Mexican Evening Primrose…I bought a 6 pack about 40 years ago, it became a neighborhood issue, it has invaded at least 8 houses and 2 streets. It also grew in my bathroom pipes and under my tile by my toilet, this plant caused thousands of dollars of damage to my bathroom. We had to buy a new toilet, replumb the entire bathroom, buy a new sink and get new cabinets. The roots destroyed everything! Don’t do it! That’s my rant for the day😳
Shit. It was part of a seed pack for waterwise gardens. It’s been two years so it’s a established now. So far it’s not trying to takeover and I’m in Southern California which is technically in its native range, but now I’m nervous 😬.
I can't keep EPrim going in my backyard, the rabbits devour it, killing it. I had a 3 foot drift of it last year but it got eaten to the ground. I've got 1 plant left and I'm propagating it right now. Same with the yellow EP. Had that one in a pot and they mowed that down too.
Agreed, very informative regarding alternative plant options - thank you for that! I’m in NC now where there are issues with English ivy and wisteria. When I lived in CA there were issues with those as well, plus scotch broom and bamboo
Yes, I too, agree. I hand pulled ivy for years in Georgia. It was next to a wooded area. It spread to all of the nearby trees, huge oaks that had been there for years! It felled them on a neighbor's property in a few short years!
Judging by the comments, it seems the term "invasive" needs to be defined, as well as the difference between "invasive" and "aggressive"/"fast-spreading"/"non-native"/etc.
True. To be defined as "invasive" a plant has to meet 2 USDA criteria. However, many plants blur the lines and aggressive tendencies can lead to invasive spread.
"Invasive" has two meanings. There's the legal definition where technically nothing is truly "invasive" unless the government has deemed it so in an official sense. Then there's the commoner's definition that is actually ahead of the curve, as usual. When we say that a plant is "aggressive" in the garden.... you can rest assured that it'll be just as aggressive outside the garden. If it grows fast, it grows fast, and that means it'll be a problem in the ecosystem when it escapes. The latter is the more accurate definition because it's reporting in real time and doesn't rely on bureaucrats and scientific studies, etc. People were warning about Kudzu, Russian Olive, Bamboo, Wisteria, and a host of other garden plants long before the various government agencies.
Just ask the uk government. They banned "gunnera manicata" because its cousin "gunnera tinctoria" is invasive, and it was discovered that all plants sold as "gunnera manicata" in the uk is actually a new hybrid of the two they have dubbed "gunnera cryptica". The only kicker is that gunnera cryptica has a fertility rate that is less than half of manicata, and less than a fifth of tinctoria... trust the uk government to mess something up that badly, eh?
Here is SE Kansas it will grow. But our periodic droughts and fierce winter winter winds will periodically kill it to the ground. It's not a problem here. In fact I wish it could grow better.
I have a huge trumpet vine on a small old private fence. I'm always pulling little ones up all over my yard and in my flower beds. I love itbut it's very invasive.
Mature trumpet vine grew in front of the south exposed window of the old house we bought. we prunned it a bit and continued with it for another 20 years. I cannot describe how effective, beautiful natural screen - air conditioning and even sound barier it created. We kept it to about middle of the height of the window - beautiful, useful plant, bu ha to be size- controlled.
I would suggest adding Trumpet Vine to your list. It’s growing on the neighboring property and has invaded our raised garden beds. I pulled out several thick roots over ten ft long from our garden bed just so we could plant our garden this year.
Yes, unfortunately, I planted it years ago, not knowing how invasive it would be, and that the roots travel like 20 ft underground and pop up everywhere. You cannot pull them up, as they are connected to the strong underground root that comes from the parent plant. You have to cut them to the ground and use an herbicide to kill them, but they just come up somewhere else. Have been trying to get rid of it for years. Still have them.
Yes, grow only in large containers. A great substitute is crossvine. I have planted Tangerine and Ruby Red about 3 feet apart along a fence. Their long branches intermingle, top the fence, and spill over. It looks like one plant whose flowers either open orangy red then fade to a clearer , paler orange, or vice versa.
If we're talking Campsis radicans, it's native to North America, and a native plant will never truly be invasive. Extremely aggressive, yes, but I adore this plant for the benefits it brings to native wildlife. If you have a small area, it's a terrible plant to choose for your home garden, however. Right plant, right place.
@@horohorosrin if only... we didn’t plant it. It’s coming from the neighboring property which is extremely overgrown and uncared for. I pulled roots out of our raised garden so I could plant our vegetables. Now it has invaded two more raised gardens which equals more work for me.
This video said EXACTLY what I needed to hear. I adore how the narrator suggested alternatives after describing the invasives. If I could add two more to this list: blackberry and Rosa Multifora. These two get out of hand almost immediately and they issue direct eviction notices to wildlife (and people) due to their suffocating nature and strong needle-sharp thorns. I live in Southern Maryland and, between the Japanese honeysuckle, blackberry, and rosa multiflora, we are -and I’m a being completely serious here- we ARE losing our forests and wildlife. I am fighting back so aggressively on my 8 acres in the Port Tobacco River watershed. So much so, that today when I saw my golden rod patch being crept on by all three, I stopped the car, got out and had myself a blood bath while ripping it all out. The threat of scars and sore hands no longer scares me away because I know now the damage these invasive plants are causing. It is the saddest thing to realize that I likely only have 20 more good years left in me to fight this fight. I’m 41 now and will likely dedicate my life to removing these species from my property and aggressively reseeding with natives, hoping that the good ones spread, and not the bad ones.
ashleansmith: I'm 75 and still at it. You have to have a system and sometimes lots of help. I've started learning what's edible and serving it up. Then yanking it. OF course it grows back. God's gifts to us. Learning how to live with it. Good luck and Many Blessings for more than 20 years.
At least blackberries are food,so there’s that.I love them.I can keep them under control but digging up the ones I don’t want,but I want lots of them❤️
Being active in gardening you probably have at least 35 yrs to continue gardening. Right now in Md we are battling a terrible heat wave which puts a damper on gardening.
I had chameleon plant in my front garden. I later had the drive dug up to a depth of 1 metre, hardcore laid, sand on top, then bricks laid. Guess what came through 18 months later?
I had one plant turn into a 20 year nightmare. They popped up everywhere! The horrible smell of trying to pull them up was gag inducing. I finally eradicated the huge patch by covering the entire area with black landscaping tarp for 3 years! Finally, the nightmare plant was smothered out of existence.
I bought chameleon plant at a community plant sale. I googled its growing needs, discovered how invasive it is, and tossed the plant into the city yard waste bin.
Bamboo or Japanese Knotweed?? 🤔🤣🤣 Both can be a blessing. "We" (in the West) are so inflexible..... Even the amazing Dandelion plant is persecuted..... ✌️🤣🤣🇨🇦
I just have to include mint to this list. I recently bought a house whose yard was neglected and overgrown. After cutting back it was discovered that mint was growing everywhere. I can't put anything in the ground until it is gone. It might take several weeks but sure enough after a rain - a few more mint leaves come up through the soil. A whole summer wasted on mint pulling.
Wild onions and wild garlic chives!! My yard is FULL of random patches of this stuff. When we mow our lawn in the backyard, all you can smell is onion! 🤢
@@Thi-Nguyen Well, on the bright side, it should keep voles away! 😆 I planted hundreds of tulip bulbs one year, and during the winter, under the cover of snow, voles from the surrounding woods absolutely INVADED my property to feast on the bulbs! I've been trying to plant more daphodils and have plans to add allium (onion family) because those are some of the few plants voles avoid! They eat just about everything... what a nightmare!
Morning GLory has all these nightmares beat. This beautiful purple vine flower will climb from below and suffocate any plant it touches. Undetected going through grass until flower shows its face to say, "GOT YAH".😅
Difference between morning glory flowers and the morning vine. But most seeds don’t usually differentiate between the two. The vibrant colors are usually ok. The mixed pale colors. Not so much.
I’ve been fighting it for years. Dug up a huge root system and it went 2 feet deep. I hate morning glory. Never planted it, but my neighbor thought it’d be a cool plant to cover their dog kennel 😒
Fantastic video! I will never understand why garden centres sell invasive plants - or at least sell them with a warning for indoor use only or something. Thank you for highlighting this important issue and sharing many of the culprits that make our way into gardens across the country. Let's hope some changes are made after so many people watching this! I know I have a bit of research to do! Thanks again for sharing these important messages!! 💚
Just a thought - Species are often labeled invasive because of how they are able to out-compete native species for resources. So garden centers sell them because they grow easily and rarely fail which makes customers happy (well, customers).
@@jimnasium452 you make a good point, but with the potential detriment to the native environment, should these invasives not be sold with some warnings / information to at least warn the purchaser? I would never had planted my English ivy if I had known it was going to outcompete everything and harm the native environment! I thought it was pretty and green - which is exactly the problem.
I was told that mint would take over and not a good idea to grow it. But I had/have grown it for years in flower pots, and contained growing areas, and it has never created a problem.
We recently bought a few acres where the property had wisteria growing up all the trees and pulling the branches down. We have spent abt 6 months and finding new starts everywhere still today.
I've never had any issues with Butterfly Bush, but Scotch Broom is hellishly invasive. I've pulled up wheelbarrows full of it. On the plus side, this makes for some pretty spectacular bonfires, as the plant seems to be loaded with turpentine. It burns even when green.
Butterfly bushes are all around just bad for our native pollinators. It distracts them from the native plants and is toxic to their larva so is not even a host plant.
Burning it stimulates it to drop its seeds which negates your hard efforts to remove it. You may want to bag it up instead and haul it to your local garbage depot.
I have a few butterfly bushes in my beds that I didn't plant. I try to remove the spent flowers before they have a chance to spread elsewhere and take over.
I have been fighting English Ivy in Georgia for years. The best way I have found to control it besides pulling it up is to spray it with 30% vinegar (not the 5% white vinegar you buy at the grocery store). You can find it at big box hardware stores. Mix it in a sprayer with 2 tsp dish detergent, and a tsp of salt. Spray it on any ivy you see, but be careful not to get it on anything you want to keep...so don't do it on a windy day. The vines are usually brown and dead the next day making it a lot easier to pull anything left. Just make sure you dont compost it either. I bag it up to be taken away
I must have (by fortunate mistake) purchased a sterile butterfly bush -- it's been in the same place for over 10 years and I haven't seen a sprout anywhere else in my yard!
Most of these plants aren't a problem where I live so I was really surprised to see barberry and burning bush on the list. I appreciate the way alternate plants are listed.
Butterfly bushes are now sterile and seedless. I spent the day (first of many) digging out Forget Me Nots. This is a plant that spreads underground and spreads quickly.
I planted a little beach rose at the front of my walk way and it was so cute and welcoming.........5 years later it took over the most part of the walk and threatens visitors like Gandalf, " You shall not pass!!!!!" Beware of the beach rose!!!!!!
😂 Gandalf, the beach rose strikes again!! Honestly, reading about all of these various invasive, aggressive plants I hesitate to put ANYTHING in my garden. My personal nightmare a few years ago was VINCA. It just took over and, when last I saw it, was heading for the middle of our street looking for further yards to conquer. I finally excavated most of it out, enough to put in some lovely Peonies that did well in that space. I have read that applying white vinegar to a wound in the stem of almost any plant will kill it...eventually. You have to keep applying it. You also have to be VERY careful not to get it in plants you want to keep. Supposed to be good for killing poison ivy. When I read "The meek shall inherit the earth" it didn't occur to me that it meant PLANTS! 🌿😵💫
Virginia Creeper is my nemesis. I've tried for years to get rid of that along with some other plants I find cropping up all over my lawn. So hard to keep up on.
@@paulafranciscac2787 My problem is the majority of it is along a fence line, intermingled with tons of lilac bushes. The other thing is I have a commercial site next door and everything grows over there too, and it just comes right back.
@@asamanyworlds3772 I was at a farm store type place recently and in their garden section I saw a potted Creeper. I couldn't believe my eyes. People plant that on purpose?!
Horseradish is another plant to take care with. I planted some in my garden and thankfully I looked up information on growing horseradish and learned how invasive it is. I dug it out within 3 days and transferred it to a pot. It is apparently a real spreader in the garden and even the smallest root fragments left behind will regrow. I love making my own fresh horseradish so I container grow it only and have it sitting on concrete so there is no chance of roots touching neighbouring soil.
@@sanniepstein4835 Good to know that there is some zone dependence, thanks for mentioning. I’m in zone 8b and consensus around here seems to be to avoid planting horseradish into the ground.
We are in the north of England and planted horseradish in the ground at our allotment about five years ago. I wish we'd planted it in a pot. One small leaf showing equals six inches to a foot of root underground! We keep digging it up and it keeps coming back! It's in a section with mint and rhubarb ( both prolific growers) and still comes back.
