Weed or Invasive Species
How can you tell the difference between a weed and an invasive species? Well sometimes they are the same thing. A weed is really any plant that is growing in a garden where it is not supposed to be. Take Nasturtium as an example. Nasturtium is a wonderful garden plant that is great to grow for gardeners of all levels. They are good companion plants to anything that is typically targeted by aphids and they have a lovely spicy taste to them. In most cases Nasturtium would not be considered a weed since most times its a highly desired garden plant. However, this summer I saw a bed of Nasturtiums take over another garden bed. Seeds planted under the Nasturtiums were not able to grow. Does that make Nasturtium a weed? Depends on who you ask. Therefore the definition of weed is loose. Are weeds bad? Depends on the weed and depends on the gardener. In many cases weeds are edible, adding nutrients to soil, and feeding pollinators. A weed is simply a plant in the wrong place at the wrong time.
The definition of weed may be a changing loose definition; however, that is not the case for invasive species. An invasive species is a plant that does not belong in the native environment, is not being controlled in a garden setting, and is causing harm to the ecosystem that it’s in. Invasive species can come as flora or fauna. Humans are the number one spreader of invasive species and the reasons for bringing a species to another place has varied. Sometimes they are brought by accident. Sometimes invasives are brought over as garden plants. Some species have been spread in the hopes that they will help the ecosystem in some way. We are starting to see the first species being moved due to changes in the climate, these species are having similar effects in the ecosystems as invasive species. An example of this is the Orcas that are moving into Arctic seas as the ice melts. We do not yet know the full consequences of this.
B.C. Invasive plants
There are several invasive plants in B.C. many of which were bought over as garden plants from Europe. These plants hurt our ecosystems by crowding out native plants. The Invasive Species Council of B.C. works to educate people on how to identify invasive species. They also put out a lot of great resources for students and educators.
They also have games for students to play. As well as online or printable colouring sheets. For educators they have several lesson plan activities that would work for a range of grades.
