The call for volunteers went out, and folks answered!
The Friends of Lemoine Point coordinated and participated in what they termed a ‘De-phrag-menting’ process at the conservation area, helping remove thousands of plants from this viciously fast-spreading and destructive invasive aquatic plant species.
Nearly 20 members of the Friends and enthusiastic community volunteers showed up to the site at Lemoine Point Conservation Area on July 22, 2026, in south end Kingston, ready to work … and did they work!
With the assistance and guidance of Cataraqui Conservation staff Nicholas Sterling, Holly Evans and Joey Stephenson, the group removed, through spading, all the plants from their targeted patch. Friends’ volunteers said they had amazed themselves with the amount of work they were able to do together, and they could see how their efforts were going to help boost biodiversity in the local habitat.
They said they learned a lot from the events of the day, which will help them refine their removal techniques for future ‘de-phrag-mentation’ sessions, and that they will continue to monitor new phragmites stems that crop up from the rhizome root system.
For more information on the work of the Friends of Lemoine Point, and to get involved, please visit: https://cataraquiconservation.ca/pages/friends-of-lemoine-point.
For more information on phragmites and other invasive plant species, visit https://cataraquiconservation.ca/pages/invasive-species