BroomBusters
Cut Broom in Bloom
Vancouver Island & BC Mainland's Grassroots
Scotch Broom
Containment Campaign


For information
Please email
joanne@
glasswing.com

Thanks to
Evergreen-
Walmart for
their support in
2010 & 2011. See News & Thanks.

Please explore our website for information about what to do now.

Without your help, one broom plant becomes a forest of broom.

Community cuts of the 2011 season: Click here.

Broombusters AGM - Dec 1 - 7:00 Details: info@broombusters.org
View photos of Broombusters Volunteers in action:
Pages 1 2 3
We want to hear from you! Questions, ideas, reports... Click here.
We are grateful for funding from Evergreen & Qualicum Beach


Photo thanks to Parksville Qualicum Aeroclub. Flying-Paul Connors; Photo-Doug Montieth.
This photo was taken along the BC Hydro powerlines inland from Parksville. Broom can reach higher than 15 feet, growing faster than the trees, thwarting their growth or strangling them.

WHY CUT SCOTCH BROOM?
Click here, and also read the printable documents in the column to your right.
View them, print them, share them! Spread the word.
Want to be on our Broombusters mailing list? info@broombusters.org

HOW TO CUT SCOTCH BROOM - Please scroll down page for information.
Read this: What to do About Broom
Also click here.


Listen to Broombusters Radio Spots
30 sec radio spot: An interview with Captain Grant who brought 3 Broom Seeds to Vancouver Island, 1850
10 Second Spot:
Captain Walter Grant
10 Second Spot:
The Captain with guest appearance - maybe a mermaid.

What can you do? Cut broom whenever you can while broom is in bloom. Join community cuts. You can also help with organization and publicity, or make a donation to fund Broombusters. We have tools for each community which you can borrow to cut broom. Everyone is appreciated! If you would like to help, please get in touch with us! It's fun - and very important. Where would you like to cut broom? How can we help you? Is your community cutting broom? It's not hard to get started. We are all working together and working independently - cut at your own risk. Contact Broombusters: info@broombusters.org. 250-752-4816

Broombusters is a very fun, dynamic, informal grassroots movement inspiring individuals and communities to control the spread of Scotch broom, and to reclaim and proclaim "Broom Free" Areas. Volunteers from all over are cutting broom. Broombusters lets you know of these volunteer movements. There is plentyof broom to go around!

KSS Volunteers

 


Volunteers from Germany & Japan!


A cheerful broom buster in Sooke!

Springwood Middle School Parksville

Dominic Rogers - Errington

HOW TO CUT BROOM IN BLOOM: It's easy. Use loppers. When broom is in bloom (or just before) cut broom down to or below the ground level.
We repeat!! Cut at ground level. If the broom is so large that you cannot cut it at ground level, cut off all the managable branches that you can cut with your tool (loppers or saw.) Large broom plants will still die.

Why does this work? The plant has just put all of its energy into producing flowers. If cut while in bloom, the plant will be exposed to summer’s dry heat; the drought-stressed broom will usually die. If you see the plants resprouting later, cut again or remove sprouts. Do not pull up large plants or disturb soil when soil is dry, as that encourages the sprouting of new seeds.

• If you have to make a choice, go after single plants & small infestation to prevent its spread.
• If the broom is small and not blooming, you can pull it out, or return and cut it next year when it blooms.
MOST IMPORTANT:
• Don't let the broom make more seed! Cut off all the yellow flowers. Then you can cut it later when you have more time.
• Don't spread the seeds. Once the small green seed pods have appeared, the seed pods will ripen even after the branch is cut. So if there are seeds, do not move the plants, as the movement could spread the seeds. You can cut the broom and let it lie in many areas, or throw a few broom off into the brush. Or pile on top of itself to burn in the proper season.


What can we do about Scotch Broom?

WHAT CAN YOU DO? Cut Broom in Bloom (April-Early June)
Cut before the flowers turn into seeds.
Cut all the way to the ground, or just below the ground. Pull out young ones.

• ELIMINATE NEW INFESTATIONS. When you see a light / new infestation of scotch broom, along the highway, paths & fields, take the time to cut it down. At least cut down the flowering branches. Aim to eliminate the spread. This is a "first aid" strategy, but it is the most important place to start.

