To The Editor:
Picked up your fine newspaper last week while visiting the Vermont area and saw the headline on the Japanese knotweed dilemma. Although the herbicides may be considered currently safe, we really don’t know. Who are the experts? The bottom line in this ongoing war against nonnative invasives begs some different attitudes. What is the actual definition of native vs. invasive (or pest) considering most of us people came to America from other shores and have been invading the landscape of the U.S. for over 200 years?
If you think Japanese knotweed is a problem, what about the millions of acres of alien grass lawns of monoculture in the U.S. which support absolutely nothing for the natural environment? Have the decision-makers even looked up information on the plant to determine its properties? Since Japanese knotweed (contains resveratrol) is medicine for heart problems, immune system, Lyme disease, etc. with a bonus of delicious springtime food, why not use it rather than blind and hateful poisoning? Besides ridding the body of toxins, it performs the same benefit to the soil and is an excellent source of late fall nectar for native bees and insects. I suggest you find out more, and one source is a very well-researched book, Invasive Plant Medicine by Timothy Lee Scott, a Vermont clinician.
Debby Boots visiting The Valley
from Hilton Head Island, SC
