Gardening : Getting a Hand on the Weeds Before They Get Upper Hand

If you think weeding the back yard is a big job, consider this: The California Native Plant Society is trying to weed the Santa Monica Mountains. Not the whole range, of course, but in time, the Santa Monica Mountains Chapter hopes to clear the state and federal parklands.

For the moment though, after this year’s early rains, “We’ll be lucky if we can get the milk thistle out of Point Mugu,” says Doris Anne Hoover, Escaped Exotics chairman.

Hoover says hikers in the parks often stop and ask the all-volunteer weeding crews “why we’re tearing up the scenery,” but it is not the native scenery they are after, but aggressive exotic plants that threaten to overrun it--”weeds” to a home gardener.

Attractive but Overbearing

The milk thistle, for instance, may begin as a striking rosette of leaves heavily veined with white, but it quickly grows into a prickly, head-high thicket that even deer can’t penetrate. Where it grows, little else does.

“Our concern is that the mountains are losing their character and nature,” chapter president Steve Hartman says. “To preserve the natural plant and animal species, the weeds and exotics must be eradicated.”

There are plenty of examples of the weeds getting the upper hand--entire canyons on Catalina covered with Scotch broom or bluffs covered with non-natives such as pampas grass, horehound, castor bean, tree tobacco and fennel. The often-delicate native flowers and grasses will not be found where these grow, nor will the animals that depend on them.

Most Aren’t Natives

Hikers are often not aware that the plants that line many of the easier trails are not natives, that they could be found just as easily in a vacant lot. But those who know the mountains know the difference. The colors are wrong, the plants are too coarse and they look out of place.

“Those who hiked the Big Sycamore Trail last summer know what an improvement in scenery was created by the removal of ugly, stickery, depressing thistle patches,” Hoover says.

If it sounds like a big job, it is, but just like weeding the back yard it offers a chance for volunteers to get some exercise in the peace and quiet of the outdoors.

Right now the crews need all the help they can get because the plants are quickly going to seed. They meet at the Malibu Civic Center at 8:30 a.m. on Wednesdays until the end of April. They also weed on weekends and will continue weeding in May. Information: Doris Hoover (818) 887-7877, or Jo Kitz (818) 348-5910.