Invasive plants: things to avoid

[chilehed]

Alright, English Ivy is on the list, per that thread.

I nominate melaleuca (melaleuca quinquenervia, also known as tea tree). An Australian native that's gotten away in the southern U.S, invasive doesn't begin to describe it. It tolerates extreme wet and extreme dry, it resprouts from cut stumps and re-roots from the cut logs, and it throws MILLIONS of seeds when it's stressed (like, when you cut it, or burn it, or poison it). It poisons the soil so that nothing else will grow in a stand of it. The pollen is highly allergenic. Unless you want to make a lot of enemies, don't let it get within a thousand miles of your garden.


Chinese lanterns come to mind, as does lily-of-the-valley.

Anyone else?

 

[BeanMak]

I love lily of the valley! I have tried to get a thick patch to grow in front of my house for 15 years! The best I can get is a a sparse few.
I must be doing something

 

[chilehed]

It may be cultural - they prefer full to partial shade and moist, high organic soils. They're zone 2 hardy, and Still's manual says that in zone 8 they struggle from the heat even in the shade.

Do yourself a favor - plant them in something they can't get out of.

 

[Sephania]

Horseradish and mint!

 

[chilehed]

houttuynia cordata is a real thug. It spreads by rhisomes, is very invasive.

The cultivar "Chameleon" has very striking foliage - but heed not the siren's call.

 

[kwimmer]

Japanese Honeysuckle!!
Bamboo.
And certian types of grass.

 

[lucypevensie]

Wild garlic--it grows all over in one corner of out lawn

 

[kwimmer]

Catnip can be invasive too.

 

[BeanMak]

LOL... I planted cat nip next to the mint- now I don't know whether to make it into tea or make a kitty pillow

 

[BeanMak]

Wow, I must be a REALLY bad gardener. Not only can't I keep Lily of the valley going, but the cat nip AND mint patch was completely barren by fall

 

[AlabamaMan]

I have to agree with the wild garlic, it's all over the place!

 

[chilehed]

Hey, I found this thread on another forum site - lots of good listings, too many to copy.

http://forums2.gardenweb.com/forums/load/peren/msg0901143029272.html

OHMYGOSH, I HAVE SOME OF THIS STUFF!! AAAAAAAHHHHH!!!

 

[SnowOwlMoon]

Buddleia (Butterfly Bush)--grows everywhere around here, I see it growing in freeway underpasses, and on the center strip of highways.

Scotch Broom--ditto.

English Holly--easily spread by birds, comes up by shoots, kills everything around it.

Sweet Woodruff (Galium)--I've seen it growing in the forests around here.

Bishop's Weed (also called Gout Weed; Aegopodium)--will take over your garden, will take over your neighbor's garden, will take over the neighborhood.

St. Johnswort (Hypericum, also called Aaron's Beard)--just as bad as Bishop's Weed.

Tansy Ragwort--very toxic to livestock, has been a real problem in the Pacific Northwest.

Pampas Grass--I'm starting to see this growing wild, where it shouldn't be.

Spartina Grass--this is an aquatic grass, now choking estuaries in the Pacific Northwest. The grass holds silt, which suffocates filter feeders (clams, mussels, oysters, marine worms), which migratory shorebirds depend on for food.

Blackberry (both Himalayan and Evergreen)--now growing wild, choking off native species, including the native blackberry. Listed in the "Western Garden Book" as one of the 3 worst waist-high weeds (the other 2 are Pampas Grass and Scotch Broom).

Bermuda Grass--planted along the Pacific Coast to control erosion, it is now considered a pest.

Black Locust Tree--produces seed pods that so far as I can tell have 100% germination when beans are buried by squirrels or eaten by birds. It also suckers like crazy.

 

[Graeme]

well in my limited gardening experience ive found Ladder fern, ivy to be rather invasive, and Ngaio (Myporum laetnum), thats a native of New Zealand and it growinf disgustinly fast in all directions . and ive had it in for about 3 summer now, and its 3inchs thick(7.5cms) and about 12 ft in all directions. so id advise this NOT to be planted(ps. it does have nice foliage)

God Bless