Invasive plants are non-native plants that can out-compete, displace, and kill our native species.

Please see below to learn how to identify and remove invasives and volunteer with Green Beverly to remove invasives from Beverly public land.  

Learn more:  

The Audabon has a great page about Massachusetts’ invasive plants.  

The State of MA also has a good reference page for invasive plants in our state. 

In February of 2025 Green Beverly and the Beverly Library hosted an event at the Library to help homeowners identify invasive plants and discuss how to remove these plants from their yard. Cheryl Rafuse of Plant Magic was the presenter. Please view the presentation slides and the video of the presentation.: 

Volunteer with Green Beverly to “pull invasives”

Additionally, in the winter of 2025 Green Beverly started invasive plant removal in Beverly’s public spaces using a grant from the Essex County Community Foundation.  With this generous grant Green Beverly was able to establish The Green Beverly Invasive Plant Task Force and buy tools.  With this structure in place and with the generous help from many volunteers, Green Beverly will be able to “keep pulling invasives” in Beverly in the years to come. 

If you would like to hear about “pulling” opportunities as they come up please subscribe to our newsletter (at the bottom of this page - sign up for “news on sustainable living”) and check our Events Calendar here.   If you have questions please send them to info@greenbeverly.org

Current Focus Area:  JC Phillips

Here is a “cheat sheet” for the work we are doing at JC Phillips. 

Please see below for our progress!  

Winter 2025 

Location:  JC Phillips 

Description of work: The Green Beverly Invasive Plant Task Force has had a fantastic first couple months! As a team we have cut down Multiflora Rose (Rosa multiflora), Invasive Bush Honeysuckle (Lonicera maackii), and Asian Bittersweet Vine (Celastrus orbiculatus) from almost all of the portion of forest right next to the Community Garden  parking lot. This is the first step for our plans. 

Chopping these invasives at 2-3 feet means we can easily spot them to dig them out as the weather warms the soil. We have also identified Glossy Buckthorn (Frangula alnus) that will be dug out at that time as well. This species is not as established so digging without cutting will be simpler. 

We have also discovered that the Honeysuckle doesn’t like to grow under the white pines. We are hoping in the future to be able to plant white pines in the area to discourage future growth as well as plant other native trees to repopulate the area in the future.

other actions