Just call us "Invasive Acres"

[CathyA]

Hi Jania,
We have the blackberry problem too......although ours are raspberries. I think the man who who first built this house and landscaped the property planted a big patch of raspberries. Now they are EVERYWHERE. We sure have lots of protection for small animals and birds here! We also have dozens of big brush piles from the tree branches, vines, honeysuckle, etc., etc. that we've collected over the years. I sometimes refer to this place as the "land of a thousand brush piles". haha We have lots of names for this place that aren't very complimentary. But at the end of the day, we have to say we love it.

[RosieTR]

Well, short of getting some goats (which won't work on poisonous plants) or having a huge burn pile, not sure what to tell you. It's funny what's invasive one place vs another. I tried and tried to get any mint to grow in Phoenix to only mild success, whereas in CO I made oodles of tea plus ripped it out to put in the compost bin and yet always there was more mint. I would die with happiness to have too many raspberries, which struggled when we were here before and the renters appear to have killed off. DH threw in a hops vine which is still alive and we'll harvest and brew with it come late summer. So yeah, I think almost anything can be a pest given the right circumstances. Good luck!

[daisy]

We fight a constant battle with wisteria here. It grows up trees and girdles them, it covers the tops and blocks the light and it spreads through underground runners that send up plants a hundred feet from the mother plant. Even though I'm not a fan of herbicides, we tried spraying it with Roundup, but it only made the leaves curl slightly, then it bounced right back. DH fights it more aggressively than I do, ripping up the runners with his tractor, but we still have more and more each year. And, of course, it's still sold in nurseries here.

This isn't our land, but you see this all over every spring:

[leslieann]

pei3.jpgWow, wisteria. And to think I always considered it a lovely ornamental.

I've had mint DIE on me, and raspberries disappear. And I have mint take over the immediate universe, at which point I hit myself on the head and said, "Oh, that's what they meant about containing it!"

Here, well, here we have nothing at the moment. In our yard, anyway. But I recollect the kudzu from when I lived in the South, and the purple loosestrife (lovely but not a nice plant). Oh, yeah, here we have something called Manitoba maple, which apparently is neither a maple nor from Manitoba, but pretty invasive and ugly. Just not in my little yard at the moment...(we are still trying to recover from our major construction project).

Sometimes whether something is an invasive depends on your framework. At Acadia National Park in Maine there was discussion about trying to eradicate the lupins because they are not native. But they have been there for a long, long time, and visitors to the park expect to see them.

[pinkytoe]

Starting last year, our whole back yard filled up with something called cleavers or sticky weed. The stuff grows like magic overnight and literally covers anything in sight. Where it came from who knows. It is really fascinating though to watch nature do these things - whether we like it or not.

[iris lily]

omg, that photo of wisteria is amazing! Just this morning at coffee group we talked about the wisteria that is in full bloom here.

I've tried wisteria twice, and each time it doesn't bloom. I'm not willing to baby something for 5 years without a hint of bloom, so both times I got rid of it and now just enjoy the neighbors' plantings of wisteria.

I laughed at the people who are on the garden sites who are asking for aielanthus trees. Who ARE these fools!!!???? I guess that you wisteria people think that about us. The weather here makes wisteria, while not "easy" to control, at least not impossible to control.

[CathyA]

Unfortunately, there's lots of exotic invasives still being sold in the U.S.
A few years ago the county assessor stopped by and told us we had to get rid of the Canadian thistle growing in our fields, or they would spray it with chemicals. DH mowed alot of it down. Fortunately, its easy to get rid of.
But these honeysuckle bushes are unbelievable. You can cut them back and cut them back for years, and it just makes them stronger. They are the first bushes to put out leaves in the spring and the last ones to drop them in the fall. And all the birds just love their big juicy red berries, which they then poop out all over the property. I wish we could somehow make them sterile (the bushes).
In the southern part of this state, Kudzu vines cover all the trees in one huge mass.

I wonder when the DNR is going to realize that these things are brought into this country, and often sold at nurseries, but they turn into monsters, and put a stop to it. I don't think anyone will ever get much of a handle on these invasives.

[Tiam]

I wish Roundup would work on this evil tree weed http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/1699/ I've been fighting this "Paradise Tree/Heaven Tree" (more like "weed from Hell")

I knew what tree you meant before I even opened your link. They are truly invasive.

[Tiam]

I volunteered at a Fen last fall after biking by and speaking to a person collecting seeds. She told me about the area and asked me join in the cleaning of the area. I knew about invasive plants, but not to this extent. It was overwhelming to me to see what needed to be removed from this area and why. I left feeling far different then I thought I would. I felt I would bond with the area, people, the saturday work, I was hoping this would be a calling for me. How I actually felt when I left was: What good it is going to do cleaning these acres, when the plants, brush and trees are everywhere. I bike the trails near the Fen and now I know the garlic mustard,honeysuckle and the rest that cover the trails should be removed, but by who? How can it be controlled if the general public does not know and thinks it is just pretty wild greens. I was so let down with myself, for the first time (ok not the first time) I realized I could not save the world.

A Fen. A marshland?

[RosieTR]

Unfortunately, there's lots of exotic invasives still being sold in the U.S.

Quite true, though some nurseries will not sell non-native "noxious" plants (ie it's illegal to put in a Russian olive tree in CO b/c they are considered noxious). However, sometimes even the native things are a problem if in the wrong area. The renters didn't keep up our yard too well, so now we have a mini aspen forest in what used to be the garden! The next door neighbors have a stand of aspens and the trees reproduce with underground rhizomes or runners even many feet away, and you cannot pull them since they are connected to the strong underground root. So it's constant cutting, sigh. Aspens are indeed native to the Rocky Mountains so no banning them! But they are annoying if you don't want them in your yard, but your neighbors do.