About

Who we are

Central Ohio Invasive Watch is a volunteer field guide covering the Upper Scioto watershed. We write plain-language guides to the invasive plants moving through our region and the native species worth planting in their place.

Who writes this. These pages are written by a small group of volunteers who spend their weekends pulling honeysuckle, cutting Callery pear, and replanting natives along the Olentangy and Scioto. We are not botanists by trade. We are the people doing the work, writing down what we have learned in the field so the next person has an easier time of it. How we research and check our guides is laid out in our approach.

Central Ohio sits at a crossroads of farmland, fast-growing suburbs, and the ravines and river corridors that thread through them. That mix makes it easy for invasive plants to spread, along mowed edges, down streambanks, and out of old landscape plantings. Our aim is simple: help the people who live and work on this land recognize what is spreading and know what to do about it.

Where we focus. The 17-county region follows the Upper Scioto River watershed, from the headwaters north of Marion, through Union, Delaware, and Franklin counties and the Columbus metro parks, down to the farmland of Pickaway and Ross. It is both an ecological boundary and the working footprint of the local stewards we learn from.

What we cover

Species profiles for the invasives most worth your attention, honest removal advice that accounts for how these plants actually behave, and planting guides for the native trees, shrubs, and wildflowers that belong here. We are independent, and we are not affiliated with any state agency.

Get involved

Anyone with an interest is welcome, and you do not need to be an expert. Report a sighting from your county, join a weekend removal along the Olentangy or Scioto, or simply swap one invasive shrub in your own yard for a native this season. Small, local actions are what keep a watershed healthy. You can reach us any time through our contact page.