4th Grader Saves Golf Course
Purple loosestrife is an exotic weed that degrades wetland habitats across North America. Chemical, mechanical and manual control methods can check small infestations. Larger ones, however, are a long-term fight perhaps best fought by Galerucella and other biocontrol agents.
Ten years ago, officials at the Wallingford Country Club watched helplessly as portions of the golf course began to lose their distinctive New England feel, a longtime selling point for the 110-year-old, member-owned business. Purple loosestrife, an invasive plant that can grow up to 10 feet tall, began overtaking wet areas of the 18-hole course
Using herbicides was out of the question. “We’re too close to the stream,” said General Manager, David Timek. Renting heavy equipment to dig up the roots was too expensive. They were stumped.
It took a fourth-grader to come up with an inexpensive solution. In 2003, Gennings’ then 9-year-old daughter, Megan, told her father that she was raising Galerucella beetles and that the European import’s favorite pastime was ?EUR??,,????'?????<
Gangs of Galerucella beetles can go to work eliminating purple loosestrife plants. The leaf-eating beetles, Galerucella calmariensis and G. pusilla, were approved for U.S. release in 1992 as a biologically based means of controlling purple loosestrife.
Imported from Europe in the 1800s as a garden ornamental, loosestrife, sometimes known as the “beautiful killer,” is a standout in any crowd. During the summer the perennial, which is banned from sale in Connecticut, adorns itself in a mantle of gaudy purple flowers. “The problem with purple loosestrife is the public loves it. It’s a beautiful plant,” said Bob Heffernan, executive director of the Connecticut Nursery and Landscape Association. “When it’s in bloom, people will run into the garden store and say they want some or they’ll dig it up and move it to their garden, which is illegal.” But its good looks belie its destructive nature. Each year, public and private entities spend an estimated $45 million in an attempt to control loosestrife, which not only damages wetlands but is threatening agricultural crops, according to the federal Aquatic Nuisance Species Task Force.
Source: Courant.com, Janice Podsada, Courant Staff Writer
