Smith wants the attack against broom along the Sacramento River to be an effort of both volunteers and public agencies. The county had pilot projects several years ago to remove broom growing wild in a few areas near Lakehead, Montgomery Creek and Shasta Dam and continues to maintain those sites, he said. The agriculture department would like to see homeowners remove invasive varieties from yards, but there's no requirement that they do so, he said. "It's been quite awhile since we have seen a retailer who has had one of the aggressive ones," Kjos said. Shasta County Deputy Agriculture Commissioner Paul Kjos said sterile varieties can be purchased, but county inspectors work with nurseries and garden centers to voluntarily keep invasive broom species out of the marketplace. "They see the bloom and think it belongs there and always has been there."īroom shows up in home landscapes too.
"I don't think people have a clue," Smith said. Because broom is pretty, not gangly and thorny like some weeds, the invader seems to have escaped a lot of public scrutiny. "It's going to take money, resources and time ? Broom eradication is going to happen," he said. The effort has been small, but Smith says it's a start. Last month he put on a backpack sprayer and began to blast individual broom plants along the Sacramento River Trail with glyphosate, a process he likens to "dipping the ocean dry with a teaspoon." Smith has training, certification and required permits from state and county agencies to do the work. His Rotary Stream Team has made significant progress in recent years in the fight against invasive arundo, blackberry and tree of heaven. Once established, it's tenacious.īut so is Smith. Broom readily resprouts after being cut and each plant produces a multitude of seeds. "It has suddenly gotten very, very dominant."Ĭontrolling the plant isn't easy. The more territory it takes, the more powerful broom becomes, Smith said. He said blazing star, a California native wildflower that gets 6 feet high and has large star-shaped flowers, has been squeezed out by broom. "It used to be all below the trail near the water, but now there is quite a bit of it above the trail."įritchle recently completed a survey of plants along the popular trail. "They are getting bigger and they are spreading," he said. The plants are larger and there are more of them. That's not good for wildlife."īirds, butterflies, reptiles, amphibians, deer and other creatures depend on native plants.įritchle has been observing plants along the Sacramento River Trail in Redding for 16 years and noticed broom extending its reach. They don't leave room for anything else," said David Fritchle, a native plant enthusiast in Redding. "People make mistakes and broom is one of them," said Randy Smith, leader of Rotary Club of Redding's Allied Stream Team, a volunteer effort to stop invasive plants.īroom thrives in sun and lean soils, taking the light and space that native plants need to survive. The ornamental plant has spread along the Sacramento River and into the hills, crowding native plants in its way.
Pretty? Yes, but broom doesn't play nice.īrought in 60 or so years ago to keep soil from slipping in the Shasta Dam area, the European shrub took root and then took off. Broom plants pop with cheery flowers in spring, creating swaths of yellow along the river, roadsides and hillsides.
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