This week I went out with the Natural Areas crew to do clip and drip control of invasives at the Edward's Lake Cliffs Preserve. Clip and drip is pretty self explanitory, you clip off the majority of the plant and then drip a small amount of herbicide on the cut tip thus giving the herbicde direct contact with the xylem and phloem of the plant and accelerating its spread throughout the plants system. This method is useful when dealing with weeds that occur in places where they are surrounded by plants you don't want to get herbicide on. The invasives we attacked were Cynanchum rossicum - Plae Swallow-wort and Securigera varia - Crownvetch, both super-noxious plants. Here's a view from the cliff tops: