Know Before You Grow!

By: Noel Jinings, Flathead County Weed Compliance & Education

Spring has sprung! The snow is melting, the sun’s making more frequent appearances, and the temperature is rising. Lots of us are chomping at the bit to get our gardens started. Displays of seeds are present in stores and garden centers are stocking up on live plants.

Every year at this time Flathead County sends their Noxious Weed Education and Compliance Officer out to make the rounds searching for seed packets containing noxious weed seeds, in addition to making sure no live noxious plants are being sold. Many of the local garden centers are aware of the species that are not allowed to be sold. However, some of the chain stores are supplied by companies out of state that are not aware of what plants are listed as noxious weeds in our state or our county.

Let’s backtrack a bit and explain what it means for a plant to be classified as a “noxious weed”. By definition, a noxious weed is: “Any exotic plant species established or that may be introduced in the state that may render land unfit for agriculture, forestry, livestock, wildlife, or other beneficial uses or that may harm native plant communities.” In addition, state law prohibits the sale of plants listed on the state and county noxious weeds lists.

So, you can see why it is important to make sure that these seeds and plants don’t make it into your garden. Once there, you become that responsible party as state law requires landowners to eradicate noxious weeds present on their property.

We encourage you to become familiar with the State and County listed noxious weeds by going to the Weed Control District page of the Flathead County website at https://flathead.mt.gov/weeds/index.php

If you happen to come across any suspected noxious weeds in your travels around the stores and garden centers around the valley, please contact Noel Jinings at 406-758-2161.