Lynn E. Byrne, a resident of Lexington, NY, is outraged that the Windham Journal ran a column praising Japanese Knotweed -- or Polygonum cuspidatum, as it is formally known -- as “a source of many valuable natural products," including nectar for honeybees. (I can't find the original column online -- anyone have a link?)
Not so, Ms. Byrne writes in a letter to the Journal this week:
After reading the article, I should be relieved my days of hacking away this destroyer of indigenous flora are over but I am not convinced knotweed is as beneficial as the article makes it out to be. Knotweed is unfortunately too common and no longer relegated to gardens as was the intent of its first planters in the 1880s. Not only does it take over the natural habitat of indigenous plants that are also nectar plants, it prevents stream access and blocks the view of our many beautiful Mountain Top waterways.
She has the perfect solution for the knotweed problem, in fact:
I can only dream the Emerald Ash Borer will find knotweed tasty.
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