All About Weed

Weed rodeo aims to knock out noxious weeds along the Rocky Mountain Front

Volunteer William Conklin said, "It sort of makes me want to throw up, so I've decided to no longer hike."

Noxious weeds are more than just an eyesore, they're also contributing to issues along the Montana landscape.

"Noxious weeds are one of the biggest threats to this landscape, both in terms of the impacts they have on wildlife -- crowding out native species which reduces bio diversity," said Weed Rodeo Event Director Casey Perkins.

There are more than 32 species of noxious weeds in Montana alone and they don't plan on going anywhere fast.

Perkins said, "It produces a chemical that it puts into the soil that creates its own little desert and so it prevents other plants from growing there."

Montanans are trying to send these noxious weeds packing by hand pulling which is a mechanical control.

Perkins said, "We have uraside which is chemical control, then we also have a...The Roundtable is involved in a biological control program throughout the front and we did release insects -. Different types of insects that do damage to the plant and can actually kill "

For fourteen years the volunteers have been at war against these weeds in the foot of the Rocky Mountains in the rodeo annual weeds.

"All come together to focus on the problems of noxious weeds in this area. So in fact forest land cleaning paths and trails, "describes Perkins.

As for Conklin, he says he is not throwing in the towel in the moment.

He said, "I've pretty much said I am going to get rid of this stuff before I die. I don't know whether or not I'll make it."

One of the reasons Noxious Weeds are so hard to kill is because they are not native to Montana land.

They don't have native defenses and therefore just continue to grow.

Waging War on Weeds — Tip Junkie

L, plants I battle.

My very first line of defense against weeds is prevention. For long term weed control you must eliminate the seeds, roots, or runners of the weed.  As beautiful as thistle is in bloom I try very hard to make sure I get to them before they go to seed, although I miss one or two every year…

When eradicating weeds you can:

Sounds like mid-evil torture doesn’t’ it!  But I have employed all of the above steps with quite a bit of success.

To remove a weed you can use any number of hand tools, hoe, spade, rake, or shovel…but frankly I am most likely to get down on my knees and pull the little buggers out by hand.  Call it up close and personal revenge!  Just make sure you get all the weed or it will be back.