There are a lot of plants in Daviess County that should not be here. They are called invasive species and once they literally take root, they can begin forcing out more common native plants. To combat that problem the Soil and Water Office for Daviess, Martin and Orange counties is offering free expert land inspections.
“Invasive species are a huge problem,” said Invasive Species Specialist Emily Finch with the Martin, Daviess and Orange counties Soil and Water Conservation Districts. “They are so wide spread that virtually anyone who owns property has some kind of invasive on their property. That is why Soil and Water got a grant for someone to do visits and identify the problem.”
Finch says that unlike invasive fish or insects, invasive plants are something land owners can tackle.
“This is a problem they can do something about,” said Finch. “A lot of times they even show up on residential lots because a lot of the invasives have been brought in for landscaping. We have kind of created this problem ourselves. There are some that are complete accidents like Japanese Silk Grass. A lot of the trees and shrubs and vines we planted because they looked very pretty or they were used for things like wildlife habitat or reclamation. There are still some invasive plants that are being sold, but we are trying to get them removed.”
Finch points out the problems can develop and spread on almost any kind of land.
“Woodlands have a lot of invasive plants, and when you get to fields there is a crossover from what we might call an agricultural weed,” she said. “People are contacting us for various reasons. Some know they have invasive plants and want to know how best to get rid of them. Some calls come from people who just bought or inherited a property and don’t know what is going on their property”
Finch says the organization is running a special project this fall for people who want to replace invasive shrubbery with something that is native.
“With the free site visits we have a program where if people have invasive shrubs on the property and they pull them out, we are offering free native shrubs to replace them,” said Finch. “We are hoping to get a lot of people to sign up for that and we will start making them available in October.”
The free site visits will last as long as the grant is in place, which is through the end of 2026. People wanting to set a visit can contact Finch at emily.finch@in.nacdnet.net or 812-329-0048.
“One of the things I want to tell people is to keep an eye on your property,” she said. “Invasive plants are always changing. There is always new stuff coming in, so if you know what is there and have that baseline and you see something that is different, then you can have a closer inspection.
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