I spent the past two summers eradicating weeds. Not just any weeds, these are weeds called Phragmites that are nearly intractable. It is an invasive species that has been brought into the great lakes on the bottom of boats and seems to have found a place it likes to live where it finds little competition and a climate that is suitable to its desire to take over all marshland. Phragmites are prolific because they reproduce themselves in two ways, both by horizontal runners that put down roots at regular intervals and through the dissemination of seeds that are carried on the wind to the next suitable place to invade. The result of no competition, a suitable climate and a commitment to procreation has left much of the shoreline of Green Bay clogged with acres of these weeds.
The Department of Natural Resources (DNR) noticed the invasion quite some time ago, but because the Phragmites grew up in marshlands and wetlands that were protected for the sake of other species they chose a “wait and see” approach. The result has been catastrophic to those same natural species as the Phragmites have choked out all other grasses and weeds, have become so thick many nesting species can no longer make their way into the protected marsh and have created a habitat for another invasive species called zebra mussels. Two years ago the DNR lifted some of its restrictions on cutting down or pulling up the Phragmites and so the past two summers I have made it my business to try to eradicate some of them.
The task has been overwhelming. Phragmites have a root system that creates an extensive web right below the surface of the lake bottom. You cannot pull them out one at a time because they cling together and hold onto one another in such a way that pulling these weeds is simply not an option. Because pulling was not an option two summers ago, I tried cutting down the Phragmites but they grow about a foot a week and I must admit I was more than a bit discouraged by then end of the summer. Just like grass when you cut it, it takes cutting as a cue to grow back stronger. Down the shoreline the DNR tried to burn the Phragmites, not surprisingly just like after a forest fire what grew back grew back healthier due to all of the nutrients that had been quickly decomposed into the earth by the burning.
I must admit that coming into this past summer I was not excited about the prospect of this continued battle. There were not enough of us working against the weeds. Many people along the shoreline never new it had looked any different and so they didn’t feel the urgency and most of those who felt the urgency didn’t have the time to work against the weeds. And so to date, there are only small stretches of the shoreline that are Phragmite free and these small stretches are bordered by fields of Phragmites whose horizontal runners are ready to put down roots and whose seeds are waiting for a good wind.
As I worked on the weeds these past two summers I often found myself wondering what the invasives are in my own life. What are the nonnative species that have taken root and gone uncontested? Are there habitats that were meant for growth that now choke out other species? What will happen if I take a “wait and see” approach? What will happen if we all take a “wait and see” approach? Now before you begin pulling weeds let me add one caution. As humans we have a tendency to notice the crabgrass on someone else’s lawn while failing to see Phragmites on our own landscape (Luke 6:41-43). So let me encourage you to look close to home before you begin looking at your neighbors lawn. And then ask yourself some questions, what’s your shoreline look like this morning? Have you grown used to the weeds or are you weary of them? Which ones will you set out to eradicate and are there others that will join you in this war against the weeds?
