A problem plant: St. John's gardeners struggle against goutweed

Madison Taylor · CBC News

· Posted: Jul 12, 2025 4:30 AM EDT | Last Updated: July 12

After warring goutweed successful her plot for years, Angela Way is acrophobic astir it out successful the assemblage and wants to see an organised provincial response.

Way has been warring the works successful her St. John's plot since 2021. And though it whitethorn look unsuspecting, goutweed is an invasive works to North America that plagues gardeners each implicit Canada.

Native to Europe and Asia, apt brought to North America arsenic ornamental crushed cover, goutweed is a difficult pest to eradicate — and it's inactive for merchantability successful plot centres crossed the country. 

With spiderweb-like rhizomes that tin dispersed up to 300 centimetres horizontally, adjacent the tiniest node near down tin commencement the growth all implicit again.

It's often unknowingly dispersed done acquisition plants, oregon is already contiguous successful gardens. 

"Once it's successful there, you person to get successful determination and instrumentality retired each portion of that plant. It's not conscionable a substance of cutting disconnected the top," said Tim Walsh, horticulturist and nursery manager astatine Memorial University's Botanical Garden. 

WATCH | It mightiness not look similar much, but goutweed is destroying gardens: 

Walsh said being speedy and persistent with the works is key.

He recommends digging retired the plant, consistently snipping distant astatine it, oregon preventing its entree to sunshine done tarping. Chemical herbicides are ever a past resort, helium said.

"Never fto the works win," Walsh said.

Much of Way's plot is present covered successful achromatic tarps successful an effort to combat the plant. She said she'll person to permission them down for 2 to 3 years.

Way has had to edifice to utilizing herbicides, too, something she'd hoped to avoid.

"I truly didn't privation to bash that, but I don't cognize what other to do," she said.

Seeking much support

Way finds comfortableness and proposal successful a goutweed enactment radical connected Facebook, with implicit 9,000 members and counting. 

"It's been fun, entertaining, heartbreaking astatine the aforesaid time," she said.

But, she wishes determination was provincewide support. 

"It's inactive being sold and it's an invasive taxon and it shouldn't beryllium for sale. So, I would emotion to spot Newfoundland, for one, ban the merchantability of it," said Way. 

She besides said that homeowners merit to cognize what they're getting into. Buying her location successful the wintertime, she didn't cognize she had the weed until spring.

The Department of  Fisheries, Forestry and Agriculture for Newfoundland and Labrador said that portion it's classed arsenic an invasive plant, goutweed isn't regulated oregon monitored by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency. However, it is controlled successful commercialized cultivation operations successful the province.

Way sees enactment systems successful different provinces, and hopes Newfoundland and Labrador tin execute the same. 

The Ontario Invasive Plant Council is simply a non-profit enactment that provides enactment and resources for those impacted by invasive plants, including goutweed. 

Vicki Simkovic, the council's programme coordinator, says it's possible elsewhere.

"There's a fig of councils present crossed Canada, and a batch of it just starts with a passionate idiosyncratic who truly sees the request for thing similar this," she said. 

Beyond a backyard issue

Right now, Walsh said gardens, alternatively than Newfoundland's wildlife, are astir astatine risk. But Way is acrophobic astir goutweed successful non-residential areas arsenic well. 

She said she has spotted the works successful areas around St. John's similar Kent's Pond.

"The much you cognize astir it, the much you spot it," Way said.

It's a agelong battle, but Way isn't giving up. 

"It's fundamentally my full backmost yard," she said. "I'm going to effort my best, and anticipation I tin beryllium persistent and get done it."

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