PAGE 6 • HERMISTONHERALD.COM
SATURDAY, APRIL 18, 2015
HOME & GARDEN
Create a healthy ecosystem in the yard
(StatePoint) — Gardeners and
landscapers can help promote a
healthy ecosystem by learning
to identify and control damaging
plants and insects in their yard.
Responsible Industry for a
Sound Environment (RISE) offers
information on non-native weeds
and insects, which can out-com-
pete native species, changing the
local ecosystem. Many varieties,
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confused with similar, native va-
rieties.
In eastern Oregon, Mas-
ter Gardner Bill Dochnahl said
in this drier climate it is often
ground covers like ivy that crowd
other plants out of an ecosystem.
His list to watch out for includes
ivy, periwinkle, ajuga and lami-
um (also known as purple drag-
on). None of those are on any
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Dochnahl said he has seen them
harm a yard’s ecosystem nonethe-
less.
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slopes where you want to stop
erosion, but in a garden they take
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farther than the gardener intended
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burning bushes, Dochnahl said.
He cautioned against going on-
line to buy invasive, non-native
species that can’t be sold locally
because they can send out deep
ground runners several feet in
each direction that make the plant
very hard to eradicate or keep in
check.
He said home gardeners can
use certain plants like periwin-
kle to great effect in a planter or
isolated area but shouldn’t plant
them mixed in with other kinds of
plants that could soon be overrun.
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RISE adds purple loosestrife,
a plant native to Europe that can
produce more than two million
seeds annually, and the ornamen-
tal tree-of-heaven from China as
two to watch out for despite be-
ing widely planted in the United
States. Both of them look similar
to non-native plants but are more
likely to take over a yard or gar-
den.
The organization also notes
that invasive insects can have a
severe negative impact on native
species by out-competing them
for food and resources. Many
also cause and carry disease and
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one to look out for is the Emer-
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now found commonly across the
United States. The larvae do the
most damage, killing ash trees by
feeding on the inner bark.
Zebra mussels, while techni-
cally not an insect, are native to
Russia but is found in hundreds of
waterways throughout the United
States. The species commonly
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clog water intakes, damage boats
and can cause cuts and scrapes if
they grow on rocks, swim rafts,
and ladders.
Native plants and insects can
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RISE:
• Ticks can transmit Lyme dis-
ease and Rocky Mountain spotted
fever. Left untreated, Lyme dis-
ease infects the joints, heart, and
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outdoors, check for ticks, espe-
cially in and around your ears,
inside your belly button, behind
your knees, around your waist, on
your scalp and in your hair.
• Mosquitoes can carry West
Nile Virus. While most people
may show few symptoms, 20
percent of people develop a fe-
ver along with headaches, body
aches, joint pains, vomiting, diar-
rhea or rash, according to the Cen-
ters for Disease Control and Pre-
SEE ECOSYSTEM/10
PHOTO COURTESY RUUD MORIJN — FO-
TOLIA.COM
Invasive weeds, such as the Purple
Loosestrife, can out-compete native
species.
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