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www.insideHALTON.com | OAKVILLE BEAVER | Thursday, June 23, 2016 | 10 Tackling invasive plant along Glen Oak Creek Trail by Julia Le Oakville Beaver Staff Although some consider it an attractive shrub, common buckthorn is considered to be a highly invasive plant species. The Oakville Horticultural Society (OHS) says the shrub, which has become a prominent part of Oakville's urban landscape, is classified as a noxious weed under Ontario's Weed Control Act and is known for its ability to outcompete native plants and degrade wildlife habitat. "Not only does it threaten native biodiversity, but it also poses a threat to agriculture as it serves as a host for certain diseases and pests," said Cathy Kavassalis, OHS co-president. To help curb the spread of the invasive plant species, OHS teamed up with the Town of Oakville, Oakvillegreen Conservation Association, Halton Conservation Association and POWER (Protect Our Water and Environmental Resources). A trial project to remove buckthorn from Glen Oak Creek Trail -- a tract of land south of Upper Middle Road, north of the QEW, west of Dorval and east of Nottinghill Gate (Fourth Line) -- began last fall. It saw buckthorn bagged and removed while Town forestry experts cut down larger trees with chain saws and had them mulched, said Kavassalis. Members of the Oakville Horticultural Society and Oakvillegreen Conservation Association, along with several other conservation groups and volunteers, gathered at Glen Oak Creek Trail to remove the invasive species buckthorn, a noxious weed that produces toxic berries each spring. Once the weed was removed, replacement native trees were planted in its place. Pictured, Oakvellegreen's Christen Dschankilic shows the root system it has. | photo by Graham Paine ­ Oakville Beaver (Follow on Twitter @halton_photog or facebook.com/HaltonPhotog) The tree stumps were treated with herbicides to reduce re-growth, she said, but more work needed to be done. That work was resumed on June 9 as volunteers returned to Glen Oak Creek Trail to identify and remove buckthorn, which has smooth, dark green leaves that are finelytoothed and arranged in opposing pairs along the stem. Branches, older than one-year, end in a short, sharp thorn. Common buckthorn produces clusters of berry-like black fruit in late summer and fall. Oakvillegreen provided some native shrubs to replace the plants that were removed as part of its new TreeKeepers program, which launched at Pelee Woods Park on June 5. Giuliana Casimirri, the executive director of Oakvillegreen, said the initiative aims to support and inspire residents like volunteers with the horticultural society, to undertake their own small stewardship projects in woodlands across Oakville. "Our urban forests are where most residents engage with nature -- while walking the dog, or playing in the creek, or enjoying a hike -- and so, this makes small patches of woodland and urban trees important for our social and mental health, but they also provide us immense ecological benefits and huge green infrastructure services," she said. Casimirri explained the urban forest patches face many threats and challenges, but with a little love and care from the community, it can overcome the obstacles and thrive. "Removing invasive species or adding native trees requires some training and co-ordination with the Town of Oakville, but other activities like not dumping green waste into woodlands, and not introducing non-native plants, and watering and properly mulching urban trees can be done easily by anyone," she said. Oakvillegreen will be providing TreeKeeper training sessions and organizing stewardship actions at about four to six urban woodland locations over the summer. For more information, visit oakvillehort.org or oakvillegreen.org. continued from p.5 "We got a group of wonderful students to come here and pay their respects the best way they know how, which is through song," he said. Halton Regional Police attended the vigil with their Pride vehicle on display to show support. To see the large turnout at Towne Square is an indicator of "how healthy a community Oakville is," said Insp. Nick Milinovich, HRPS Regional `We ought to be able to work together' Mayor Burton tells crowd Community Mobilization Bureau. "Just being here today is one thing, but working with communities is equally as important. We work with the LGBT community outside of the tragic events to try to make it as comfortable for them in the community as anybody else," said Milinovich. Oakville Mayor Rob Burton said when people are divided by hatred and insult others, "We're starting down the path that led to what happened at the Pulse nightclub. "We ought to be able to disagree agreeably, we ought to be able to exchange our information and views and arrive at a solution that we can all live with. We ought to be able to work together to create good decisions for our entire community," said Burton. The Oakville mayor read a message written by a 22-year-old man, who "expressed perfectly, everything we hope for in a better world and everything that's wrong with what happened." Saunders urged attendees to use their voices "louder than before" to speak for those who cannot. "Although this attack was on all of us, we cannot lose sight or ignore the blatant homophobia embedded in what happened. I cannot speak for the 49 beautiful voices who've been silenced, they're so deeply-loved, but their voices have been taken from us," said Saunders. Tributes also poured in on social media, with many residents posting photos and messages on Twitter using the hashtags #OakvilleStandsWithOrlando and #LoveWins. 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