Carmel Clay Parks wants residents to trade in invasive plants

CARMEL, Ind. (WISH) — Invasive plants are a concern in Carmel.

In fact, if someone removes one, the city will replace the plant with a tree for free.

Caitlin May, volunteer coordinator for Carmel Clay Parks and Recreation, said Friday that some plants considered invasive in Indiana are honeysuckle, garlic mustard and Bradford pear trees. She said not only are these invasive plants harmful to native ones, they can also hurt animals.

“Honeysuckle, for example, has berries, and the birds can eat those berries and the birds will eat those berries, but the berries are not full of any nutrients so we see a lot of bird deaths, a lot of animal deaths, just due to them not getting the nutrients that they need,” May said.

That’s why for every invasive plant you chop out, the parks department will give you a native one to put in its place.

If you don’t know the difference between what should and should not be growing in a yard, May said just take a picture and send it to the parks department at volunteer@carmelclayparks.com.

May said redbud, white oak, black walnut and hazelnut trees are all native species in Indiana.

“We’ve been working within our department and also some other organizations like the DNR (Indiana Department of Natural Resoruces), the Hamilton County Invasive Partnership to sort of bring educational awareness in the community so that way they’re aware of what those plants look like, where they might be in their yard, and what they might be able to plant instead,” May said.

The parks department is hosting the plant-swap program as long as supplies last. Right now, they have about 100 trees left.