Invasive Plant A Priority For Road Department

berriencountyroaddepartment-6
berriencountyroaddepartment-6

Japanese knotweed is something the Berrien County Road Department has been working on over the past year. Director Jason Latham tells WSJM News the invasive plant has popped up all over Berrien County, and when it’s close to a roadway, the road department takes action.

“We do have some spray programs where we have to keep weeds and tall grass out of our guardrail and away from certain areas, and so I just made sure that in my first year last summer as director of the Berrien County Road Department that we needed to make sure that we had a program in place,” Latham said.

Latham says because the Japanese knotweed can grow right through asphalt, it’s important for the department to be proactive. He notes it’s really not all that expensive to spray for it. He tells us the knotweed effort will be ongoing this year and in years to come as the plant continues to spread.