Cutting Broom in Bloom with BroomBusters

I finally did it! Finally got my act together and reached out to the local BroomBusters team BEFORE broom busting season started! For those along the West Coast (looking at your Oregon and Washington), you're likely very familiar with Scotch Broom. It's cheery yellow flowers covering entire hillsides can make one smile until you realize... it is HIGHLY invasive.

It was introduced on Vancouver Island in the mid 1800's by an ango-colonizer who brought 3 (yes, three) seeds to his property near Sooke. He planted those seeds and the broom... well... it took off. It's originally a Mediterranean plant so it adapted well to our climate.

But it does tend to form mono-cultures, crowding out all of the native species. Plus... it is highly flammable which is not a good thing.

Enter BroomBusters! Started about 15 years ago by an organic blueberry farmer who was concerned by the encroaching ranks of broom taking over her neighbours' properties. She asked the local municipality and the ministry of forests to "DO something". But they didn't have the manpower to handle the invasion. She she organized her own volunteers and the municipality and forestry provided the bins to collect the casualties. She also learned from an old railway man that the best time to cut broom is when it is in bloom as it puts a LOT of its energy into making flowers. Cut it when it's in bloom and you have a 75% chance of killing the plant. Which is pretty good. And the trademark slogan was born... Cut Broom in Bloom!

Since then, BroomBusters has spread across the Island... and there are now teams on the mainland where broom has gotten a toe-hold. I first became aware of it BroomBusters several years ago but somehow always missed broom season. Which is annoying. Because when it's in bloom... it becomes highly visible!

But this year... this year I got my act together and joined my first cut a few weekends ago. We tackled a big sprawling patch across from the local SPCA. I love this little wooded area. There are camas lilies, chocolate lilies and fairy slipper orchids at various times of year. So pretty... but in danger from the Broom Bully.

I had already watched the BroomBuster's video on how to cut broom to have the best chance to killing the plant. (How to Cut Broom • Broombusters - Cut Broom in Bloom, Vancouver Island & BC Mainland's Grassroots)

It's not hard to learn. Pull the tiny ones, tamp down the soil where they were. For the bigger ones, cut as close to the ground as possible. Try not to disturb the soil as broom puts out a LOT of seeds so the ground is probably covered with broom seeds. But they struggle to germinate when there's (a) shade and (b) a lot of other plants (e.g. grasses) that crowd them out.

I got a pair of loppers and a high-viz vest and... off we went! There were about 15 BroomBusters on that day. I could only do it for an hour before I had to leave but... it was insanely satisfying to make a visible dent in the broom population. 

I went back later that same day and tackled an area across the street where I had seen scattered broom plants. Had a very satisfying cut and saved another little patch of camas and chocolate lilies from being overrun.
 
 And then I tackled a few patches in our neighbourhood... I also have my eye set on the rocky bluff at the local lake which has a well-established broom colony. So much broom... so little time! Just a narrow 4-6 week window while it blooms (or gets ready to bloom). But next year... I'm going to keep an eye on my patches (I started a Google Map so I can track them) and hope that maintenance cutting is better than the first cutting!

There are also two organized cuts coming up. Those are fun too because many hands make light work! Although... my loppers and pruning clippers need a serious sharpening before I do any more cutting!