Scotch broom ... UGH! I live in Oregon and it's everywhere west of the Cascades. Doesn't grow in the high desert. It's a beautiful plant, but when it seeds, it launches them up to 4ft, so there's no way to tell until the next year where it's going to germinate. There are two issues with this admittedly beautiful plant. First, it's fast growing and faster spreading. You may have a single plant one year, and then a dozen over several acres the next. Second, it's actually a pretty aggressive allergen. For those who have allergies or asthma, it's no bueno. Luckily, the bare foliage is easy to identify and if they're not too tall, you can pull them out. Just know that when trying to pull them out, the roots are as deep as the plant is tall, so you have to be vigilant and pull these things up before they bloom if you can find them. If not, just wait until they start to bloom to identify where they are. You have to be on it in spring because if even one seeds, you may have a dozen or 2 the next year. For the largest plants, there's no way you're pulling them out. All you can do is trim to the trunk and daub with crossbow or a mixture of vinegar, salt and dish soap. Why daub? These two methods will kill everything it touches. There are empty bingo daubers that can be bought online, and then you can fill them with either. No other way. They can't even be dug up because you must get EVERY LAST root or it will regrow.
Yucca!! You should have included the Yucca plant!! So many people have planted them in planters to accent their driveways and they are taking over yards and are not easily killed or gotten rid of. They are spreading everywhere here and the more you try to remove them the more they spread.
No. 11 Harebell! We had a single plant show up in our landscape many years ago and thought the hanging bell flowers we very attractive. The plant is now invading the yard and nearby woods. The rhizomes make it impossible to remove fully. I keep it somewhat under control pulling it from the woodland garden area but throughout the yard cutting and spraying with broadleaf herbicide just slows it down. Any patches found in other areas get covered with a sheet of EPDM rubber (leftover from a project) and it eventually dies. Our Mulberry tree is also posing a problem with new tree shoots popping up all over our property. We’re in Northeast Wisconsin
worked as a landscaper in the 2000's up till 2011 in Ohio and im fairly sure i planted almost every single one of those plants , the Bradford pear , burning bush , and Barberry was staples we used on nearly every job.
I have absolutely terrible soil-- it doesn't perc and is extremely alkaline. A burning bush actually DIED in my front yard. Lily of the valley is barely making it and butterfly bush will only grow in raised beds.
For me, the draw to lily of the valley is the delicious sopporific scent. My aunt had a mass of them planted under her bedroom window for that very benefit. I suppose in a tufa planter, one could sequester them from the garden in general.
I absolutely adore Lily Of The Valley! In my eastern Washington State yard where the winters get cold, I had a lovely area bursting with these fragrant little gems. It was about two square yards bordered on all sides by concrete and foundation walls, so no danger of spreading. I picked those flowers every May for a beautiful, dainty bouquet.
My Mother (lives next door to me - Southeastern MI) regrets having planted that Chameleon Plant when I was a kid. And the Conservatory I volunteer at is constantly fighting that Japanese Honeysuckle (and some non-native tress that plague the property) with literal actual FIRE. ;) NOTE: While juniper may work as a pretty good hedge, it does change the chemical makeup of the soil it grows in so less things will grow there (I mean that's not terrible if you're trying to reduce weeds, but...) Oh AND it drops twigs of EXTREMELY sharp dried pin-needles (no, that's not a typo of pine-needles, they're actually that stabby) that go right through most gloves... Wouldn't really recommend those either. lol
I can understand Ivy being on this list. We moved into a house with ivy being used as ground coverage and 5 years later, I'm still trying to eradicate it from my property so I can replace it with clover. That and Virginia creeper. The creeper will literally strangle my roses to death if I don't pull it out. I can't find the root system anywhere, it just keeps growing.
I have seen the invasiveness of bamboo firsthand! Same with the English Ivy. Unfortunately, we planted a butterfly Bush 2 years ago. It towers over other plants. It grows so fast!
Mint! Also I've had a citronella plant take over a whole front yard. No mosquitoes but also no room That bamboo will spread regardless. I had the "non invasive" one in my yard when I bought my house.
I'd add Rose of Sharon to the list of horrible invasive weeds. I once spotted a mysterious flowering plant in the field. Said to my self "that would look nice in my backyard". I dug it out and planted. Big mistake. I soon realized that the thing dropped seeds and sprouted 100s of seedlings. I dug the miserable thing out but I'm still pulling volunteers years later.
I just bought two cameleon plants at the plant nursery because they are so pretty.. You can bet, after watching this video, they will be taking out of my flower bed.. asap.. thank you.. Also, that evening primrose, in the yellow version, is popping up everywhere.. what an impressive plant.. It is in my border walls and adds a really beautiful look to my Japanese garden.. I have been pulling out young plants where i don't want it, but you can sure see how it is invasive.. thank you for this info.. I have been at my place for a little over a year now, and this plant is new to me.. Just started growing in my garden this summer.. Never have seen it before, and seeing it outside in the neighbourhood.. We live in a wooded area, so we have sooo many different native flowering plants.. It is very interesting to see what comes up and flowers... Thank you foryour very informative video!!
I am so glad this video caught you right in the nick of time! I still find this plant all over my landscape beds no matter how many times I pull it out. - Amy
Along with honeysuckle, wisteria is another beautiful but horrendously invasive species in my area. That definitely goes on my list. I am a little disappointed that when talking of the bamboo, though, you didn't mention native giant river cane. It's harder to find for sale, but it's a native 'bamboo' that hosts several bird & insect species that are currently in danger of extinction because of the decline of the native 'canebreak' areas. It looks closer to decorative bamboos than other grasses and the species could really use the boost of people adding it to their landscapes.
Still fighting the wisteria our former neighbor planted over 30+ years ago. They may have thought it would look like Tiffany’s stained glass; all it’s been is an invasive, choking PIA. 🙄
Wisteria is not “a species”. It is a genus of several species. The very showy and common Asian ones are invasive in the USA, but species and varieties of American ones like Amethyst Falls are not
One of the plants that you recommend as a replacement for bamboo for screening a property from its neighbors is arborvitae. In NJ, it is just deer food. Every arborvitae around here has been nibbled down for the first six feet above the ground.
Much of the invasiveness is related to climate…here in the Chicago area we commonly have temperatures around zero for several weeks in early winter, and then yo-yo temps until may….although we have some invasive plants (Bradford pear I.e.) most everything gets killed, even border line nice plants like roses. Tee hee sometimes what manages to survive the weather gets devoured by bunnies. But the reseeding thing is easily avoided by cutting the plant back before it develops seed pods.
I live in Austin- nandina/heavenly bamboo and ligustrum/chinese privet are extremely invasive and very tough to eradicate. Sad to say, you can still buy them in the big box stores. Four O'Clocks are native to Mexico, so tolerate Austin weather and are perennials here. However, they require a bit of care to thrive, so I don't consider them invasive. A month of 105 degrees without rain will kill them, but not nandina nor ligustrum. Our big freeze of Feb 2021 semi-killed many of the ligustrum, but most regenerated dozens of shoots from the base of the trunk not unlike the Hydra of mythology. Nandina was totally unaffected.
I found out, after not realizing I should have looked it up before just cutting it down... Nandina's roots/rhizomes get the signal that damage has occurred and sends out new growth in another spot. My back bed was RIFE with the things... Now that I know, I took a suggestion from the Ladybird Johnson Wildflower Center re: ending nandina w/o getting lots of new plants: VERY VERY careful application of the glyphosate concentrate that shall not be named to a freshly cut stalk. THAT ends the nandina...it takes some time but it works! Over the last year, I'd take an hour or so every so often, double-gloved up, grabbed a disposable little brush, my cutters and set-to in a particular part of the back bed. More to go, but the amount of nandinas is GREATLY reduced. I want them all gone. Trying to intersperse natives where the nandinas have been gone for a bit.
Pots are not going to stop seeds from spreading. My yard became host to some neighbor's Mexican petunia, asparagus fern, plus happily some native Florida sage, among other plants that wind and birds spread about @@Peleski
@@LibbyRalokay, but like, the alternative is that people can’t grow their own herbs and vegetables. Mint is used in a lot, and is a large family on top of that. And mint isn’t even that bad depending on where you live. I’ve yet to meet a plant a good Texas summer and a March freeze hasn’t managed to kill. I tried growing mint in a pot and it was decimated by the weather. Only thing that survived more than one summer were the moss roses, and they’re gone too now.
Personally, I also have a terrible time growing mint. I laugh when I hear it's invasive. And there's a species I really want to grow - corsican mint - because it makes a great mosquito repellent. But there are many places that mint does spread like crazy, and the wind can carry it very far. As for your alternative @@tisvana18 I don't understand how you are coming to that conclusion just because some invasive species are banned, all vegetables and herbs are banned.
I was so proud when I got English Ivy to grow up a brick wall. When it started lifting the roof off the house, I whacked it off at the roots and picked roots off that wall.
I've heard it can damage the brick & mortar on a house as well. I have some along my back fence line. I've been fighting it for 3 years, haven't got it killed off yet
@@jessieyork4508 You might try pouring straight vinegar onto the roots when you cut it back. There’s a form of vinegar which higher acid content sometimes used for this purpose.
I live in Canada in Zone 3, like Minnesota: cold. I have seen neglected flowerbeds packed with “Campanula Glomerata” or Clustered Bellflower, which has pretty purple heads of bells. Once you have it, you will never be without it. The Garden centres do mention it “spreads rapidly in rich soils.” Others you will have a hard time getting rid of: Yarrow, (that overtakes the lawn, with spreading roots and seeds), as well as Lamium, Lemon Balm, Bachelor’s Buttons, Virginia Creeper, Tansy, and others that I noticed are still sold by garden centres, including Baby’s Breath (not including the pink ground cover type) and Snow in Summer. I depend on the more prolific “survivors” and reseeding/spreading/perennial nature of plants to fill up the flower garden (like Blue Flax, Viola, Chinese Forget-me-nots, Dill, Candytuft, Wild ferns, Poppies, Cosmos, Artemisia) and have given up on completely eradicating Yarrow. Some of these plants have seeded themselves happily in the drainage rocks around the foundation of the house, so obviously do not need a lot of care. Edit; I forgot to mention it is a good idea to add some native growing flowers for the bees and butterflies, like Milkweed, wild bellflowers, non-spreading Goldenrod, wild Asters, Blanketflower, Black-eyed Susans.
@@ah7smpa853milkweed attracts butterflies. The butterflies lay their eggs on them then you have caterpillars that will eat them up and then the final stage of butterflies. The plants grow back easily. I have milkweeds but they aren’t spreading on their own yet and I want them to as I’m raising and releasing monarch butterflies because they are endangered. And it’s a real fun project.
I've been battling lily of the valley for years... also when i bought my house i pulled out several holly bushes... I'm still finding runners and new starts from those nasty things! Horseradish is awful and honestly i have locust trees that are nasty too... if a branch breaks off you'll find runners growing on the other side of your yard for years! 😵💫🥺
I have a Japanese Barberry in my garden for more than 5 years. It's very stunning. So far, there is no sign of spreading in the garden. I will keep an eye on it for the possible ticks issue. Thank you for the reminder.
Interesting video. Good to see that you have recommended alternatives to these plants. Good details on why each plant is invasive and where. Another plant to watch out for in many parts of the country, especially the North Central and Northwest is Spurge. Leafy Spurge is a terribly invasive plant in this area and its relatives spread quite well too. Where I live in Las Vegas, NV, many of these won't survive outside of irrigated areas, but if you have a home or property near one of the remaining wetlands in the area, some of these plants can invade such areas. Some palm trees have become a bit of a weed problem here, especially Canary Island Date Palm. Their seed grows very well in irrigated places and the trees need pulled out of lawns, flowerbeds and next to building foundations before they get too big.
I live in Texas, and my soil is sand. I love 4 O'clocks. I planted a few and low and behold they have become very invasive, and have tried taking over my acre yard. I'm constantly literally digging them up. The roots as big as large cabbages. Be careful where you plant them.
Where many of you consider these plants invasive, I consider them an option because of the area where I live. I love a beautiful garden, but I don't love the maintenance, so the less I have to do, with good looks is prime in my book. Invasive also means tough on foot traffic for those who don't understand the phrase, get out of my flower bed.' Ms. B. Churchill
Add white yarrow to the list of plants that, once put into the ground, WILL spread like wildfire wherever its seeds might fall. I planted three basic yellow yarrow plants over a decade ago in my perennial garden, and because they did well on the high, arid plains of Eastern Colorado, I thought I would add some multicolored varieties. Big mistake. Any color other than yellow yarrow, the 'base' plant, will be a white variant (pinks, purples, oranges and peaches, etc.) and will become incredibly invasive. To keep it in check, one would have to be constantly deadheading (much like the herbal scourge, lemon balm), and while it is drought-tolerant for those of us in dry climates, its toughness is a double edged sword. Stick with the plain yarrow, if you have to have it. Not once have I seen the yellow yarrow spread or send out a bajillion seeds that will end up sprouting up EVERYWHERE.
But yarrow is super good for many home remedies. Just tr off the flowers and dry them for later use, then they can’t go to seed right? (Honest question as I’m trying to grow a medicinal garden and that’s top of my list with calendulas)
I agree with the list you have sent in this reading. Thank you. Another no-no is periwinkle. Once planted, it isn't easy to get rid of, given its speedy rapid-spreading tendency!