• CUT DOWN ALL YELLOW FLOWERS so that they can not turn into seeds. Each scotch broom plant can produce 2,000 to 3,500 seed pods - which burst open in July & August, shooting seeds into adjacent soil. If you cut the flowers while in bloom - no seeds!

• Talk to neighbors and representatives. No one can solve this problem alone. Make an effort to make your road or neighborhood broom free. IT CAN BE DONE!


Recommendations from the BC Ministry of Environment, Lands and Parks:

“The First step of successful management will be to prevent the establishment of invasive species in (new areas.)”

Scotch broom should be removed in spring before its seed pods begin to open. Removal at this time will stop the addition of new seeds to the soil and may have the advantage of killing drought-stressed plants. Broom cut during wetter months can survive to resprout next season. If the soil is moist and stems are small, broom plants can be easily pulled from the ground by hand. Larger plants should be cut below the root crown.”

The Broom Life Cycle - Why April through June is the best time for broom removal and what to do the rest of the year.
To stop the spread of an invasive species, we need to understand its life cycle. The roots of the broom plant are weakest when it is flowering - so that is when we want to cut it down. If we wait, and cut the broom after the seed pods are brown and mature, the seed pods will explode and spread all over (July - August.) Spreading the seeds will only worsen the problem. Immature seed pods can ripen on a broom plant even after the plant has been cut. Therefore, broom removal is recommended in April, May and early June - when the flowers are in full bloom, and before the seed pods have begun to form. The plants are also easy to see and identify at that time. At that time, it is also harmless to chip the plants - the ideal way to get rid of Scotch broom.

If you want to cut broom after seed pods are formed or forming, you can no longer chip the cut plant because of the danger of spreading the seeds. The best thing to do is to pile it on top of itself in an already infested area. You can chip it in that infested area. If that is not possible, you may need to wait until the rainy season when it is safe to burn the branches. The infested area will need to be monitored for new plants. Replant! Broom will not grow in complete shade. As long as you alway cut yellow blooming broom each year, eventually you will get rid of it. Stay with it!
If cut during wet seasons (Dec - April), respouting is likely. However in the wet season, you can use a woody weed removal tool . How to Cut Broom.

Broombusters Community Action Plan. Where do you fit in?

• Broom-Walkers.
Members of the 2-hours-a-year broombusting club. It’s amazing what you can do in two hours. Just go walking down any road that you love, with loppers in hand. Have fun, and thank you for participating! Cut your own property, or the road you live on, or help your neighbors.
• Community Cuts.
Between ~ April 15 and June 8, there will be scheduled community cuts. Everyone is welcome.
• Road Guardians.
Choose a little piece of a road - and keep it clear of broom. Everything helps. If lots of people pick up pieces, whole roads will become clear!
• Rovers.
Broombusting is addictive. It’s easy, fun and the rewards are immediate. And it’s amazing how much you and some loppers can do in an hour or two. Huge bushes fall with a single cut! So, avid Broombusters become Rovers.
• Broom Brownies.
What a great surprise to drive down a road see that someone has been cutting broom there- and we'll never know who it was! Blessings on the Broom Brownies!

CUT ANYTIME ROADS
- There are some main roads in MId-Vancouver Island that have been selected as Cut Anytime Roads. The broom cut by volunteers there will be cleared by the Ministry of Transportation and/ or local towns. Please check with Broombusters before you start cutting. Sign the Adopt-a-Hwy insurance form - and have fun! Make piles - not on the shoulder or road - but as close as possible. You must have permission to start cutting. You help is greatly appreciated!

 

Scotch Broom costs Oregon $47 million or more
“Some people may look at the golden hillsides resulting from Scotch broom and think it’s a pretty wildflower that belongs here. That’s the farthest thing from the truth. Scotch broom costs the state of Oregon about $47 million each year by its impact on natural resources, particularly on timber production.” Oregon Dept of Agriculture


"Scotch Broom invades rangelands, replacing forage plants, and is a serious competitor to conifer seedlings; Douglas fir plantation failures in Oregon and Washington have been credited to infestations of this plant."
Read more from Ministries of Forests, of Agriculture, Environment, Parks & others.


Broombusters is a registered non-profit society - Broombusters Invasive
Plant Society. If you would like to become a member, please do!
Donations are always welcome and used wisely.

Broombusters Logo by George Harm.