It is Time to Wrangle!

Weed Wrangle® Events Help Clear Invasive Species From Parks and Green Spaces

August 20, 2025

By: Jenne Williams

Got invasives? Try organizing a Weed Wrangle.  Many GCA clubs, their communities and parks nationwide have hosted Weed Wrangle® events since 2014 when The Garden Club of Nashville first conceived of the idea and applied for a GCA Partners for Plants grant. Weed Wrangle is a one-day, hands-on, volunteer-led, effort to rescue public parks and green spaces from non-native invasives by removing harmful trees, vines, and plants. Site experts teach volunteers how to remove and maintain an area free of invasive plants, and encourage replanting with natives.
 
“The Weed Wrangle began as a one-time effort but was so successful we wanted to continue it”, comments Philip Hylen, Park Ranger at Roan Mountain State Park in Tennessee.  Roan Mountain State Park is one of 42 Tennessee State Parks that has participated in Weed Wrangle. Across the US, hundreds of Organizations organize a Weed Wrangle® annually.  Ranger Hylen said the Roan Mountain volunteers consist of college students, master gardeners, local gardening groups and other community minded citizens in the area.
 
Supervised by an expert in invasive weed management, Weed Wrangle® volunteers learn, practice, and begin a habit of maintaining an area free of non-native invasive plants and encourage replanting with natives in removal areas. By engaging our neighbors and challenging them to take action in their own spaces, we hope to create a movement that will have the greatest impact on the invasive plant population.  
 
From Memphis to the opposite tip of Tennessee in Roan Mountain and beyond weed wrangles help save our precious native landscapes. For more information weedwrangle.org.