CDN-NDG's Anti-Achoo Squad is tackling one ragweed at a time
With ragweeds set to bloom in about two weeks' time, Côte-des-Neiges–Notre-Dame-de-Grâce has hired a group of weed-killers known as the Anti-Achoo Squad.
Their mission: to uproot as many ragweed plants in the borough as possible.
At the old site of the Blue Bonnets Raceway, where the group concentrated their efforts on Saturday, the task seems insurmountable. Ragweed plants have grown as far as the eye can see.
"There's a huge amount of ragweed in this area," said Louise Dandurand, who is leading the Squad.
"We've removed a lot from the streets, from where people are living — which is fine, but if this pollen in Blue Bonnets travels to where we've already worked hard, it's going to be much of the same things again."
The borough received $200,000 over three years for the Squad, from the province's Fonds vert. The task is being handled by the Société environnementale de Côte-des-Neiges.
"People who suffer from allergies find it unbearable when the ragweed blooms," said borough mayor Sue Montgomery, who suffers from allergies herself.
According to Statistics Canada, around 20 to 25 per cent of Canadians suffer from seasonal allergies.
How to spot and uproot a ragweed
Dandurand says although ragweed plants are easy to identify when in bloom, it can be harder to spot them before.
"Ragweed is a leaf that looks amazingly like a marigold," she said.
"It's a leaf that branches out. It almost looks like a fern. It also has a tap root, so the root is straight and doesn't travel."
Dandurand says it's important not to shake the plants.
"The more you disturb the ground, you're going to activate seeds that are already in the ground," she said.
"Seeds in the ground, after they drop, can be active for 40 years, before they die."