Always check with your local Extension, DNR, state forestry if you want to be really sure what has moved into invasive/prohibited category. Try to find natives or plants that actually help the ecosystem rather than just are 'pretty' to you. If you are not sure if a plant attracts pollinators, visit a garden featuring it and observe who visits. Or just observe it for 5-10 minutes on a warm afternoon at your garden center. Any visitors??
The Chinese tree is fast growing and drought tolerant. Also, Mexican bird of paradise thrives in the hottest climate..also breath of heaven PLANT, IS GORGEOUS AND DOES SO WELL IN HELL HEAT. AND ITS AN EVERGREEN.
I had a neighbor plant raspberry bushes in their backyard. Within two years, everyone had little raspberry bushes popping up all over the place, even in my porch's gutters (thanks to the birds). It's now at the point where my lower back yard is the forbidden forest of hellish thorns and almost unedible raspberries on thickets all of which are taller than I am. The only thing that is choking them out is the super invasive Japense Knotweed that is the other bane of my existence.
My house was built over 20 years ago. Every year, I fight something that looks like a grapevine but never bears fruit. While cutting down the 'grapevines', I found a patch of black raspberries that had not been there before. My landscapers cut down all but 1 twig. To protect it, I surrounded it with a cage. Your comment is causing me to reconsider keeping it.
I had vinca vine one year as a trailing plant in a pot and it rooted itself all over the place! Not as bad as the ones you have mentioned but wish I never bought it. It was was of the first plants I bought when beginning gardening and did not know better not to let it touch the ground. Unfortunately we learn from our mistakes. 😑
I live in a wooded are of the PNW and bought my property 30 years ago. The previous owner used vinca as a ground cover in several areas and it is so hard to remove! Anywhere that I decide to plant flowers I have days of exhausting digging to do to get rid of it and it is impossible to get it all out!
Western WA has so many. My friend bought a house with an overgrown garden filled with classic nightmares. English ivy Himalayan blackberry Silver lamium Bindweed (worse than morning glories i think.) Bitter nightshade. The list goes on.... I've helped her battle them.
As a landscape architect of way too many years, I enjoyed your presentation. Especially mentioning alternatives to the plants you believe are invasive.
Thank you for posting, such an important topic! It’s pretty upsetting what the garden centers still sell - Callery Pear is very easy to buy in my area, despite it being such an ecological disaster! ❤
Garlic chives! I'm in zone 5b. If they go to seed and they take root good, they are difficult to pull out. I hate using Roundup but don't bother with that anyway, it doesn't work. Burying them doesn't work. Drowning them doesn't work. They're like Michael Myers in the Halloween movies. Next season, they'll be back, mocking you worse than ever.
I've got the same problem. They hopped over 20 yds of lawn from a neighbor's bed to get into one of mine. I discoverd the flowers are edible so I've started putting those in salads as well as the compost bin. I let dug up plants dry on my concrete patio before adding them to the bin as well. I like them as herbs so I'm going to put some in a container before disposing of the rest, which is very hard work.
Thank you, thank you thank you. We need to regenerate our native ecosystems. It is really essential to the survival not just a Plans but if insects and birds and other species that are all interrelated.
2:25 A song from my childhood classroom sung as a round: White choral bells Upon a slender stalk Lilies of the Valley Deck my garden walk Oh, don't you wish That you could hear them ring That will only happen When the fairies sing
The chameleon plant is a very invasive in the UK and I found out this myself. It also has a really unpleasant smell when you break it! The butterfly bush is spreads all over by seed on land that is poor and dry where other plants struggle, but it a fantastic plant for butterflies so a positive benefit. Bamboo is grass on steroids again I learnt this from experience, choose one that clumps and it should be OK. The rest on your list here in the UK are not such a big issue. i wish lily of the valley would be a bit more evasive.
I get baby butterfly bushes that grow in the cracks between wood boards on my deck 😂. It's not really been a problem though, and I love sitting on the porch watching all the bees and butterflies who visit.
You’re welcome to my expanding areas of lily of the valley. I made the mistake of planting some 30 years ago in one flower bed. It has expanded into most of my flower beds, and the lawn. My husband spend a week cleaning out a 2’ x 6’ section this spring from the bed where I’d originally planted it. The roots made a mesh net 8” thick which he had to dry out in chunks so he could shake the dirt out. Just awful stuff! Still love the little flowers, but not worth it!
@@llm5726 Sounds like Violets (Viola riviniana) in my garden which infest everywhere. Still want my Lilly of the Valley but clearly I don't have a woodland type climate for them. Sometimes the battle to force plants to thrive is too much as I have with blue poppies which need similar.
I would add Vinca Minor. It's sold in every nursery, but once in your garden, it takes over and spreads everywhere. Getting it out is a major Pain-in-the-B....
I have 2 beds full of it and English ivy. They were planted by previous owners as well. I do find I can plant tulip and daffodil bulbs in the vinca miner (very lovely combination) and the dense matt keeps the squirrels, voles and moles from getting my bulbs. They would rather go to an area that is easier for them.. I started a drift of bulbs 6 years ago and have been adding same variety each fall…haven’t lost any and have gotten lots of compliments from the neighborhood dog walkers.
or, indeed, within many rocky alkaline soil states inside the USA. The things they say not to plant are things I absolutely would plant in Colorado on the chance they will survive.
I would add Spanish bluebells to that list. They spread by bulbs, some so tiny you can barely see them. I've been digging them up for 25 years and they still come back every year. The bulbs are very deep and pulling the foliage does nothing. It's my garden nemesis.
I share your pain. I have managed to virtually eradicate Spanish Bluebells in most areas of my garden, with deep and careful digging. However, it has an established presence along the base a Devon bank which runs along a shared boundary of my garden; other than taking the bank apart, there is nothing I can do to remove it from there, even herbicides (to use as a last resort) will not have an effect.
I live in Southern California. I bought a pretty purple-flowering plant one time that I later regretted. What a minute! I’m still regretting it years later! It’s the Mexican petunia or Ruellia simplex or brittoniana. It has been described as being reviled for its eagerness to spread with abandon. Some of the info I’ve found about it discusses how resilient the seeds are. I haven’t had that experience. But it readily grows to 6’ tall or more and spreads by underground roots. If any portion of the roots are overlooked when removing the plant, it will regrow. I have had it come up some 6 feet away from where it had been planted and removed. I like to call it the devil plant! 😮
A neighbor gave me some Mexican petunia and warned me it is invasive. I kept it in a pit, but that doesn’t stop it. I learned the hard way to HATE English ivy. I have to poison the kudzu every summer in GA. Got slimed by poison ivy while attacking the kudzu. I bought Russian sage in CO because it was drought resistant. What a mistake!
I have both the tall and the small varieties. The tall ones are highly invasive in Texas. I'm still trying to remove them after years. The dwarf one does spread but it doesn't have as vigorous growth as the bigger Mexican petunia.
@@moocrazytn so is poison ivy. Virginia creeper chokes out everything and takes over. I cannot imagine anyone desiring to actually plant it. Kudzu is another one around here that is taking over.
are you sure its not Kudzu ? im in Ky as well alot of locals call it creeper in this area and it is EVERYWHERE but it is Not native its from south east china. it was introduced in the south in the late 1800's and is know as the vine that ate the south. the gov planted it along bare hill's to prevent soil erosion in the early 1900's and it took over. the only good thing about it is it's edible all parts , the best way to get rid of it is pin it off and turn a few hog's or goats loose on it.
Thanks for this video. Interesting how these plants behave in different areas. I have a burberry bush that doesn't not move or pop up anywhere but I live in Northeastern Ontario. I can barely keep honeysuckle alive. The most invasive plant I have grown is creeping jenny: one little piece in my back yard and its all over my large yard now.
In KY the Flowering pear is a problem. I spent a few hours chainsawing some quick growing ones down. I hate those things. The Red Twigged Dogwood is also spreading. Honeysuckle both the vineing and bush are a huge problem.
Beware when you first start gardening. Friends who are happy to share their plants may be giving you invasives. After one summer with gooseneck loosestrife I dug it out after seeing how much it had crept around. Same with obedient plant. Dug out after one summer and was astounded the mass of runners underneath the soil. Some plants should be sold with a skull and crossbones on the pot.
I learned if the tag says ‘good ground cover’ or ‘ fast grower’ I avoid it! Got Houtonia (spelled wrong, but in the video) had to dig it out literally end of summer EVERY YEAR! And every year it came back with a vengeance! It smells odd, too! Like rotting citrus, or something. Very vinegary.
I totally agree. When I first was interested in flower garden, friends gave me plants that they had “ lots of” , but failed to tell me the consequences of inviting these plants into your garden. Now I battle many on the list but the worst one is Spiderwort - Tradescantia. It has taken over and is spreading to other yards. I am working hard to eradicate it. Given to me by a “friend” 😂
Yea, I’m in Zone 6 and I have clay soil and I killed my butterfly bush by over pruning when it was dying. For me it’s not invasive so I’m buying another to replace the old! 😅
It is not good because the butterflies love the taste - lay their eggs and the catarpillars starve of hunger- they cannot eat the leaves (toxic) and die..
@@sharynraun1096 ah…there are two varieties of the green liriope…..only one is invasive. I should have been more specific, I’m sorry. The variegated variety is a pure visual delight in the garden. Have fun out there 👍🏻
Great to see people starting to more often warn about the danger of plants sold in stores. I'm always amazed at how companies will still offer these plants even though they know there's a problem. They always try to find a workaround, claiming a new variety is "seedless" or "sterile", but we have to always remember that they said the same things about Bradford Pear. You can never know how different cultivars will react with each other, so just don't buy the stinkin' thing! We have so many beautiful native plants that serve the same purpose while also supporting the food web and creating a "sense of place". Use them and create a "sense of place" that's wholly unique rather than a carbon copy of everywhere else.
More plants to avoid: Japanese Knotweed (Reynoutria japonica), Oriental Bittersweet (Celastrus orbiculatus), Tree of Heaven (Ailanthus altissima), Multiflora Rose (Rosa multiflora), Common Periwinkle (Vinca minor), Mimosa Tree (Albizia julibrissin), Chinese Wisteria (Wisteria sinensis), Norway Maple (Acer plananoides), Ditch lilies (Hemerocallis fulva), and Autumn Olive (Elaeagnus umbellata). There are others...I've worked with some...one is a Privet variety, some Swallowworts as well (Vincetoxicum), Creeping Jenny (Lysimachia nummularia) which I have seen in stores! People NEED to stop planting these things. Especially in the northeast US the Tree of Heaven...which is fuel for the invasive Spotted Lanternfly. The sap can cause dermatitis in some, so if removing, handle with care, and it can be deadly for others causing cardiomyopathy. So use gloves. And if you find an "oversized" Queen Anne's Lace (so you think), contact your local extension office, especially if it has purple on the stems as this can be a HIGHLY toxic (to the touch!) plant. Don't try to remove it yourself. There are a host of other invasives that are water plants, but they're complicated. Look for your local PRISM office and see if they have ways you can help and ways you can learn.
I discovered Japanese knotweed is prohibited for sale for years in our neighbouring country the UK but widely available in my country the Netherlands. How is that possible? About the Japanse knotweed, must been said it's a beautifull plant with attractive leaves and beautifull flowers. 10 years ago there were some old abandoned houses that were on the list to be demolished and in one of the gardens i discovered a beautifull plant, wanted to SAVE the plant but the plant was far too big to migrate to my garden so i left it there. By accident i Later learned it was the dangerous Japanese knotweed...... Parts of the plant should be burned but most people throw them in the wrong gabagecan so it can find it's way to new victims.
I'm seeking clarification as I didn't think queen Anne's lace to be purple on the stem, but thought this was a similar looking plant of a different name and toxic?
Yes, tree of heaven--really the tree from hell. Sends up hundreds of suckers all along its roots. Sends roots not only under driveways but under streets into yards on the other side of the street. After WWII Berlin had mountains of rubble from bombed-out buildings--no soil, just brick, stone, and concrete.Even though Germany is / was too far north for Ailanthus, it thrived in the city's heat island. It began growing on these soilless wasteland mini-mountains across the city. This is the namesake for the novel "A Tree Grows in Brooklyn", whose protagonist takes inspiration from this tree that grew from a crack in the pavement in a place where nothing else grew. Tree of heaven is the tree that eats neighborhoods. Cut it down and hundreds more will grow from its roots spreading out all over your and your neighbors' yards just under the soil. And NAME that taller fake Queen Anne's lace! It is poison hemlock--the same hemlock that killed Socrates. But don't bother distinguishing between the two plants. Queen Anne's lace / wild carrot (yes, roots are edible) is very pretty in spring when it flowers and its delicate ferny leaves are so nice looking. And that d---- plant will seed everywhere and eat your yard and garden. I have been trying to eradicate it from mine for 23 years! And yes, you can eradicate poison hemlock without professionals. Just wear long sleeves and gloves and put the plant in a trash bag the minute you pull it.
