|
|
Article: Road reign of `stink tree' nears end with frost at hand.(Metropolitan Times)(Regional News)(Traffic Stops)
- Article from:
- The Washington Times (Washington, DC)
- Article date:
- October 19, 1998
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1998 News World Communications, Inc. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
|
The growing season for most plants here ends about this time of year with the first frost. The chilly weather comes as a relief to the men and women who maintain roadside signs and the motorists who rely on them.
The dreaded "stink tree" - that weedlike growth that obscures so many signs - will be tamed, if only for the winter.
The ailanthus tree, inadvertently imported from its native China 200 years ago, is as common as it is smelly (only when its leaves are crumpled). It's also called the tree of heaven, though heaven knows why.
It can grow an inch a day, even in poor soil. It is the bane of sign tenders.
When Maryland's ...