🚀 go-pugleaf

   Do you have any French/Scotch broom on your property which
you'd like to be rid of?  If so bring it to either of two locations
this weekend where some of our local firefighters will be conducting
training burns. These large fires will burn hotter and cleaner
than many separate smaller burns.

   Please join with the San Lorenzo Watershed Caretakers, a cooperative
group of local landowners, interest groups, and public agencies,
in our efforts to control this extremely invasive and flammable weed.

   It is commonly thought that broom is a good erosion control plant, but
actually its root system is so small and the plant grows so tall that when wet
it can fall over by its own top-heaviness, opening a new wound in a steep slope.
This weak root system allows to pull it clear out of the ground.
Early spring is the best time to remove broom; as soft soil conditions 
allow you to pull plants up to 6' tall or more out by hand, roots and all.
Larger plants may be removed with a weed wrench or by undercutting it with
a shovel. If you can't remove the whole plant an effective alternative
is to cut the trunk and apply a dab of Round-up to the freshly cut stump.
Merely cutting the plant off at ground level without applying an herbicide
does not kill broom; instead it grows stronger roots which can make it
hard to pull. Myself, I find uprooting the invaders very satisfying :-).

   In addition to broom, other dry residential yard clippings may be
brought to the burn site. Twigs and stems under 2" diameter should be
30 days dry; larger branches should be 60 days since they were cut.
Broom need not be dried as long since it burns very hotly, even green.

   This weekend, Sat March 22 and Sun March 23 from 10 am to 3 pm you may
add your brush to a pile at Quail Hollow Ranch or at an open area next to
Kings Creek Road in Boulder Creek, opposite the recreation field. The actual
burns will start at 1 pm on Sunday.

   For further information regarding plants which can be used to revegetate
disturbed areas, contact the Santa Cruz County Resource Conservation District
at 688-1562.

-- 
Charles Koester   email: <my first name>-at-scruz-dot-net