One new homeowner recently took to the r/landscaping subreddit to ask for advice about what to do with the area behind their house, which despite looking nice and lush was being overtaken by invasive plants.
"[The area is] overgrown with kudzu and ivy that we've kept from going up our retaining wall and some of the trees," the poster explained. "... We've thought about clearing it out ourselves, hiring someone, renting goats… but even if we put butt loads of mulch down there, all of this will just grow right through the mulch and we'll still have to battle leaves from the forest around us lol. It's a great back area but tough to deal with."
The comments section was mostly united in its approach that whatever the new homeowner ended up doing, it had to start with getting rid of the invasive kudzu and ivy.
"100% need to eliminate those invasive vines which will choke out the trees," one user wrote.
"They should try and get rid of that ivy or anything else non native that propagates and overtakes native plants," another said.
"Agreed. OP, your number one mission is to pull all the kudzu and ivy. Other than that, the creek/woodland area would ideally be left untilled. You can, however, sprinkle native, deep shade woodland flower seeds in this area," another commenter advised, demonstrating a cost-effective way for homeowners to introduce native plants to their yards.
Both kudzu and ivy can cause massive long-term problems for North American homeowners. As several commenters alluded to, the plants can wrap themselves around trees, depriving them of access to resources. They can even cause structural damage to houses if left untreated for too long. To make matters worse, both are incredibly difficult to remove.
Unfortunately for the OP, they may be in for a long fight, but they seem up to it. They even posted that they were looking forward to planting native species in the place of the invasive ones once they are able — a decision that would significantly reduce the time and money they need to spend maintaining their yard, all while benefiting pollinators that support our food supply.
"You could seek out a native landscape company who does stream stabilization work and have them really improve that area with some stone and plants, maybe even a staircase down to the water," one commenter suggested.
🗣️ What's the hardest thing about taking care of your yard?
🔘 Mowing the lawn 🏡
🔘 Controlling weeds 🌿
🔘 Keeping pests at bay 🐿️
🔘 I don't have a yard 🤷
🗳️ Click your choice to see results and speak your mind
"I didn't know such landscaping companies exist. That's super cool. We could have a pretty good budget if we waited to do it next spring," the OP replied.
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