Burdock, Arctium Sp.

Day 321: You do not want Burdock in your socks. You do not want it in your yard. Two species of Burdock are common in western Washington, and I am charged with the removal of them (when at all possible) from the Nisqually Land Trust property where I volunteer as a Site Steward. Burdock and other invasives are part of my patrol. Today, for example, I spent an hour digging out Tansy and Sow Thistles with a "lady fork," a short-handled tool with wide tines and a vague resemblance to a pitchfork. Hard, dry ground didn't make it an easy job, but I was successful until I came up against one small Burdock seemingly rooted in concrete. I struggled with it for some time, unable to remove it or even break off the soon-to-open heads at first. Only repeated bending of the stem allowed me to win, and then as I fell backwards and caught my balance, my eye was drawn to the parent...no, the great-granddaddy!...of the one-foot sprig I'd been wrestling. Twenty feet from me, the second Burdock rose to a height of at least seven feet, sprawling numerous branches above an old concrete pad where some shed or another had stood. Literally, the plant was growing up through the concrete, and there was no possible way I could remove it. When I sent in my Site Steward's report, I said, "You might want to think about bringing in an excavator for this one."

Be aware of invasives! Do your part to help eradicate them, even if it's only calling your county Weed Control Board or other administrative authority.