Sheep Coming to Decatur Cemetery to Eat Hops and Kudzu
Decatur Metro | September 23, 2013
From the Decatur Minute…
Trees Atlanta will use a herd of about 75 sheep to help control Japanese hops, kudzu and other invasive plants on the steep slope between Section 14 and the creek at the Decatur Cemetery.
“Sheep offer a low-impact solution for controlling invasive plants on sites,” said Trees Atlanta Forest Restoration Coordinator, Brian Williams. “As long as the sites do not contain sensitive or endangered plants that we want to keep safe, sheep can graze and help us eliminate invasive plants until they are gone,” he continued. Trees Atlanta is completing a 5-year woodland restoration effort in the stream corridor on the east side of the Cemetery.
Photo courtesy of The Decatur Minute
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Is Mr. Billingsley ok with this?
Gracie gets the say-so on this one!
With Chris’ strong likeness to James Cromwell/Farmer Hoggett, it’d be most excellent if he was hired to be the sheep herder! :0)
I hope they secure them at night. East Lake Community Garden lost sheep and goats to coyotes earlier this year and had to build a structure to protect the replacements.
And I hope the sheep don’t carry iPhones.
You got to admit that all these armed robberies have taken our minds off of coyotes!
Coyotes? What, are we smuggling people into 30030 now?
Ha! That’s one way to get into our school system!
Post did not give dates that the sheep will be in the cemetery.
If it works well, will it be a recurring event?
I wondered why the panhandler outside Kroger went from “change for bus fare,” to “change for mint jelly.”
Where can I purchase those super-cute cardboard sheep? Must…have….now!
Okay….. so has anyone else wondered about the impact of those sheep on our creek and the others downstream after they, um, process all that fiber?
Maybe Trees Atlanta should use the sheep to clear the weed infested area they have been working on over the past two years. What I would like to see is the amount of money being spent on this boondoggle east of the cemetery creek. This is the area where Trees Atlanta has planted (maybe) hundreds of expensive plants only to have them eaten up by weeds. At one time, there was a beautiful wild fern that grew throughout this area but someone/organization used a chemical to wipe it out. And now this, not only a wasteful use of funds but also a cheap publicity stunt. Where are the plans for this section of cemetery? Is any taxpayer money being spent on this?
OK, this is what I really think. Absolutly disgraceful! And that deserves a double explanation point!!
Here’s the Cemetery Master Plan. Not that it’ll tell you how much has been spent on what, but it does give the overall budget and scope.
http://www.decaturga.com/index.aspx?page=169
And now this, not only a wasteful use of funds but also a cheap publicity stunt. Where are the plans for this section of cemetery? Is any taxpayer money being spent on this?
OK, this is what I really think. Absolutly [sic] disgraceful! And that deserves a double explanation point!!
Chris, I’m willing to listen to arguments that this particular program is a disgraceful publicity stunt and a waste of funds. But what is its cost? What are the pros and cons of using this particular method of controlling invasive plants vs. other methods (e.g. herbicides)? Just how important is it to control these invasive plants anyway? And are taxpayer fund being used? If you’d answer these questions, we’d be in a better position to decide whether or not this is a boondoggle.
Sheep are considered safer to use in riparian zones (ie along streambeds) because there is no risk of professional-strength herbicides contaminating the water. Most of the herbicides that kill kudzu aren’t considered safe to use along wtaerways.
I believe the manure is forked up when the sheep are done. Even if it’s not, it’s just a few days’ worth and not a continual source of sewage.
Chris,
Trees Atlanta is a non-profit, primarily staffed by volunteers. How is it a disgrace for a non-profit to invest their donor’s dollars to eliminate aggressive plants in our cemetery? Or are you just trying to be provocative?
Have you ever tried to get rid of kudzu? The only two ways to do it is to dig up all the roots at great expense or continuously cut it back until the roots have consumed all of their stored energy. Sheep do the latter, and require a minimal amount of labor and expense to do so.
I can understand your criticism of the landscaping that has been done up to this point in this part of the cemetery. Allot of effort was invested in landscaping, but not enough effort was invested in maintenance to get the landscaping established. But it strikes me that eliminating the aggressive plant species is a step in the right direction to reduce the amount of maintenance required in the future.
A significant portion of their annual revenue comes from government grants. Not sure which governments those are, though I believe City of Atlanta is a significant grantor.
Why does it not surprise me that hops are growing wild in Decatur? Are those ornamental grasses in the meadow or is that barley?
Silly Sheep! Hops are for Beer!
If I am going to have animals eating up the plants in my neighborhood, I’d prefer them to be made of tasty pork:
http://www.ajc.com/news/ap/georgia/wild-boars-roam-streets-scare-people-near-atlanta/nZ54B/
BBQ on the hoof!
Seems like some bow hunters could be needed down in south DeKalb.
And the aroma of the sheep leave behinds
Eats shoots and leaves.
May parents in lives a condo complex beween Lullwater and the linear parks. The were contained by the conyon. They have ben doig exceptionalytt for the passbyery who does not understand. Faf from perfect, if adsses all if the problems as they have a waterne sistem to drink put of ,and many residents take changes vith very changinig work schedule’.
THANK YOU. i Seen it up close many time. Babies and best alike are in HEAVEN.
Voice to text issues?
Incert my normal misspelling to get the gist of the aformementind verbage battle cry that leav
ungarded from the arrows of the massives.
Are you Borat Sagdiyev?
That’s Number Wang!
[And I think someone broke the reply indenting]
King of the comments! King of the comments!
Voice to text issues, no. I was too terrified of coyotes to write coherently.
Unlike this, it was also written on my phone. Auto-correction, and a small screen can combine for some dreadful prose.
I would say those posts to which you are referring read more like a verbal homage to Salvador Dali