The giant cousin of Queen Anne’s Lace here is called Giant Hogweed, and the sap destroys your skin’s ability to block sun rays, it causes severe burns. Periwinkle (vinca minor) is a huge problem for me. The previous (elderly) owner of our house planted vinca and English Ivy as ground cover, and it’s so hard to get rid of. Lily of the valley too, but that seems to be dwindling, between me pulling it up as much as I can and the hostas taking over that space. We’ve also cut down a huge burning bush and several Norway maples and Manitoba maples. We still get seedlings from both maples popping up every spring, but I just pull them like any other weed.
I planted wisteria and loved seeing it bloom every spring, until I learned the awful truth by accident. Driving down the highway, I began to notice beautiful wisteria blooms covering dead, 40 foot trees. The thought of my own wisteria smothering my Japanese maples and dogwoods nearly made me hysterical. I knew that if the root systems ever became intertwined, it was game over. I'd never get rid of it. I cut the wisteria, poisoned the wisteria, and dug up roots that ran for 20 feet. Years later, I was still finding new wisteria growth from the smallest of root fragments. It was like playing wack-a-mole.
I have a wisteria that tried to take over a 40' tree......so I cut all the tendrils and started weaving it in on it's self. Now it's a small tree and I just trim it. It's a 7' tree
I've lost a ton of land to wisteria. Just killed my plum tree because I didn't realize the problem since i was distracted by other things. The only thing you can do is spray it with herbicide regularly. Keep a careful eye out when you're walking around, and if you see a vine, cut it and spray it. I know a lot of people don't like using herbicides, but all these non-native plants give us no choice in the matter. There isn't enough time in the day to go around pulling everything you find, and if you don't use herbicides like glyphosate.... the invasive plants win because they can move faster than you can.
@@threeriversforge1997 The struggle is real. I cut my wisteria at it's base, then wrapped the stump in gauze saturated with ammonia (bleach, herbicide, anything lethal). I bored dozens of deep holes for a 3 foot radius around the base of the plant using rebar. Then, using a funnel, poured in herbicide, 2-3 times a weeks for two weeks to poison the roots. I dug up as many roots as I could and 'no', they still weren't dead. You will not win your battle until you dig up every root fragment. A new plant can sprout from a fragment 4 inches long. Took years of determination and sweat, but I finally got rid of it.
Chattanooga TN I didn't realize Lily of the Valley was such a problem. I'll be replacing it. Learned of some new ones. Have been fighting kudzu, bush honeysuckle and Chinese privet from neighbors' properties.
I appreciate you give an alternative. In my own yard I have been trying for 15 years to get rid of burning bush planted by the previous owner. Just awful!
Thanks for sharing that not all are invasive everywhere. Butterfly bush (Buddleia alternifolia) is actually native to my state. My parents still have Burning Bush that they bought back in the '80s. They cut it back to keep it in check but it would just spread forever if they let it. -- I have lamium (dead nettles) which are pretty but I was silly and didn't know it was in the mint family (lamiacae should have given it away) so it grows like wildfire. I put it in a raised bed and it's taken over everything, kindly choking out my heuchera (coral bells) and I don't think my Dutchman's Breeches even came up this spring because the lamium was so far spread. It's not technically invasive but that mint family goes bananas with spreading.
I bought my house a few years ago. There was a large growth of English Ivy between my house and the neighbor (they had lived in their house for 25 years) which covered the 6' fence and extended another 20' high and 15' into my yard. We spent the first few months removing it and discovered 3 cedar trees that were being suffocated by the ivy (we weren'tin time, they died). The neighbor never realized the cedar trees were there since the ivy was already covering them when they moved in. At first I was cutting the vines off from several "trees" that were as big around as my leg only to discover that the "tree trunks" were actually English Ivy vines. 2 years of attacking the ivy was necessary before it was finally irradiated.
I doubt that Chinese privet would be sold at a garden center, but here in the southeastern US both Chinese privet and Sweet Autumn clematis are invasive. The Clematis just loves growing over, and killing my shrubs. Tried digging it out by the roots, without much success. Birds spread it everywhere. A constant battle.
I dont think you can buy these in nurseries, but Chinese Bittersweet is at the top of my list. The seeds are eaten by birds and that is how it is distributed. Then add to that, the fact that it climbs bushes and trees and can strangle them. When you pull it up, the roots are red.
I've seen bittersweet growing and noticed that trees and other plants looking half dead and never gave a thought that maybe the bittersweet had anything to do with dieing plants. I am so glad that I never planted any! 😮
I have buried galvanized tubs to prevent this and the fertilizer stays within the tub and doesn’t leach out. I can pull tubs out when I want to replant and has saved me on potting mix as well.
We have been fighting morning glory for 20 years. My neighbor planted it and it quickly spread to my flower bed. It stills comes in a variety of spots every year. UGH!
UGH, is right! Morning Glory is the worst for me. A neighbor planted it and everyone on the block is still dealing with the fallout 10 years later. The only thing I've found that kills it is the really potent weed killers, which I hate using, but have no choice.
Ajuga / Bugleweed is one I’d add to the list. When I bought my house, the front lawn had big patches of it, as did each flower bed. Almost 20 years later, I’m still finding it popping up in random places, despite all the work I’ve done to get rid of it!
Sad to say but when people so freely "share" plants with you, often they give you their "invasive" plants. I had a beautiful area in my garden in Northern Virginia with Pachysandras. A friend gave me vincas. Every year I struggle to remove them because they took over my pachysandras. It has taken a decade to reestablish them.
A coworker gave me a chive plant. We have to police it well to keep it from spreading to the whole yard. I cut off most of its flowers when they bloom. Seems to help. I like a light onion flavor so I like chives and leek. My SIL gave us some blackberries and we have to police those, too. And they're thorny. But they do give us a lot of blackberries.
If I might offer (zone 7): Red Buds are very invasive too (~4 min). Their seeds spread & come up all over & the roots are deep. They're really a pain in iris & day lily beds, etc. Also, vinca (vine ground cover) is very invasive too. Poplar trees are also very invasive. I had the roots on one go well over 100 ft & numerous starts come up from those roots.
Some of the plants you list are native to where I live ,most are not . Some local people have tried to claim some certain plants are "invasive " when they are not .
@@georgesheffield1580 , point taken. I will tell you in my zone 7 (S. central WA), if gardeners don't keep up on containing the plants I listed, they're going to have a lot of "fun" getting rid of them.
Many people complain about sporadic nature of mint plant. If planted in ground, then it spreads rapidly everywhere. If planted in pot, container or raised garden bed, then it is ok.
Wow. I just learned at my local extension office that the volunteer pear trees on my land are undesirable weeds. So much for thanking God for free shade trees. They’ll soon be a bigger problem than the cedars that have taken over most pastures. Oh well time to start over. Same with the honey suckle growing on my fences. Was gonna transplant more but now will tear it all out. Thanks for the info.
Mexican Evening Primrose…I bought a 6 pack about 40 years ago, it became a neighborhood issue, it has invaded at least 8 houses and 2 streets. It also grew in my bathroom pipes and under my tile by my toilet, this plant caused thousands of dollars of damage to my bathroom. We had to buy a new toilet, replumb the entire bathroom, buy a new sink and get new cabinets. The roots destroyed everything! Don’t do it! That’s my rant for the day😳
Gah!
Shit. It was part of a seed pack for waterwise gardens. It’s been two years so it’s a established now. So far it’s not trying to takeover and I’m in Southern California which is technically in its native range, but now I’m nervous 😬.
I can't keep EPrim going in my backyard, the rabbits devour it, killing it. I had a 3 foot drift of it last year but it got eaten to the ground. I've got 1 plant left and I'm propagating it right now. Same with the yellow EP. Had that one in a pot and they mowed that down too.
I have been trying to eradicate this Primrose from my yard for years - still trying‼️🤪🤮
Holy Smokes!
Thank you for making suggestions for alternative plants rather than just saying which plants are invasive.
Agreed, very informative regarding alternative plant options - thank you for that! I’m in NC now where there are issues with English ivy and wisteria. When I lived in CA there were issues with those as well, plus scotch broom and bamboo
I also appreciated that!!
Yes, I too, agree. I hand pulled ivy for years in Georgia. It was next to a wooded area. It spread to all of the nearby trees, huge oaks that had been there for years! It felled them on a neighbor's property in a few short years!
I would much rather she hadn't done so. When trying to remember invasive plants vs noninvasive, it only adds confusion with more to remember.
Judging by the comments, it seems the term "invasive" needs to be defined, as well as the difference between "invasive" and "aggressive"/"fast-spreading"/"non-native"/etc.
True. To be defined as "invasive" a plant has to meet 2 USDA criteria. However, many plants blur the lines and aggressive tendencies can lead to invasive spread.
My question would be how their aggressive nature affects other plants ability to grow
ie Water Hyacinth
"Invasive" has two meanings. There's the legal definition where technically nothing is truly "invasive" unless the government has deemed it so in an official sense. Then there's the commoner's definition that is actually ahead of the curve, as usual. When we say that a plant is "aggressive" in the garden.... you can rest assured that it'll be just as aggressive outside the garden. If it grows fast, it grows fast, and that means it'll be a problem in the ecosystem when it escapes. The latter is the more accurate definition because it's reporting in real time and doesn't rely on bureaucrats and scientific studies, etc. People were warning about Kudzu, Russian Olive, Bamboo, Wisteria, and a host of other garden plants long before the various government agencies.
Just ask the uk government. They banned "gunnera manicata" because its cousin "gunnera tinctoria" is invasive, and it was discovered that all plants sold as "gunnera manicata" in the uk is actually a new hybrid of the two they have dubbed "gunnera cryptica". The only kicker is that gunnera cryptica has a fertility rate that is less than half of manicata, and less than a fifth of tinctoria... trust the uk government to mess something up that badly, eh?
English ivy is an awful problem here in NW Oregon. It completely takes over native ground cover, and it climbs trees and weakens and kills them.
Goats will eat it.
In France we put it on a fence. Provides great cover and we trim it twice a year
I think it's native here in belgium . But it's grows very vigorously
Use it to make laundry soap. Google English ivy laundry soap
Here is SE Kansas it will grow. But our periodic droughts and fierce winter winter winds will periodically kill it to the ground. It's not a problem here. In fact I wish it could grow better.
Go for native species that benefit pollinators in your area. They also won’t be invasive, although some can be aggressive.
I removed a trumpet vine 5 years ago. I am still battling the sprouts that spring up all over my yard and flowers beds.
I have a huge trumpet vine on a small old private fence. I'm always pulling little ones up all over my yard and in my flower beds. I love itbut it's very invasive.
@@judyingram-kh1vmHu
I did planted one a few years ago and now i do regret but i still love the flowers!
Plant Parthinnium and it will take over everything then burn it down before it dries.
Mature trumpet vine grew in front of the south exposed window of the old house we bought. we prunned it a bit and continued with it for another 20 years.
I cannot describe how effective, beautiful natural screen - air conditioning and even sound barier it created.
We kept it to about middle of the height of the window - beautiful, useful plant, bu ha to be size- controlled.
I would suggest adding Trumpet Vine to your list. It’s growing on the neighboring property and has invaded our raised garden beds. I pulled out several thick roots over ten ft long from our garden bed just so we could plant our garden this year.
Yes, unfortunately, I planted it years ago, not knowing how invasive it would be, and that the roots travel like 20 ft underground and pop up everywhere. You cannot pull them up, as they are connected to the strong underground root that comes from the parent plant. You have to cut them to the ground and use an herbicide to kill them, but they just come up somewhere else. Have been trying to get rid of it for years. Still have them.
Yes, grow only in large containers. A great substitute is crossvine. I have planted Tangerine and Ruby Red about 3 feet apart along a fence. Their long branches intermingle, top the fence, and spill over. It looks like one plant whose flowers either open orangy red then fade to a clearer , paler orange, or vice versa.
@@joellangvardt8842 LOVE my Tangerine crossvine!
If we're talking Campsis radicans, it's native to North America, and a native plant will never truly be invasive. Extremely aggressive, yes, but I adore this plant for the benefits it brings to native wildlife. If you have a small area, it's a terrible plant to choose for your home garden, however. Right plant, right place.
@@horohorosrin if only... we didn’t plant it. It’s coming from the neighboring property which is extremely overgrown and uncared for. I pulled roots out of our raised garden so I could plant our vegetables. Now it has invaded two more raised gardens which equals more work for me.
This video said EXACTLY what I needed to hear. I adore how the narrator suggested alternatives after describing the invasives.
If I could add two more to this list: blackberry and Rosa Multifora. These two get out of hand almost immediately and they issue direct eviction notices to wildlife (and people) due to their suffocating nature and strong needle-sharp thorns.
