Northeast Georgia Invasive Plant Cooperative

Howdy folks! PSA from NGIPC: Don’t Use Invasive Species in Christmas Decorations When you’re selecting plants to use in your holiday displays, make sure they’re not invasive. Nandina and Asian bittersweet might be abundant and colorful, but they are also nasty invasives that out-compete native plants. Don’t risk spreading them by putting them in your displays. Check out https://www.gaeppc.org/list/ to review the invasive plants in your area.

The winter months are ideal for controlling many invasive shrubs and trees and the Greening Youth Foundation (GYF) took full advantage of this opportunity. Led ...by invasive plant management expert Gary Crider, this hearty crew worked over 300 hours to improve habitat in the garden's natural areas by removing privet, autumn olive and other invasives from the forest understory, making room for native grasses, sedges and wildflowers. If you see piles of cut plant material along the beaver pond or white trail, know that many hours of hard work went into the ecological and aesthetic improvement of our forests. We are grateful to the GYF and Gary Crider for their efforts! If you are interested in learning about how to control invasive plants in your own yard, check out the Georgia Piedmont-specific guide created by the Northeast Georgia Invasive Plant Cooperative .

Our Young Conservation Stewards are halfway through their summer program! They are focusing their efforts on invasive removal along the North Oconee River Corridor at North Oconee River Park, but are also learning about all sorts of conservation job fields and practices as the weeks go on. So far they have learned about stream ecosystem health through macro-invertebrate sampling, public speaking and professionalism, human impacts on native wildlife, arboriculture, and many other topics! We are so grateful to be able to run a program in a safe and smart way, and to provide job opportunities to local Athens youth. Check out these photos of the youth and their time in the field so far this summer!

Nandina is still commonly used in landscaping. Watch below to understand why (and how) you should treat your Nandina and encourage your neighbors to do the same!

Stuck at home and bored? Take care of those nasty invasive plants in your yard! Invasive removal is great way to help our natural ecosystem - from native plants, to birds & bees, to all wildlife - and can even help combat climate change! Watch the video below to learn how to identify and rid your yard of Elaeagnus, or Autumn Olive.