In Kyiv, utility workers began to look for alternative methods of combating white mistletoe, a plant that parasitizes trees and kills them.
In the park "Nyvky" they chose an experimental tree, recently "cleaned" of mistletoe and wrapped part of the branches with agrofibre, and treated the other with herbicide, reports the communal association Kyivzelenbud.
It is noted that Polish colleagues advised to use agricultural fiber. The idea is that the agrofiber does not let the sun's rays through, thus making photosynthesis impossible. Another part of the branches was treated with a drug that is used in agriculture to fight against weeds.
In the message, it was said that up to a third of all trees are affected by mistletoe in Ukraine, and about 5,000 in Kyiv. The plant spreads very quickly. It grows in wood and lives on its nutrients and mineral substances. Mistletoe rhizoids, that is, modified roots, can reach several meters. So far, the most effective way to control this parasite is to prune branches to uninfected tissue.
Earlier, EcoPolitic wrote, that Kyiv began to "treat" the 400-year-old Peter Mohyla linden tree, from which a part of the trunk broke off during a storm.
As EcoPolitic previously reported, the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Natural Resources created a working group that should compile a list of invasive (alien) tree species.