I live in Southern Maryland and, between the Japanese honeysuckle, blackberry, and rosa multiflora, we are -and I’m a being completely serious here- we ARE losing our forests and wildlife. I am fighting back so aggressively on my 8 acres in the Port Tobacco River watershed. So much so, that today when I saw my golden rod patch being crept on by all three, I stopped the car, got out and had myself a blood bath while ripping it all out. The threat of scars and sore hands no longer scares me away because I know now the damage these invasive plants are causing.
It is the saddest thing to realize that I likely only have 20 more good years left in me to fight this fight. I’m 41 now and will likely dedicate my life to removing these species from my property and aggressively reseeding with natives, hoping that the good ones spread, and not the bad ones.
ashleansmith: I'm 75 and still at it. You have to have a system and sometimes lots of help. I've started learning what's edible and serving it up. Then yanking it. OF course it grows back. God's gifts to us. Learning how to live with it. Good luck and Many Blessings for more than 20 years.
You’ve got a lot more than 20 years left. You’ll be surprised how vigorous and strong you’ll still be in 20 years. Forty-one is very young!
Blackberries? I just planted some blackberry bushes last year. I have noticed that they are quickly starting to spread.
At least blackberries are food,so there’s that.I love them.I can keep them under control but digging up the ones I don’t want,but I want lots of them❤️
Being active in gardening you probably have at least 35 yrs to continue gardening. Right now in Md we are battling a terrible heat wave which puts a damper on gardening.
I had chameleon plant in my front garden. I later had the drive dug up to a depth of 1 metre, hardcore laid, sand on top, then bricks laid. Guess what came through 18 months later?
Oh my😮
I had one plant turn into a 20 year nightmare. They popped up everywhere! The horrible smell of trying to pull them up was gag inducing. I finally eradicated the huge patch by covering the entire area with black landscaping tarp for 3 years! Finally, the nightmare plant was smothered out of existence.
@@DaisyMaeMoses Yikes! what was the plant?
I bought chameleon plant at a community plant sale. I googled its growing needs, discovered how invasive it is, and tossed the plant into the city yard waste bin.
Bamboo is not only invasive, but the roots are deep, strong, and can’t get rid of.. it is taking over the neighborhood.
Istina ,bambus ,pampas trave ,vrbe ,lipe itd
Bamboo or Japanese Knotweed?? 🤔🤣🤣 Both can be a blessing. "We" (in the West) are so inflexible..... Even the amazing Dandelion plant is persecuted..... ✌️🤣🤣🇨🇦
My sister had some in her yard last year. I guess I should tell her that it'll be back!! Lol!
It took 2 seasons to completely get rid of the bamboo in the backyard of the house i purchased. 😮💨
@@philipwhatley6742 "Was it edible?" ✌️🇨🇦
I just have to include mint to this list. I recently bought a house whose yard was neglected and overgrown. After cutting back it was discovered that mint was growing everywhere. I can't put anything in the ground until it is gone. It might take several weeks but sure enough after a rain - a few more mint leaves come up through the soil. A whole summer wasted on mint pulling.
Wild onions and wild garlic chives!! My yard is FULL of random patches of this stuff. When we mow our lawn in the backyard, all you can smell is onion! 🤢
Sheet mulching might be your best bet to deal with it. Don't forget heavy overlap of the cardboard and thick thick layers of mulch. Good luck!
😅😅😅😅
@@Temme1553 love it!
@@Thi-Nguyen Well, on the bright side, it should keep voles away! 😆 I planted hundreds of tulip bulbs one year, and during the winter, under the cover of snow, voles from the surrounding woods absolutely INVADED my property to feast on the bulbs! I've been trying to plant more daphodils and have plans to add allium (onion family) because those are some of the few plants voles avoid! They eat just about everything... what a nightmare!
I bought a house with ivy and Lily of the Valley 20 years ago. Lily same as gone. Barely a dent in ivy.
Morning GLory has all these nightmares beat. This beautiful purple vine flower will climb from below and suffocate any plant it touches. Undetected going through grass until flower shows its face to say, "GOT YAH".😅
Difference between morning glory flowers and the morning vine. But most seeds don’t usually differentiate between the two. The vibrant colors are usually ok. The mixed pale colors. Not so much.
I’ve been fighting it for years. Dug up a huge root system and it went 2 feet deep. I hate morning glory. Never planted it, but my neighbor thought it’d be a cool plant to cover their dog kennel 😒
Planted it 20 years ago. Been fighting to keep it at bay ever since. So sorry that I ever planted it. Avoid at all costs. 😢
Bindweed...
Not morning glory you mean Bind weed.
Fantastic video! I will never understand why garden centres sell invasive plants - or at least sell them with a warning for indoor use only or something. Thank you for highlighting this important issue and sharing many of the culprits that make our way into gardens across the country. Let's hope some changes are made after so many people watching this! I know I have a bit of research to do! Thanks again for sharing these important messages!! 💚
Just a thought - Species are often labeled invasive because of how they are able to out-compete native species for resources. So garden centers sell them because they grow easily and rarely fail which makes customers happy (well, customers).
@@jimnasium452 you make a good point, but with the potential detriment to the native environment, should these invasives not be sold with some warnings / information to at least warn the purchaser? I would never had planted my English ivy if I had known it was going to outcompete everything and harm the native environment! I thought it was pretty and green - which is exactly the problem.
I was told that mint would take over and not a good idea to grow it. But I had/have grown it for years in flower pots, and contained growing areas, and it has never created a problem.
@@pattybhealthy7334 hence the problem continues
We recently bought a few acres where the property had wisteria growing up all the trees and pulling the branches down. We have spent abt 6 months and finding new starts everywhere still today.
I've never had any issues with Butterfly Bush, but Scotch Broom is hellishly invasive. I've pulled up wheelbarrows full of it. On the plus side, this makes for some pretty spectacular bonfires, as the plant seems to be loaded with turpentine. It burns even when green.
Butterfly bushes are all around just bad for our native pollinators. It distracts them from the native plants and is toxic to their larva so is not even a host plant.
And burning it with seed pods activates the seed for quicker sprouting.
That's because it's very oily
Burning it stimulates it to drop its seeds which negates your hard efforts to remove it. You may want to bag it up instead and haul it to your local garbage depot.
I have a few butterfly bushes in my beds that I didn't plant. I try to remove the spent flowers before they have a chance to spread elsewhere and take over.
I have been fighting English Ivy in Georgia for years. The best way I have found to control it besides pulling it up is to spray it with 30% vinegar (not the 5% white vinegar you buy at the grocery store). You can find it at big box hardware stores. Mix it in a sprayer with 2 tsp dish detergent, and a tsp of salt. Spray it on any ivy you see, but be careful not to get it on anything you want to keep...so don't do it on a windy day. The vines are usually brown and dead the next day making it a lot easier to pull anything left. Just make sure you dont compost it either. I bag it up to be taken away
How much vinegar in proportion to the soap and salt?
@@user-ji2oj6ni2q For 1 quart of vinegar 1 tsp of salt and 2 tsp of dish soap
@@user-ji2oj6ni2q for 1 quart of vinegar, 2 tsp dish soap and 1 tsp salt
Great tip! I’ll have to try this! My husband and I have also been fighting English ivy for years!
Pola količine octa ,pola vode i sol
I must have (by fortunate mistake) purchased a sterile butterfly bush -- it's been in the same place for over 10 years and I haven't seen a sprout anywhere else in my yard!
Most of these plants aren't a problem where I live so I was really surprised to see barberry and burning bush on the list. I appreciate the way alternate plants are listed.
Butterfly bushes are now sterile and seedless. I spent the day (first of many) digging out Forget Me Nots. This is a plant that spreads underground and spreads quickly.
This! Forget Me Not are good in big planters only.
I planted a little beach rose at the front of my walk way and it was so cute and welcoming.........5 years later it took over the most part of the walk and threatens visitors like Gandalf, " You shall not pass!!!!!" Beware of the beach rose!!!!!!
😂
Hahaha!
😂 Gandalf, the beach rose strikes again!!
Honestly, reading about all of these various invasive, aggressive plants I hesitate to put ANYTHING in my garden.
My personal nightmare a few years ago was VINCA. It just took over and, when last I saw it, was heading for the middle of our street looking for further yards to conquer. I finally excavated most of it out, enough to put in some lovely Peonies that did well in that space.
I have read that applying white vinegar to a wound in the stem of almost any plant will kill it...eventually. You have to keep applying it. You also have to be VERY careful not to get it in plants you want to keep. Supposed to be good for killing poison ivy.
When I read "The meek shall inherit the earth" it didn't occur to me that it meant PLANTS! 🌿😵💫
Virginia Creeper is my nemesis. I've tried for years to get rid of that along with some other plants I find cropping up all over my lawn. So hard to keep up on.
Whenever it rains abundantly, I walk to my yard armed with a shovel to try to uproot t Virginia Creeper. That is truly an insidious vine.
@@paulafranciscac2787 My problem is the majority of it is along a fence line, intermingled with tons of lilac bushes. The other thing is I have a commercial site next door and everything grows over there too, and it just comes right back.
Yes Yes
Creepers taken over I chop them constantly
@@asamanyworlds3772 I was at a farm store type place recently and in their garden section I saw a potted Creeper. I couldn't believe my eyes. People plant that on purpose?!
Horseradish is another plant to take care with. I planted some in my garden and thankfully I looked up information on growing horseradish and learned how invasive it is. I dug it out within 3 days and transferred it to a pot. It is apparently a real spreader in the garden and even the smallest root fragments left behind will regrow. I love making my own fresh horseradish so I container grow it only and have it sitting on concrete so there is no chance of roots touching neighbouring soil.
It depends on the area. On my zone 4 property, it did spread a bit, but so slowly it was not a problem.
Wow!!! 😢
@@sanniepstein4835 Good to know that there is some zone dependence, thanks for mentioning. I’m in zone 8b and consensus around here seems to be to avoid planting horseradish into the ground.
I have Horseradish for 10 years and it is NOT spreading.
We are in the north of England and planted horseradish in the ground at our allotment about five years ago. I wish we'd planted it in a pot. One small leaf showing equals six inches to a foot of root underground! We keep digging it up and it keeps coming back! It's in a section with mint and rhubarb ( both prolific growers) and still comes back.
Scotch broom ... UGH!
I live in Oregon and it's everywhere west of the Cascades. Doesn't grow in the high desert.
It's a beautiful plant, but when it seeds, it launches them up to 4ft, so there's no way to tell until the next year where it's going to germinate. There are two issues with this admittedly beautiful plant. First, it's fast growing and faster spreading. You may have a single plant one year, and then a dozen over several acres the next.
Second, it's actually a pretty aggressive allergen. For those who have allergies or asthma, it's no bueno.
Luckily, the bare foliage is easy to identify and if they're not too tall, you can pull them out. Just know that when trying to pull them out, the roots are as deep as the plant is tall, so you have to be vigilant and pull these things up before they bloom if you can find them. If not, just wait until they start to bloom to identify where they are. You have to be on it in spring because if even one seeds, you may have a dozen or 2 the next year.
For the largest plants, there's no way you're pulling them out. All you can do is trim to the trunk and daub with crossbow or a mixture of vinegar, salt and dish soap. Why daub? These two methods will kill everything it touches. There are empty bingo daubers that can be bought online, and then you can fill them with either. No other way.
They can't even be dug up because you must get EVERY LAST root or it will regrow.
I love sweet broom. Wonderful plant in hot areas.
Čempresi ,trave koje rastu visoko ,otrovne biljke mogu ugroziti alergičare
What is the ratio of vinegar, salt, and dish soap? I'd like to try that mixture on some plants. Thank you for any help.
They're a blight in British Columbia too
Yucca!! You should have included the Yucca plant!! So many people have planted them in planters to accent their driveways and they are taking over yards and are not easily killed or gotten rid of. They are spreading everywhere here and the more you try to remove them the more they spread.
No. 11 Harebell! We had a single plant show up in our landscape many years ago and thought the hanging bell flowers we very attractive. The plant is now invading the yard and nearby woods. The rhizomes make it impossible to remove fully. I keep it somewhat under control pulling it from the woodland garden area but throughout the yard cutting and spraying with broadleaf herbicide just slows it down. Any patches found in other areas get covered with a sheet of EPDM rubber (leftover from a project) and it eventually dies.
Our Mulberry tree is also posing a problem with new tree shoots popping up all over our property. We’re in Northeast Wisconsin
worked as a landscaper in the 2000's up till 2011 in Ohio and im fairly sure i planted almost every single one of those plants , the Bradford pear , burning bush , and Barberry was staples we used on nearly every job.
I have absolutely terrible soil-- it doesn't perc and is extremely alkaline. A burning bush actually DIED in my front yard. Lily of the valley is barely making it and butterfly bush will only grow in raised beds.
For me, the draw to lily of the valley is the delicious sopporific scent. My aunt had a mass of them planted under her bedroom window for that very benefit. I suppose in a tufa planter, one could sequester them from the garden in general.
So nicely stated.😊
I absolutely adore Lily Of The Valley! In my eastern Washington State yard where the winters get cold, I had a lovely area bursting with these fragrant little gems. It was about two square yards bordered on all sides by concrete and foundation walls, so no danger of spreading. I picked those flowers every May for a beautiful, dainty bouquet.
