[APWG] Mustard invades bare areas, needs native plants to control it

[Craig Dremann - Redwood City Seed Company]

Dear Wayne and All,

Thanks for your email.

In California, between 1770 and 1870, the entire State had its native
perennial grass cover stripped away, causing it to become vulnerable for
the 1,000 weeds that eventually covered the non-desert portion of the
State.

Now, we are watching in our lifetimes, the bare areas in the California
deserts, where the vacancies in the ecosystems are now getting colonized
by the Saharan mustards, the Schimus grass from Arabia, the red brome and
filaree from Europe, in the areas where the native perennial grasses and
native annuals have been stripped off.

As long as we have destroyed local native ecosystems with big giant bare
holes in the understories, and not a solid native plant cover any more,
like is the case nation-wide in the USA, you are just tempting for some
weed or two or a thousand species, to come and fill the void, soon or
later?

That is why it is so important to devise quick and efficient ways, to get
that solid local native plant cover, back onto the land in the USA.

Sincerely,  Craig Dremann (650) 325-7333