Japanese Stiltgrass Goats
This adds to its ability to outcompete the native and preferred vegetation.
Japanese stiltgrass goats. The essence of japanese stiltgrass. Japanese stiltgrass microstegium vimineum is taking over forest understories throughout pennsylvania and quickly spreads into adjacent lawns and pastures many pennsylvania livestock and horse owners are becoming frustrated with this weed because grazing animals rarely eat it and it is outcompeting desired pasture forage species. Japanese stiltgrass nepalese browntop chinese packing grass annual stilt grass bamboo grass eulalia mary s grass ashi boso japanese for slim foot the east asian provenance of this invasive plant was arbitrarily attributed to japan early in the 19th century. In general the japanese stiltgrass is not preferred by grasers such as white tailed deer goats and horses.
Japanese stiltgrass was brought into. It grows anywhere and spreads everywhere. Japanese stiltgrass is not preferred by grazers such as white tailed deer goats and horses which adds to its ability to outcompete native preferred vegetation. A 2010 study by pisula and meiners indicates that japanese stiltgrass has allelopathic potential to inhibit seed germination.
Besides using goats the team at hawk mountain has also used propane torches chemical herbicides weed trimmers and their bare hands to remove the stiltgrass. Japanese stiltgrass microstegium vimineum is bright green with a distinctive silvery stripe of reflective hairs along the midrib of each narrow lance shaped blade the leaves are one to three inches long and alternately arranged on a branched stalk resembling a smaller more delicate version of bamboo. Goats also had to be supplemented with hand pulling and other removal applications to compare the effectiveness of removal methods.