Excellent idea! Why didn’t I think of that. Looks like its time to shop for new pots 😂 just for lily of the valley
My Mother (lives next door to me - Southeastern MI) regrets having planted that Chameleon Plant when I was a kid. And the Conservatory I volunteer at is constantly fighting that Japanese Honeysuckle (and some non-native tress that plague the property) with literal actual FIRE. ;)
NOTE: While juniper may work as a pretty good hedge, it does change the chemical makeup of the soil it grows in so less things will grow there (I mean that's not terrible if you're trying to reduce weeds, but...) Oh AND it drops twigs of EXTREMELY sharp dried pin-needles (no, that's not a typo of pine-needles, they're actually that stabby) that go right through most gloves... Wouldn't really recommend those either. lol
I like the idea of junipers between me and a neighbor that calls the township if I sneeze too loud!
I can understand Ivy being on this list. We moved into a house with ivy being used as ground coverage and 5 years later, I'm still trying to eradicate it from my property so I can replace it with clover. That and Virginia creeper. The creeper will literally strangle my roses to death if I don't pull it out. I can't find the root system anywhere, it just keeps growing.
I have seen the invasiveness of bamboo firsthand! Same with the English Ivy. Unfortunately, we planted a butterfly Bush 2 years ago. It towers over other plants. It grows so fast!
Ditto
I have just spent a couple of weeks digging up my garden to get rid of Bell flower (Campanula). It was taking over the whole garden.
! I gasped when she suggested bellflower as a non-invasive alternative. Yikes!
Mint! Also I've had a citronella plant take over a whole front yard.
No mosquitoes but also no room
That bamboo will spread regardless. I had the "non invasive" one in my yard when I bought my house.
Yeah…the clumping bamboo just gets bigger mounding clumps every year😅
The scientific evidence is that citronella doesn't deter mosquitos. It's simply not pungent enough unless crushed.
@@Peleski Interesting!
@@PeleskiThe only botanical proven to repel mosquitos is lemon eucalyptus, but not just growing the plant ; you have to extract the oils.
@@MyFocusVaries Can you post a link to the proof?
another thing about scotch broom is it is highly flammable and its sap is like jet fuel to any wild fires that encounter it.
I'd add Rose of Sharon to the list of horrible invasive weeds. I once spotted a mysterious flowering plant in the field. Said to my self "that would look nice in my backyard". I dug it out and planted. Big mistake. I soon realized that the thing dropped seeds and sprouted 100s of seedlings. I dug the miserable thing out but I'm still pulling volunteers years later.
haha, I love your writing style.
I just bought two cameleon plants at the plant nursery because they are so pretty.. You can bet, after watching this video, they will be taking out of my flower bed.. asap.. thank you.. Also, that evening primrose, in the yellow version, is popping up everywhere.. what an impressive plant.. It is in my border walls and adds a really beautiful look to my Japanese garden.. I have been pulling out young plants where i don't want it, but you can sure see how it is invasive.. thank you for this info.. I have been at my place for a little over a year now, and this plant is new to me.. Just started growing in my garden this summer.. Never have seen it before, and seeing it outside in the neighbourhood.. We live in a wooded area, so we have sooo many different native flowering plants.. It is very interesting to see what comes up and flowers... Thank you foryour very informative video!!
I am so glad this video caught you right in the nick of time! I still find this plant all over my landscape beds no matter how many times I pull it out.
- Amy
My neighbor planted the chameleon plant and boy did he regret it.
I would like to think a local nursery would not sell invasive plants for that area. How disappointing
Make sure you remove every scrap of root.
If I was buying a property and I saw even a single chameleon plant on it that would be a deal breaker. Nope, nope, and nope.
Along with honeysuckle, wisteria is another beautiful but horrendously invasive species in my area. That definitely goes on my list. I am a little disappointed that when talking of the bamboo, though, you didn't mention native giant river cane. It's harder to find for sale, but it's a native 'bamboo' that hosts several bird & insect species that are currently in danger of extinction because of the decline of the native 'canebreak' areas. It looks closer to decorative bamboos than other grasses and the species could really use the boost of people adding it to their landscapes.
Morning Glories are super invasive!!!
Them things grow like weeds! 😫
Still fighting the wisteria our former neighbor planted over 30+ years ago. They may have thought it would look like Tiffany’s stained glass; all it’s been is an invasive, choking PIA. 🙄
Hey,I'm in GA,that wisteria's a tree killer,man.
Omg. I have two wisteria plants that I have to constantly keep in check and my next door neighbor has a wall of English ivy. The battle is real.
Wisteria is not “a species”. It is a genus of several species. The very showy and common Asian ones are invasive in the USA, but species and varieties of American ones like Amethyst Falls are not
We have a massive problem with Rhodedendron ponticum in the UK. It pretty much kills everything else and is very difficult to eradicate,
One of the plants that you recommend as a replacement for bamboo for screening a property from its neighbors is arborvitae. In NJ, it is just deer food. Every arborvitae around here has been nibbled down for the first six feet above the ground.
Did you add the fact that if you plant these to plant them in a container in the ground and they won’t spread via roots?
Much of the invasiveness is related to climate…here in the Chicago area we commonly have temperatures around zero for several weeks in early winter, and then yo-yo temps until may….although we have some invasive plants (Bradford pear I.e.) most everything gets killed, even border line nice plants like roses. Tee hee sometimes what manages to survive the weather gets devoured by bunnies. But the reseeding thing is easily avoided by cutting the plant back before it develops seed pods.
All it takes is one year of neglecting deadheading....
@@MyFocusVaries true that
I live in Austin- nandina/heavenly bamboo and ligustrum/chinese privet are extremely invasive and very tough to eradicate. Sad to say, you can still buy them in the big box stores. Four O'Clocks are native to Mexico, so tolerate Austin weather and are perennials here. However, they require a bit of care to thrive, so I don't consider them invasive. A month of 105 degrees without rain will kill them, but not nandina nor ligustrum. Our big freeze of Feb 2021 semi-killed many of the ligustrum, but most regenerated dozens of shoots from the base of the trunk not unlike the Hydra of mythology. Nandina was totally unaffected.
I found out, after not realizing I should have looked it up before just cutting it down... Nandina's roots/rhizomes get the signal that damage has occurred and sends out new growth in another spot. My back bed was RIFE with the things... Now that I know, I took a suggestion from the Ladybird Johnson Wildflower Center re: ending nandina w/o getting lots of new plants: VERY VERY careful application of the glyphosate concentrate that shall not be named to a freshly cut stalk. THAT ends the nandina...it takes some time but it works! Over the last year, I'd take an hour or so every so often, double-gloved up, grabbed a disposable little brush, my cutters and set-to in a particular part of the back bed. More to go, but the amount of nandinas is GREATLY reduced. I want them all gone. Trying to intersperse natives where the nandinas have been gone for a bit.
The thing that drives me crazy is that these plants are allowed to be sold in the first place! WHY?!?! Especially after they are deemed invasive!
It really depends on what you do with them. Mint for example, is highly invasive, but fine in pots. And who doesn't love mint?
Because they’re easy & cheap to reproduce, perfect for making a profit.
Pots are not going to stop seeds from spreading. My yard became host to some neighbor's Mexican petunia, asparagus fern, plus happily some native Florida sage, among other plants that wind and birds spread about @@Peleski
@@LibbyRalokay, but like, the alternative is that people can’t grow their own herbs and vegetables. Mint is used in a lot, and is a large family on top of that.
And mint isn’t even that bad depending on where you live. I’ve yet to meet a plant a good Texas summer and a March freeze hasn’t managed to kill. I tried growing mint in a pot and it was decimated by the weather. Only thing that survived more than one summer were the moss roses, and they’re gone too now.
Personally, I also have a terrible time growing mint. I laugh when I hear it's invasive. And there's a species I really want to grow - corsican mint - because it makes a great mosquito repellent. But there are many places that mint does spread like crazy, and the wind can carry it very far.
As for your alternative @@tisvana18 I don't understand how you are coming to that conclusion just because some invasive species are banned, all vegetables and herbs are banned.
I was so proud when I got English Ivy to grow up a brick wall. When it started lifting the roof off the house, I whacked it off at the roots and picked roots off that wall.
Yikes!
I've heard it can damage the brick & mortar on a house as well. I have some along my back fence line. I've been fighting it for 3 years, haven't got it killed off yet
@@jessieyork4508 You might try pouring straight vinegar onto the roots when you cut it back. There’s a form of vinegar which higher acid content sometimes used for this purpose.
@@deepost2604 ok, I'll try it. Thank you!
@@deepost2604do you suppose trumpet vine might hate strong vinegar also?
I live in Canada in Zone 3, like Minnesota: cold. I have seen neglected flowerbeds packed with “Campanula Glomerata” or Clustered Bellflower, which has pretty purple heads of bells. Once you have it, you will never be without it. The Garden centres do mention it “spreads rapidly in rich soils.”
Others you will have a hard time getting rid of: Yarrow, (that overtakes the lawn, with spreading roots and seeds), as well as Lamium, Lemon Balm, Bachelor’s Buttons, Virginia Creeper, Tansy, and others that I noticed are still sold by garden centres, including Baby’s Breath (not including the pink ground cover type) and Snow in Summer.
I depend on the more prolific “survivors” and reseeding/spreading/perennial nature of plants to fill up the flower garden (like Blue Flax, Viola, Chinese Forget-me-nots, Dill, Candytuft, Wild ferns, Poppies, Cosmos, Artemisia) and have given up on completely eradicating Yarrow. Some of these plants have seeded themselves happily in the drainage rocks around the foundation of the house, so obviously do not need a lot of care. Edit; I forgot to mention it is a good idea to add some native growing flowers for the bees and butterflies, like Milkweed, wild bellflowers, non-spreading Goldenrod, wild Asters, Blanketflower, Black-eyed Susans.
Milkweed will come up everywhere. It showed up in my garden by it's self now it's everywhere 😢
Yes to natives! Replace what we are eradicating from our environment.
Hello fellow zone 3 gardener! My mom calls the blue bells "hell's bells" they are destroying our creek 😢
@@ah7smpa853milkweed attracts butterflies. The butterflies lay their eggs on them then you have caterpillars that will eat them up and then the final stage of butterflies. The plants grow back easily. I have milkweeds but they aren’t spreading on their own yet and I want them to as I’m raising and releasing monarch butterflies because they are endangered. And it’s a real fun project.
Lemon Balm! OMG, it took me years to get rid of that.
Lets not forget about St Johns Wort, Seattle Washington. I spent 8 yrs in a rockery to no avail.... 😢
People don't know these info before planting, so there are so many messy gardens which cost a lot to make it clean. This forecasting info is useful.
I've been battling lily of the valley for years... also when i bought my house i pulled out several holly bushes... I'm still finding runners and new starts from those nasty things! Horseradish is awful and honestly i have locust trees that are nasty too... if a branch breaks off you'll find runners growing on the other side of your yard for years! 😵💫🥺
Holly grows wild around here and it is the "rare" bush in the forest. Hmmmm.....
Fantastic video. Mentioning alternative plants is a huge help.
I have a Japanese Barberry in my garden for more than 5 years. It's very stunning. So far, there is no sign of spreading in the garden. I will keep an eye on it for the possible ticks issue. Thank you for the reminder.
Interesting video. Good to see that you have recommended alternatives to these plants. Good details on why each plant is invasive and where. Another plant to watch out for in many parts of the country, especially the North Central and Northwest is Spurge. Leafy Spurge is a terribly invasive plant in this area and its relatives spread quite well too.
Where I live in Las Vegas, NV, many of these won't survive outside of irrigated areas, but if you have a home or property near one of the remaining wetlands in the area, some of these plants can invade such areas.
Some palm trees have become a bit of a weed problem here, especially Canary Island Date Palm. Their seed grows very well in irrigated places and the trees need pulled out of lawns, flowerbeds and next to building foundations before they get too big.
I live in Texas, and my soil is sand. I love 4 O'clocks. I planted a few and low and behold they have become very invasive, and have tried taking over my acre yard. I'm constantly literally digging them up. The roots as big as large cabbages. Be careful where you plant them.
Never heard of a 4 o'clock so I looked it up. They look pretty, thanks for the warning I won't plant any of them.
They are terrible spreaders!
I live in southern Dallas County. I appreciate your warning and will try to corral the 4 o’clocks that have appeared at the front of my yard.
When Mom had a garden, she would plant 4 o’clocks every year. We lived in NJ.
I had grown 4 o'clock flowers for years with minimal success.😮
Where many of you consider these plants invasive, I consider them an option because of the area where I live. I love a beautiful garden, but I don't love the maintenance, so the less I have to do, with good looks is prime in my book. Invasive also means tough on foot traffic for those who don't understand the phrase, get out of my flower bed.'
