You don’t have to look closely to see the Scotch Broom as you enter Stony Hill Road just outside Maple Bay. The bright yellow flowers stand out in stark contrast to green trees and grass.
Just past the Stony Hill parking lot, there is a noticeable change, the amount of Broom is significantly less. That’s thanks to the work of Wendy Macpherson and Broom Busters, an Island-wide group of volunteers who cut Scotch Broom.
“It annoys me.” Says Macpherson, a local member of Broom Busters, as she pushes over a large bushel of broom and cuts it out of the ground. She’s working on a section of road about a kilometer past the park.
Macpherson has been out cutting broom along Stony Hill Road ever since it was built and she’s just starting to notice a difference. “You have to be persistent,” says Macpherson. If left alone a single plant can release up to 18,000 seeds and those seeds can stay dormant and viable for up to 30 years.
According to Macpherson if you can stop the spread, it won’t be as much work to maintain an area. Broom likes areas with disturbed ground with lots of direct sunlight, like construction sites, roadsides and gravel pits. That’s why this stretch of road was such a problem. “If we can give our roads a chance to heal up from the construction and the disruption and allow the forest to heal itself, then it’ll be minimal maintenance.” says Macpherson.
Macpherson says that Broom Busters tries to keep up, but their resources are limited.
“People are waiting for Broom Busters to come in like we’ve got this huge volunteer base of people who are going to come cut broom in your neighborhood and that’s just not the case.” Mcpherson says.
Recently the Municipality of North Cowichan endorsed a policy proposed by Broom Busters to take active steps to control the spread of Scotch Broom in urban areas. But Macpherson says that it’s not enough, she says that the Municipality needs to empower people to cut broom. Her example would be a collection program where people could drop off their broom cuttings for the Municipality to pick up and mulch.
Macpherson isn’t hopeful that things will change. “It’s disappointing to me because I see a lot of people talking and not enough people just doing stuff.”
If you’re interested in getting involved in broom cutting you can visit the Broom Busters site for more information.
