Today, Reconnecting to Our Waterways (ROW) launches a comprehensive effort to help Indianapolis residents remove harmful invasive plant species and replace them with beneficial native plants in their backyards and communities. The Residential Invasive Species Removal Guide, along with a new educational video and how-to cards are now available to make eradicating invasive plants easier for residents, improving local wildlife habitats, decreasing flooding in communities, and preventing harmful stormwater runoff from flowing into Indy waterways with native plant alternatives.
Neighborhoods across Indianapolis are seeing the benefits of invasive removal and native plantings. In the Millersville neighborhood along Fall Creek, community member Matt Benson attests to the challenges that invasives create. “Invasive Bush Honeysuckle had taken over the banks and woodlands along Fall Creek in Millersville,” said Benson. “It strangled out native plants and trees and seriously limited access to the creek. This invasive plant also enabled increased erosion. We worked with a variety of partners and volunteers over several years to eradicate Bush Honeysuckle in the Millersville Preserve, along the Fall Creek Greenway and the banks of Fall Creek.”
On Indy’s Near Eastside along Pogue’s Run waterway, neighbors are also seeing the benefits of planting native species. “The biggest surprise from adding native plants to park spaces and my yard is the large number and variety of bees, butterflies and birds that are drawn to the nectar and seeds,” said Jen Eamon of Windsor Park neighborhood.
“ROW’s collective partners created these easy-to-use, step-by-step tools to fill a gap in information available for the average citizen who is interested in small efforts to improve their yards and make positive gains for Indianapolis and its water resources,” said Julie L Rhodes, ROW’s Collective Impact Director. Local experts through ROW’s Ecology Committee included representatives from Indianapolis Department of Public Works Land Stewardship, Keep Indianapolis Beautiful, Indiana Wildlife Federation, and The Nature Conservancy, and resources are made possible by the generosity of the Herbert Simon Family Foundation, Nina Mason Pulliam Charitable Trust and the Central Indiana Community Foundation.