Ms. B. Churchill
Add white yarrow to the list of plants that, once put into the ground, WILL spread like wildfire wherever its seeds might fall. I planted three basic yellow yarrow plants over a decade ago in my perennial garden, and because they did well on the high, arid plains of Eastern Colorado, I thought I would add some multicolored varieties. Big mistake. Any color other than yellow yarrow, the 'base' plant, will be a white variant (pinks, purples, oranges and peaches, etc.) and will become incredibly invasive. To keep it in check, one would have to be constantly deadheading (much like the herbal scourge, lemon balm), and while it is drought-tolerant for those of us in dry climates, its toughness is a double edged sword. Stick with the plain yarrow, if you have to have it. Not once have I seen the yellow yarrow spread or send out a bajillion seeds that will end up sprouting up EVERYWHERE.
But yarrow is super good for many home remedies. Just tr off the flowers and dry them for later use, then they can’t go to seed right? (Honest question as I’m trying to grow a medicinal garden and that’s top of my list with calendulas)
I’m in zone 8 and I’m very relieved that I don’t have any of the plant talked about in this video in my garden. Thanks for sharing
I agree with the list you have sent in this reading. Thank you. Another no-no is periwinkle. Once planted, it isn't easy to get rid of, given its speedy rapid-spreading tendency!
I love the periwinkle that has covered a steep , barren hill behind my house .
Creeping Jenny.... looks great but very much a pain to control. At least it's easier to pull out than some of the others!
It. is considered invasive in Montana and definitely not sold anywhere.
Yes, and I couldn't believe it when my wife bought Creeping Jenny two years ago at Walmart. At least she put it in a planter.
We have some in the front yard, now it’s sprouting up in the neighbor’s yard!
Always check with your local Extension, DNR, state forestry if you want to be really sure what has moved into invasive/prohibited category. Try to find natives or plants that actually help the ecosystem rather than just are 'pretty' to you. If you are not sure if a plant attracts pollinators, visit a garden featuring it and observe who visits. Or just observe it for 5-10 minutes on a warm afternoon at your garden center. Any visitors??
I live in the desert ---just getting anything to grow would be amazing!
Right?! I watched this to figure what plants I Should try growing 😅
Try Sedum, Lavender or Columbine.
I tend to over water and these three do not like it.
I don't live in the desert and it is so sandy it is hard to get anything to grow! However Lilly of the valley loves it.
I would send you some English Ivy, but I trashed 🗑 it!!
The Chinese tree is fast growing and drought tolerant. Also, Mexican bird of paradise thrives in the hottest climate..also breath of heaven PLANT, IS GORGEOUS AND DOES SO WELL IN HELL HEAT. AND ITS AN EVERGREEN.
I had a neighbor plant raspberry bushes in their backyard. Within two years, everyone had little raspberry bushes popping up all over the place, even in my porch's gutters (thanks to the birds). It's now at the point where my lower back yard is the forbidden forest of hellish thorns and almost unedible raspberries on thickets all of which are taller than I am. The only thing that is choking them out is the super invasive Japense Knotweed that is the other bane of my existence.
Japanese Knotweed--a nightmare for sure in NW Oregon. AND English Ivy and Scotch Broom!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Lemon Balm took out our raspberries
My house was built over 20 years ago. Every year, I fight something that looks like a grapevine but never bears fruit. While cutting down the 'grapevines', I found a patch of black raspberries that had not been there before. My landscapers cut down all but 1 twig. To protect it, I surrounded it with a cage. Your comment is causing me to reconsider keeping it.
I had vinca vine one year as a trailing plant in a pot and it rooted itself all over the place! Not as bad as the ones you have mentioned but wish I never bought it. It was was of the first plants I bought when beginning gardening and did not know better not to let it touch the ground. Unfortunately we learn from our mistakes. 😑
I live in a wooded are of the PNW and bought my property 30 years ago. The previous owner used vinca as a ground cover in several areas and it is so hard to remove! Anywhere that I decide to plant flowers I have days of exhausting digging to do to get rid of it and it is impossible to get it all out!
I like vinca vine and creeping jenny. Im all for ground cover. Better than crabgrass.
I constantly battle with vinca, as I inherited it with house.
Trumpet Vine is highly invasive and will take over everything. I made that mistake and am now trying to get rid of the blasted plants.
Glad you warned me. I was going to buy some to plant near my new fence!
Western WA has so many.
My friend bought a house with an overgrown garden filled with classic nightmares.
English ivy
Himalayan blackberry
Silver lamium
Bindweed (worse than morning glories i think.)
Bitter nightshade.
The list goes on....
I've helped her battle them.
Goutweed, Chinese Lantern & Pampas Grass are giving me a lot of work trying to eradicate them.
Pampas grass has leaves that cut hands.
As a landscape architect of way too many years, I enjoyed your presentation. Especially mentioning alternatives to the plants you believe are invasive.
Thank you for posting, such an important topic! It’s pretty upsetting what the garden centers still sell - Callery Pear is very easy to buy in my area, despite it being such an ecological disaster! ❤
Love that you explaining the invasive species and then discuss options that are safer
Garlic chives! I'm in zone 5b. If they go to seed and they take root good, they are difficult to pull out. I hate using Roundup but don't bother with that anyway, it doesn't work. Burying them doesn't work. Drowning them doesn't work. They're like Michael Myers in the Halloween movies. Next season, they'll be back, mocking you worse than ever.
VLASAC JE JESTIVA BILJKA IZ PORODICE LUKA I ZDRAVA JE
eat it😊
Just don't let it flower. Mistake I made only once. Use them like green onions on food.
I've got the same problem. They hopped over 20 yds of lawn from a neighbor's bed to get into one of mine. I discoverd the flowers are edible so I've started putting those in salads as well as the compost bin. I let dug up plants dry on my concrete patio before adding them to the bin as well. I like them as herbs so I'm going to put some in a container before disposing of the rest, which is very hard work.
Whatever you do DON"T use RoundUp. TOO toxic
Thank you, thank you thank you. We need to regenerate our native ecosystems. It is really essential to the survival not just a Plans but if insects and birds and other species that are all interrelated.
2:25 A song from my childhood classroom sung as a round:
White choral bells
Upon a slender stalk
Lilies of the Valley
Deck my garden walk
Oh, don't you wish
That you could hear them ring
That will only happen
When the fairies sing
The chameleon plant is a very invasive in the UK and I found out this myself. It also has a really unpleasant smell when you break it! The butterfly bush is spreads all over by seed on land that is poor and dry where other plants struggle, but it a fantastic plant for butterflies so a positive benefit. Bamboo is grass on steroids again I learnt this from experience, choose one that clumps and it should be OK. The rest on your list here in the UK are not such a big issue. i wish lily of the valley would be a bit more evasive.
Yes, I’ve planted lily of the valley here in the Bay Area, California, at multiple homes and not one lived through the season!
I get baby butterfly bushes that grow in the cracks between wood boards on my deck 😂. It's not really been a problem though, and I love sitting on the porch watching all the bees and butterflies who visit.
You’re welcome to my expanding areas of lily of the valley. I made the mistake of planting some 30 years ago in one flower bed. It has expanded into most of my flower beds, and the lawn. My husband spend a week cleaning out a 2’ x 6’ section this spring from the bed where I’d originally planted it. The roots made a mesh net 8” thick which he had to dry out in chunks so he could shake the dirt out. Just awful stuff! Still love the little flowers, but not worth it!
@@llm5726 Sounds like Violets (Viola riviniana) in my garden which infest everywhere. Still want my Lilly of the Valley but clearly I don't have a woodland type climate for them. Sometimes the battle to force plants to thrive is too much as I have with blue poppies which need similar.
The chameleon plant was just as awful for me in California. We moved recently to a house with bamboo that is sprouting everywhere 😢
I would add Vinca Minor. It's sold in every nursery, but once in your garden, it takes over and spreads everywhere. Getting it out is a major Pain-in-the-B....
No LIE! the original owners of this plot of land had planted it and I see it coming back up..they lived here 25 years ago. I killed it!!
Vinca is my nightmare! My mother planted it, and I have been trying to get rid of it for thirty six years!
Vinca Vine is TERRIBLE. I had that sh!t!
I have 2 beds full of it and English ivy. They were planted by previous owners as well. I do find I can plant tulip and daffodil bulbs in the vinca miner (very lovely combination) and the dense matt keeps the squirrels, voles and moles from getting my bulbs. They would rather go to an area that is easier for them..
I started a drift of bulbs 6 years ago and have been adding same variety each fall…haven’t lost any and have gotten lots of compliments from the neighborhood dog walkers.
Vina major
please remember that you tube is a world wide site and many of plants are not a problem in areas outside the USA.
or, indeed, within many rocky alkaline soil states inside the USA. The things they say not to plant are things I absolutely would plant in Colorado on the chance they will survive.
Thank you for supplying alternative plants to plant in the place of the invasive ones.❤
I would add Spanish bluebells to that list. They spread by bulbs, some so tiny you can barely see them. I've been digging them up for 25 years and they still come back every year. The bulbs are very deep and pulling the foliage does nothing. It's my garden nemesis.
I share your pain. I have managed to virtually eradicate Spanish Bluebells in most areas of my garden, with deep and careful digging. However, it has an established presence along the base a Devon bank which runs along a shared boundary of my garden; other than taking the bank apart, there is nothing I can do to remove it from there, even herbicides (to use as a last resort) will not have an effect.
Ditto
What did they ever do to u? They bloom and then they disappear
@Sherri: I feel your pain. I dug spanish bluebells every year to keep them from spreading. Those bulbs are deep, thick clumps and a lot of work.
I live in Southern California. I bought a pretty purple-flowering plant one time that I later regretted. What a minute! I’m still regretting it years later! It’s the Mexican petunia or Ruellia simplex or brittoniana. It has been described as being reviled for its eagerness to spread with abandon. Some of the info I’ve found about it discusses how resilient the seeds are. I haven’t had that experience. But it readily grows to 6’ tall or more and spreads by underground roots. If any portion of the roots are overlooked when removing the plant, it will regrow. I have had it come up some 6 feet away from where it had been planted and removed. I like to call it the devil plant! 😮
I also have this plant. It can be trimmed into cute balls BUT it spreads like crazy. And when watered the seed heads explode to spread seeds.
I have this in Florida but it doesn’t get that big. It’s easily controlled.
@@Dbb27 funny how a plant is invasive in one part of the country and NOT in others? All has to do with growing conditions!
A neighbor gave me some Mexican petunia and warned me it is invasive. I kept it in a pit, but that doesn’t stop it.
I learned the hard way to HATE English ivy.
I have to poison the kudzu every summer in GA. Got slimed by poison ivy while attacking the kudzu.
I bought Russian sage in CO because it was drought resistant. What a mistake!
I have both the tall and the small varieties. The tall ones are highly invasive in Texas. I'm still trying to remove them after years. The dwarf one does spread but it doesn't have as vigorous growth as the bigger Mexican petunia.
One that you did not mention is Virginia creeper. It is a nightmare where I live in Kentucky.
Yes, it's very vigorous. But at least it's a native.
@@moocrazytn so is poison ivy. Virginia creeper chokes out everything and takes over. I cannot imagine anyone desiring to actually plant it. Kudzu is another one around here that is taking over.
It's native in the south.
are you sure its not Kudzu ? im in Ky as well alot of locals call it creeper in this area and it is EVERYWHERE but it is Not native its from south east china. it was introduced in the south in the late 1800's and is know as the vine that ate the south. the gov planted it along bare hill's to prevent soil erosion in the early 1900's and it took over. the only good thing about it is it's edible all parts , the best way to get rid of it is pin it off and turn a few hog's or goats loose on it.
Va & NC also, I found I was highly allergic also worse than poison oak or ivy!! 😢
And here I was so proud of my lily of the valley flowers!
I am currently trying to remove a very feisty and stubborn plot of them. Great exercise!
It’s very poisonous too!
Thanks for this video. Interesting how these plants behave in different areas. I have a burberry bush that doesn't not move or pop up anywhere but I live in Northeastern Ontario. I can barely keep honeysuckle alive. The most invasive plant I have grown is creeping jenny: one little piece in my back yard and its all over my large yard now.
In KY the Flowering pear is a problem. I spent a few hours chainsawing some quick growing ones down. I hate those things. The Red Twigged Dogwood is also spreading. Honeysuckle both the vineing and bush are a huge problem.
Beware when you first start gardening. Friends who are happy to share their plants may be giving you invasives. After one summer with gooseneck loosestrife I dug it out after seeing how much it had crept around. Same with obedient plant. Dug out after one summer and was astounded the mass of runners underneath the soil. Some plants should be sold with a skull and crossbones on the pot.
I learned if the tag says ‘good ground cover’ or ‘ fast grower’ I avoid it!
Got Houtonia (spelled wrong, but in the video) had to dig it out literally end of summer EVERY YEAR! And every year it came back with a vengeance! It smells odd, too! Like rotting citrus, or something. Very vinegary.
Yes! So true! I just made a similar comment!
TRUTH!
