Welcome to UCweeds.org!

UCweeds.org is the website for the Utah County Coordinated Weed Education and Management Area; a group of state, private and federal organizations and agencies who have partnered to prevent the spread and increase awareness of invasive plant species.

If you see weeds, visit UCweeds!

UcWeeds.Org is very proud to announce our brand new, report-a-weed section that allows anybody who has seen non-native or invasive weeds in Utah County, to report them to us. Because, the hardest part about fighting invasive weeds is, simply, knowing where they are.

It's just a weed! So what?

Sure, its just a weed, many of them are quite pretty and look like beautiful wildflowers. How bad could they be?

Well, the problem with plants transported from other environments is that they out-compete native plants for water, light and space. Many times animals can’t or won't eat the invasive plant, which can result in them not eating enough to survive the winter. Or worse yet, sometimes invasive plants are poisonous to native animals. The yellow-starthistle is so poisonous to horses, that if a horse eats this invasive plant, it will probably die. Many invasive plants, such as cheatgrass, come up earlier in the spring, using available water and resources, but then dry out quickly and become very flammable, increasing the chance and/or size of a wildfire. These weeds also increase the frequency of wildfire which prevents other more beneficial native species from becoming reestablished after wildfire.

"Invasive species are the second leading cause-after habitat loss-of species being listed as endangered or threatened, and infest more than 100 million acres across the United States," said Lori Williams, executive director of the NISC. (National Invasive Species Council)

The photo shows a hummingbird that became trapped in some cocklebur, an invasive species that can act like velcro.

Wildflower seed mixes include some wicked bloomers.

The seed packets have labels with romantic-sounding names such as meadow mixture and wedding wildflowers, while others tout backyard biodiversity and make reference to Earth Day. When growing 19 such packets of wildflower mixes, however, University of Washington researchers found that each contained from three to 13 invasive species and eight had seeds for plants considered noxious weeds in at least one U.S. state or Canadian province.

And what makes it nearly impossible for gardeners who want to be conscientious is that a third of the packets listed no contents and a little more than another third had inaccurate lists. Only five of the 19 correctly itemized everything.

"I can't recommend using any wildflower seed mixes," says Lorraine Brooks, who did the work at the UW's Center for Urban Horticulture while earning her bachelor's degree.