FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — This spring, the City of Fayetteville will hold its fourth annual invasive plant “bounty” program.
Invasive plant species threaten habitat and native species by outcompeting native plants for critical resources spreading quickly and killing out native trees, shrubs and flowers. Invasive plant characteristics include vigorous growth, reseed prolifically, displace natives, negatively altering forest environments and preventing natural habitat regeneration.
To increase awareness and discourage the spread of these invasive plants, Fayetteville will replace residents’ invasive plants with a native tree or shrub for free. The city will give away one native tree or native shrub to each person that removes the invasive plants which include:
- Bradford Pear Trees (Pyrus calleryana)
- Bush Honeysuckle (Lonicera maackii)
- Chinese Privet (Ligustrum sinense).
- Tree of Heaven (Ailanthus altissima)
Fayetteville would like residents to know that they cannot cut down residents' trees or shrubs and property owners should cut their trees or shrubs or hire a company.
Native tree and shrub species pick up will be from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. weekdays between April 5 and 15 at the Parks Department Office, located at 1455 S. Happy Hollow Road. After-hour arrangements can be made. Native tree and shrub species to be given away will be announced at a later day.
To qualify, Fayettevile is asking residents to take a picture of their cut-down invasive tree or shrubs and email a picture of the removed plant to urbanforestry@fayetteville-ar.gov. Residents must include name, address and phone number with the limit being one tree or shrub per household being given away on a first-come, first-served basis.
To learn more about invasive species when choosing plants and watch a video of proper identification and removal, click here.
DOWNLOAD THE 5NEWS APP
DOWNLOAD FOR IPHONE HERE | DOWNLOAD FOR ANDROID HERE
HOW TO ADD THE 5NEWS APP TO YOUR STREAMING DEVICE
ROKU: add the channel from the ROKU store or by searching for KFSM in the Channel Store.
For Fire TV, search for "KFSM" to find the free app to add to your account. Another option for Fire TV is to have the app delivered directly to your Fire TV through Amazon.
To report a typo or grammatical error, please email KFSMDigitalTeam@tegna.com.