I totally agree. When I first was interested in flower garden, friends gave me plants that they had “ lots of” , but failed to tell me the consequences of inviting these plants into your garden. Now I battle many on the list but the worst one is Spiderwort - Tradescantia. It has taken over and is spreading to other yards. I am working hard to eradicate it. Given to me by a “friend” 😂
The butterfly bush is called buddleia. If you prune it regularly it’s no problem. I can’t believe it’s on your list. It’s beneficial to wildlife. 🐝 🦋
it deserves to be on the list 👍👍
It fights with and sometimes wins over Scotch Broom and Bavarian knotweed in southwestern British Columbia, Washington & Oregon!
@@leeannjohnson809 Scotch Broom is a torch if there is a wildfire.
Yea, I’m in Zone 6 and I have clay soil and I killed my butterfly bush by over pruning when it was dying. For me it’s not invasive so I’m buying another to replace the old! 😅
It is not good because the butterflies love the taste - lay their eggs and the catarpillars starve of hunger- they cannot eat the leaves (toxic) and die..
Terrific! You added great value by including substitutes 👍🏻. Here in NC. I would add Liriope, Creeping Charlie and Vinca vines. Also, 4 O’Clocks.
My liriope has been very slow growing in my shade garden ( 10 years ). Perhaps in the full sun it becomes invasive.
@@sharynraun1096 ah…there are two varieties of the green liriope…..only one is invasive. I should have been more specific, I’m sorry. The variegated variety is a pure visual delight in the garden. Have fun out there 👍🏻
4 O'Clocks can be a nightmare...😱
Great to see people starting to more often warn about the danger of plants sold in stores. I'm always amazed at how companies will still offer these plants even though they know there's a problem. They always try to find a workaround, claiming a new variety is "seedless" or "sterile", but we have to always remember that they said the same things about Bradford Pear. You can never know how different cultivars will react with each other, so just don't buy the stinkin' thing! We have so many beautiful native plants that serve the same purpose while also supporting the food web and creating a "sense of place". Use them and create a "sense of place" that's wholly unique rather than a carbon copy of everywhere else.
I have had lily of the valley for years and it hasn't spread.
More plants to avoid: Japanese Knotweed (Reynoutria japonica), Oriental Bittersweet (Celastrus orbiculatus), Tree of Heaven (Ailanthus altissima), Multiflora Rose (Rosa multiflora), Common Periwinkle (Vinca minor), Mimosa Tree (Albizia julibrissin), Chinese Wisteria (Wisteria sinensis), Norway Maple (Acer plananoides), Ditch lilies (Hemerocallis fulva), and Autumn Olive (Elaeagnus umbellata). There are others...I've worked with some...one is a Privet variety, some Swallowworts as well (Vincetoxicum), Creeping Jenny (Lysimachia nummularia) which I have seen in stores! People NEED to stop planting these things. Especially in the northeast US the Tree of Heaven...which is fuel for the invasive Spotted Lanternfly. The sap can cause dermatitis in some, so if removing, handle with care, and it can be deadly for others causing cardiomyopathy. So use gloves. And if you find an "oversized" Queen Anne's Lace (so you think), contact your local extension office, especially if it has purple on the stems as this can be a HIGHLY toxic (to the touch!) plant. Don't try to remove it yourself. There are a host of other invasives that are water plants, but they're complicated. Look for your local PRISM office and see if they have ways you can help and ways you can learn.
Periwinkle has taken over large areas in the woods
I discovered Japanese knotweed is prohibited for sale for years in our neighbouring country the UK but widely available in my country the Netherlands. How is that possible?
About the Japanse knotweed, must been said it's a beautifull plant with attractive leaves and beautifull flowers. 10 years ago there were some old abandoned houses that were on the list to be demolished and in one of the gardens i discovered a beautifull plant, wanted to SAVE the plant but the plant was far too big to migrate to my garden so i left it there.
By accident i Later learned it was the dangerous Japanese knotweed......
Parts of the plant should be burned but most people throw them in the wrong gabagecan so it can find it's way to new victims.
I'm seeking clarification as I didn't think queen Anne's lace to be purple on the stem, but thought this was a similar looking plant of a different name and toxic?
Yes, tree of heaven--really the tree from hell. Sends up hundreds of suckers all along its roots. Sends roots not only under driveways but under streets into yards on the other side of the street. After WWII Berlin had mountains of rubble from bombed-out buildings--no soil, just brick, stone, and concrete.Even though Germany is / was too far north for Ailanthus, it thrived in the city's heat island. It began growing on these soilless wasteland mini-mountains across the city. This is the namesake for the novel "A Tree Grows in Brooklyn", whose protagonist takes inspiration from this tree that grew from a crack in the pavement in a place where nothing else grew. Tree of heaven is the tree that eats neighborhoods. Cut it down and hundreds more will grow from its roots spreading out all over your and your neighbors' yards just under the soil.
And NAME that taller fake Queen Anne's lace! It is poison hemlock--the same hemlock that killed Socrates. But don't bother distinguishing between the two plants. Queen Anne's lace / wild carrot (yes, roots are edible) is very pretty in spring when it flowers and its delicate ferny leaves are so nice looking. And that d---- plant will seed everywhere and eat your yard and garden. I have been trying to eradicate it from mine for 23 years! And yes, you can eradicate poison hemlock without professionals. Just wear long sleeves and gloves and put the plant in a trash bag the minute you pull it.
The giant cousin of Queen Anne’s Lace here is called Giant Hogweed, and the sap destroys your skin’s ability to block sun rays, it causes severe burns.
Periwinkle (vinca minor) is a huge problem for me. The previous (elderly) owner of our house planted vinca and English Ivy as ground cover, and it’s so hard to get rid of. Lily of the valley too, but that seems to be dwindling, between me pulling it up as much as I can and the hostas taking over that space. We’ve also cut down a huge burning bush and several Norway maples and Manitoba maples. We still get seedlings from both maples popping up every spring, but I just pull them like any other weed.
I planted wisteria and loved seeing it bloom every spring, until I learned the awful truth by accident. Driving down the highway, I began to notice beautiful wisteria blooms covering dead, 40 foot trees. The thought of my own wisteria smothering my Japanese maples and dogwoods nearly made me hysterical. I knew that if the root systems ever became intertwined, it was game over. I'd never get rid of it. I cut the wisteria, poisoned the wisteria, and dug up roots that ran for 20 feet. Years later, I was still finding new wisteria growth from the smallest of root fragments. It was like playing wack-a-mole.
I have a stunning wisteria and it’s enormous. However, it is well controlled on an iron post with arms away from any other structures.
What ag zone are you in?
I have a wisteria that tried to take over a 40' tree......so I cut all the tendrils and started weaving it in on it's self. Now it's a small tree and I just trim it. It's a 7' tree
I've lost a ton of land to wisteria. Just killed my plum tree because I didn't realize the problem since i was distracted by other things. The only thing you can do is spray it with herbicide regularly. Keep a careful eye out when you're walking around, and if you see a vine, cut it and spray it.
I know a lot of people don't like using herbicides, but all these non-native plants give us no choice in the matter. There isn't enough time in the day to go around pulling everything you find, and if you don't use herbicides like glyphosate.... the invasive plants win because they can move faster than you can.
@@threeriversforge1997 The struggle is real. I cut my wisteria at it's base, then wrapped the stump in gauze saturated with ammonia (bleach, herbicide, anything lethal). I bored dozens of deep holes for a 3 foot radius around the base of the plant using rebar. Then, using a funnel, poured in herbicide, 2-3 times a weeks for two weeks to poison the roots. I dug up as many roots as I could and 'no', they still weren't dead. You will not win your battle until you dig up every root fragment. A new plant can sprout from a fragment 4 inches long. Took years of determination and sweat, but I finally got rid of it.
Lily of the valley is my favorite smelling flower
Chattanooga TN I didn't realize Lily of the Valley was such a problem. I'll be replacing it. Learned of some new ones. Have been fighting kudzu, bush honeysuckle and Chinese privet from neighbors' properties.
I appreciate you give an alternative. In my own yard I have been trying for 15 years to get rid of burning bush planted by the previous owner. Just awful!
Thanks for sharing that not all are invasive everywhere. Butterfly bush (Buddleia alternifolia) is actually native to my state. My parents still have Burning Bush that they bought back in the '80s. They cut it back to keep it in check but it would just spread forever if they let it. -- I have lamium (dead nettles) which are pretty but I was silly and didn't know it was in the mint family (lamiacae should have given it away) so it grows like wildfire. I put it in a raised bed and it's taken over everything, kindly choking out my heuchera (coral bells) and I don't think my Dutchman's Breeches even came up this spring because the lamium was so far spread. It's not technically invasive but that mint family goes bananas with spreading.
I bought my house a few years ago.
There was a large growth of English Ivy between my house and the neighbor (they had lived in their house for 25 years) which covered the 6' fence and extended another 20' high and 15' into my yard.
We spent the first few months removing it and discovered 3 cedar trees that were being suffocated by the ivy (we weren'tin time, they died). The neighbor never realized the cedar trees were there since the ivy was already covering them when they moved in.
At first I was cutting the vines off from several "trees" that were as big around as my leg only to discover that the "tree trunks" were actually English Ivy vines.
2 years of attacking the ivy was necessary before it was finally irradiated.
I doubt that Chinese privet would be sold at a garden center, but here in the southeastern US both Chinese privet and Sweet Autumn clematis are invasive. The Clematis just loves growing over, and killing my shrubs. Tried digging it out by the roots, without much success. Birds spread it everywhere. A constant battle.
💯
I dont think you can buy these in nurseries, but Chinese Bittersweet is at the top of my list. The seeds are eaten by birds and that is how it is distributed. Then add to that, the fact that it climbs bushes and trees and can strangle them. When you pull it up, the roots are red.
Yes! You can still order this from online catalogs. It is sold as oriental bittersweet.
I've seen bittersweet growing and noticed that trees and other plants looking half dead and never gave a thought that maybe the bittersweet had anything to do with dieing plants. I am so glad that I never planted any! 😮
Yes. Another monster. Likes to climb up anything bushes, shrubs, trees, berry bushes even talk weeds. Awful.
I have buried galvanized tubs to prevent this and the fertilizer stays within the tub and doesn’t leach out. I can pull tubs out when I want to replant and has saved me on potting mix as well.
We have been fighting morning glory for 20 years. My neighbor planted it and it quickly spread to my flower bed. It stills comes in a variety of spots every year. UGH!
UGH, is right! Morning Glory is the worst for me. A neighbor planted it and everyone on the block is still dealing with the fallout 10 years later. The only thing I've found that kills it is the really potent weed killers, which I hate using, but have no choice.
What zone are you in? MG is supposed to be an annual.
Ajuga / Bugleweed is one I’d add to the list. When I bought my house, the front lawn had big patches of it, as did each flower bed. Almost 20 years later, I’m still finding it popping up in random places, despite all the work I’ve done to get rid of it!
Yes! Some varieties are more aggressive than others but they can all take over an area quite quickly.
I doubt it is agressive in Texas heat of Dallas,
In NTX It spreads slowly but is not difficult to dig up.
Honeybees it. It’s a good ground cover and adds color.
I want A LOT of Bugleweed!
Sad to say but when people so freely "share" plants with you, often they give you their "invasive" plants. I had a beautiful area in my garden in Northern Virginia with Pachysandras. A friend gave me vincas. Every year I struggle to remove them because they took over my pachysandras. It has taken a decade to reestablish them.
A coworker gave me a chive plant. We have to police it well to keep it from spreading to the whole yard. I cut off most of its flowers when they bloom. Seems to help. I like a light onion flavor so I like chives and leek.
My SIL gave us some blackberries and we have to police those, too. And they're thorny. But they do give us a lot of blackberries.
Just bought a house last June. The flower bed is half pachysandra and half vinca 😢 Im doomed!
If I might offer (zone 7): Red Buds are very invasive too (~4 min). Their seeds spread & come up all over & the roots are deep. They're really a pain in iris & day lily beds, etc. Also, vinca (vine ground cover) is very invasive too. Poplar trees are also very invasive. I had the roots on one go well over 100 ft & numerous starts come up from those roots.
Vinca means conquer. It’s invincible.
Some of the plants you list are native to where I live ,most are not . Some local people have tried to claim some certain plants are "invasive " when they are not .
@@georgesheffield1580 , point taken. I will tell you in my zone 7 (S. central WA), if gardeners don't keep up on containing the plants I listed, they're going to have a lot of "fun" getting rid of them.
Red buds are native. Day lilies and Irises unless it cristata or reticulata arent native
Omw, the red bud literally fills my yard in Arkansas like grass & we just mow it 😂🤦♀️
Many people complain about sporadic nature of mint plant. If planted in ground, then it spreads rapidly everywhere. If planted in pot, container or raised garden bed, then it is ok.
Wow. I just learned at my local extension office that the volunteer pear trees on my land are undesirable weeds. So much for thanking God for free shade trees. They’ll soon be a bigger problem than the cedars that have taken over most pastures. Oh well time to start over. Same with the honey suckle growing on my fences. Was gonna transplant more but now will tear it all out. Thanks for the info.