Last week, a herd of 45 goats started making their way through the grounds of the Overland Park Arboretum & Botanical Gardens.
For the past 11 days, they’ve been hard at work on their mission: eating up invasive plants and noxious weeds
Their work comes as part of a new partnership between the arboretum and national organization Goats on the Go that mirrors recent efforts in other Johnson County cities.
The goats have grazed six acres so far
- This is the first time the arboretum has partnered with the farmstead to use this more ecologically friendly method of invasive plant cleanup.
- The city of Lenexa implemented a similar initiative two years ago, using more than 40 goats to eat invasive plants at Sar-Ko-Par Trails Park.
- Arboretum staff said it’s likely the goats will be called on again in the future to feed on invasive plants because knocking them out for good is a multi-year process.
The goats help clear the grounds without using chemicals
- The park’s invasive species range from weeds to invasive honeysuckle and poison ivy.
- Drew Ibarra, manager of the Overland Park Arboretum & Botanical Gardens, said having the goats eat these plants provides a more environmentally friendly alternative to using chemicals to combat them.
- “The city is trying to reduce the amount of chemicals used to treat (things like this),” Ibarra said. “If we can find an alternative solution like this to help tamp down some of those noxious weeds, it’s just kind of a great win-win.”
The plants also good for the goats
- Joel Geddie, attendant at the Overland Park Arboretum & Botanical Gardens, said this method of clearing invasive species also provides the goats with some of the nutrients they might not get much of in the winter.
- He added that some of the invasive plants growing in the gardens have medicinal properties for goats.
- “They eat hay all winter long, so they actually know come spring, they’re going to get some greens,” he said. “It’s beneficial on many fronts, as far as labor and health for the goats and health of the native plant materials.”
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