An online guide to noxious weeds in King County

The King County Web site is a great resource for identifying and dealing with noxious weeds. A noxious weed is defined by law as a plant that is especially undesirable, troublesome, or difficult to control. The Weed Photo Index provides a photo gallery of noxious weeds that makes it easy to identify any weeds that may be growing in your area:

Garden Loosestrife
When you click on one of the images in the Weed Photo Index, a detailed description of the weed appears. For example, clicking on garden loosestrife reveals that this weed is most widespread in King County and that weed control is required. Garden loosestrife displaces native vegetation along streambanks, wetlands and shorelines, and reduces habitat need by waterfowl and fish.

Weed Maps
You can find out how widespread any of the cataloged weeds are by viewing the collection of Weed Maps. Of particular interest is the Noxious Weeds Interactive Map, which allows you view a selected region of King County for specific details about weed infestations. The following image shows a map of the Redmond area with major weed infestations indicated by weed symbols:

Other Blog Postings on Environmental Topics
Here’s a list of other Redmond Library blog postings on environmental topics:

King County EcoConsumer: Educating the Public About Conservation

KCLS Offers Eco-Friendly Bags

infoGreen: Green information in the KCLS collection