Ashburn Farm Open Space Committee
Tracking invasive plants in our open space
English ivy, Japanese stiltgrass and tree-of-heaven crowd out the native plants our woods and streams depend on. Patchwork is how the Open Space Committee maps where they are, records what has been cleared, and checks whether it stays cleared.
Found a plant you think is invasive?
Photograph it and post it to iNaturalist. Its community confirms the identification, and the committee brings those sightings into Patchwork. Photographs of the leaf, the stem and the whole plant help most.
Please do not pull anything on your own. Several invasives have native look-alikes, and some are best treated at a particular time of year.
Want to help clear them?
The committee meets the first Wednesday of each month at 6:30 pm in the Board Meeting Room, and runs removal workdays through the season. Meeting details and upcoming events are on the committee's page.
Create an account to follow every patch and the sightings waiting to be checked. Recording work is done by committee members, who can give your account those privileges.
What the map shows
- Active infestation
- Confirmed on site, not yet treated.
- Treated · monitoring
- Cleared once and being watched, because most invasives resprout.
- Restored
- Clear for two or more seasons.
The public map shows patches the committee has confirmed in person. Sightings still waiting to be checked are left off it, so nobody acts on an identification that has not been verified.