptoms, but don't eat the stuff or breath in the seeds if you send up a cloud. For every plant sending up a spike of flowers in June, there will be two dozen plants with just ground-level leaves. Although the web says these have a two-year lifespan, I would guess much longer.
The very very tiny plants are difficult to pull up with their tiny rootball attached. We will see next year how effective my clearing was. At the least you want to pull up any spiking plants that will seed. They are easy to spot. However, a once-through in early June will not catch spikes that appear quickly before the end of June. Break off the flowering spikes, keep in bags, and throw in the garbage, instead of composting at the trail side. You don't want to risk viable seeds.
Yellow Lamium - all cleared
Lamium (or Yellow Archangel, Lamium galeobdolon) is used by gardeners as ground cover because it spreads so well - exactly the characteristic that makes it so dangerous in the wild. Lamium is very hard to remove and requires repeat visits for years to complete. It should be given a top priority for clearing.
It grows from a small ball below the surface that is firmly anchored by many tiny roots. It is best to partially loosen the soil with a cultivator before working your fingers down below each plant's root-ball before pulling. Take away as much soil as comes up. Plants spread with very fine horizontal stems above-ground that root many feet away. Lift the pulled plant carefully in order to feel the tug of any runner. Most times it will break without your noticing. When the leaves are damp they are very difficult to tell apart from buttercups because the light reflecting from the buttercup's indents gives the same impression as the lamium's variegation. It is easiest to distinguish in mid March when it grows higher faster than the buttercups. The April flowers are a dead give away.
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Do NOT throw pullings onto any compost pile. They do not die. They colonize the whole pile - migrating to the new top when you turn the pile. It is best if they go into the garbage. The only alternative is to 'rot' them in place covered in plastic - a process with its own problems.
The cultivated gardens adjacent to the wild west of Stanley Park are rapidly being taken over by this plant. The invaded plant beds are getting closer and closer to the wild park with every year. And each plant bed quickly progresses from a few weeds to being completely over-run. Yet the gardeners do absolutely nothing. NOTHING. It should be the gardeners' priority.
Lesser Periwinkle - all cleared within my territory
Periwinkle (Vinca minor), another gardeners' ground cover, is much easier to deal with. If there are no other plant species mixed in, then the periwinkle can be easily pulled up by clumps. Doing this in the summer dry period allows any remaining plants to die from desiccation in the disturbed soil. If there are other plants among the Periwinkle then it is better to wait for the winter die-back. Pulling in wet weather will mean that some plants remain viable, but they can be easily found with a few repeat visits. Pullings will compost if simply left in a pile and turned a few times.
The only patch, now cleared, is shown in the map above. A patch outside my area, down the switchbacks from Prospect Point, has been brought to the attention of SPES. So far they have decided to not clear it.
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English Laurel - all necessary plants cleared
English Laurel (Prunus laurocerasus) is a foreign plant but not invasive - at least not in Stanley Park. I have spotted nine individual plants in the wild west of the park. Four were full grown at about six or seven feet tall in different areas. One has a trunk thick enough to be a tree. Yet only one of the small plants was close enough to possibly be an offspring. The others were widely dispersed. The remaining very large 'tree' does not flower, so I feel it is safe to leave.
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In the wild these plants are not the bushy hedges you see in town. They have a limited number of long stems. The alternating leaves twist to all face flat upward. The leave are thick and glossy. You can tell the difference from Salal by Salal leaves' slightly wavy edge. Lots of websites warn about the leaves, stem and roots of Laurel plants causing rashes when touched. I don't know how serious that all is, considering the widespread use of the plant as garden hedges. I have pulled up the small plants by hand, and had leaves brush my face, without any effects.
For small to medium size plants, the roots radiate just under the soil so no gloves or tools are necessary. Just grasp the stem and pull. It takes about a minute. For larger plants there will be one thick root often running sideways. It is easy to cut through with the keyhole saw used when clearing Blackberries. It does not re-sprout.
St. John's Wort - all cleared
Gardeners love the St. John's Wort (Hypericum perforatum) long-blooming showy flowers. They deadhead the blooms in fall dumping them in the back of their trucks. It is clear from the plant's pattern of occurrence in the woods, that its source was seed heads falling off the trucks. None of the isolated plants showed any indication of spreading much less being 'invasive'. Only one plant in full sun grew with vigour. All were right beside the trail.
Single plants need no tools to clear. Simple grab the stem and pull. The one bigger clump required a cultivator and/or keyhole saw to loosen the roots.
Hedge Bindweed aka Morning Glory - all cleared within my territory
There are two types of Bindweed - both in the Morning Glory family. I believe it is Hedge Bindweed, Calystegia sepium, that is in Stanley Park. The arrowhead leaves look similar to the Field Bindweed, except not so pointy at the trailing edge. Like all Morning Glory this plant twines around anything vertical. It prefers sun so I am hoping it will not thrive in the shade of my territory. The extensive root system makes clearing difficult. Any pieces left behind can and will start new plants. You can scratch backwards along the root when it is growing in loose soil. But when growing among other plants, their roots prevent access to the bindweed's roots.
I have found only two small spots within my territory - on the north edge of Hollow Tree park and north of the hydrant on Bridle Path. Because the plant is so small it is just chance that I found these sites. I had to return regularly for a few years, finding one or two new shoots each time. Along the north access road to 3rd Beach bindweed has moved up from the seawall. This is the start of trails into the woods, so I feel it quite important that this spot NOT be allowed to spread contamination into the wild areas. As it stands now, it would be impossible to clear a defensible area, but I have cleared enough at the corner that a yearly revisit in mid-late April should keep it under control.
Holly
There are tons of Holly plants growing through the wild west of the park. But they never seem healthy or vigorous. They never form trees. So I conclude they are not invasive - they don't out-compete other native plants. When prioritizing work, their removal should rank far lower than the priority to extend the areas cleared of Ivy and Blackberries.
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