I need to know the best and safest way to remove it? I'm pretty concerned because I have two dogs...

Reporter
July 29, 2013, 12:29 p.m.

Hey, Kimberly. Thanks for your posting. It's always hard to be 100% sure from a distance, but 'black nightsahde [Solanum nigrum]' seems like a good guess. Getting rid of nightshades is fairly straightforward, although digging this time of year can be a bit of a challenge. I don't know of any special precautions besides work gloves (and not eating it!). I'd guess, too, that the yard debris process would cook all this stuff right down. Like many other species, the roots are likely to regrow new plants in future years and there are probably old seeds waiting in the soil, so be on the lookout.

Feel free to contact me directly at mitch.bixby@portlandoregon.gov, if I haven't fully addressed your question.

Have a good week...

-Mitch

Mitch Bixby
July 30, 2013, 3:40 a.m.