Perhaps you’ve driven along I-96 or M-5 and have seen tall grasses, with large plumes of seed, gracefully wafting in the breeze. Or perhaps you’ve seen the same plant, blocking your view of your subdivision’s pond. Its name is Common Reed, or more commonly, Phragmites australis.

The plant that is taking over your subdivision is an invasive variety of a grass that can take over a natural wetland, grow up a slope from wetland to dry land, grow up to 15-20 feet tall and decrease your property value. The City of Novi has been working since 2016 to decrease the presence of Phragmites in public areas like parks, city-managed detention ponds, and roadside ditches.

We’ve made a good deal of progress, but a lot of the Phragmites in Novi is on private property. In order to make it easier for owners of private property to rid their areas of the annoying and dominating weed, HOAs and business owners are able to hire contractors to chemically treat and kill Phragmites under the City’s Aquatic Nuisance Control (ANC) permit with the state, saving money and effort to get the permit you need to remove Phragmites from wetlands or other water bodies.

You would still need to pay for the contractor’s work, but not having to get your own permit can save you time and money. As the treatments are generally done in early fall (September – early October) before the first frost, you should start working to get an estimate now and get on a contractor’s schedule.

The contractor would then get in touch with Rick Meader, the City Landscape Architect, at rmeader@cityofnovi.org or 248-735-5621.

Click here for a list of contractors you can approach for an estimate.

Removing Phragmites from your open spaces will open up your views and restore some of your valuable real estate to an enjoyable condition. Look into removing it from your land now.