The Common Reed, a form of invasive plant has been showing up along Lake Huron in the last five years.
Sauble Beach is undergoing an experimental test to get rid of the harmful species.
Geoff Peach, Coastal Resource Manager says The Lake Huron Centre for Coastal Conservation has been working on getting rid of the plant over the last two weeks.
Peach says they are using two methods to get rid of the species.
One is hand wicking, where the stock of the plant is covered in herbicide.
The other method is direct injection, where the herbicide is injected into the root of the plant.
Peach says both approaches are very direct because they don’t want to affect any of the plant life around it.
He says because of the proximity to the lake, they must take extra precaution.
Peach says the Common Reed is a great concern to local municipalities because it has the capacity to take over and change the ecology of the beach.
Peach says the Reed can grow up to 15 feet high and it injects a toxin into the soil which kills other plants around it.
He says because it is still in the early stages at Sauble Beach, they have a much better chance to finish it off.
Peach says beaches from Point Clark to Chiefs Point have been badly affected by the Reed.
