Family faces tough decision after clearing menace-ridden land: 'My next problem is what to do with them'

If you find invasive plants or trees on your property, you need to get rid of them as soon as possible.

Before you know it, they will be springing up all over the place, limiting the nutrients, sunlight, and water your other plants can receive as well as crowding out their space.

What's more, if the seeds reach neighboring gardens and start sprouting next door, it won't be long before you become community enemy No. 1. 

That's why one Redditor was so pleased with the work they had done to rid their parents' land of Bradford pears and trees of heaven that they posted a picture of the resulting pile of wood they had ripped from the earth.

"My crusade on Bradford Pears and tree of heavens," they captioned the post, detailing they had "5 piles of around 120 trees with about 30 left."

Though the piles were undoubtedly satisfying to see after the hard labor, they then had a bit of a conundrum.

"My next problem is what to do with them," they said on the r/arborists sub-Reddit. "Do I burn them all next spring or should I turn the larger ones into firewood?"

One user suggested the latter was a worthwhile solution. "I heat my place with a woodstove," they began. "I salvage a lot of Bradford pear trunks from a municipal yard waste branch dump. They burn surprisingly well."

Another Redditor agreed, adding, "Utilizing invasive tree species for fuel is sort of like people consuming lion fish as a delicacy."

The original poster detailed that to prevent the troublesome trees from returning, they treated the trees of heaven and sprayed brush killer on the stumps.

But while that seemed like a wise move, one Redditor warned our weed-whacking OP to be wary of a comeback.

"I think you should expect resprouts," they said. "No matter how dead one of those look more come up in my experience."

Bradford pears might be desirable because of their white blooms, but they can emit an unpleasant smell and spread incredibly easily. In fact, the advice from the Choose Natives website is simply "Do not plant."

Meanwhile, trees of heaven are described by the Ecological Landscape Alliance as being "a fast growing, deciduous, exotic invasive tree that is able to germinate and grow in a wide variety of soil and site conditions."

Avoiding the effort and time it takes to rid your garden of invasive plants begins with ensuring the fauna you're adding to a green space is native to your area. 

Native plants are less likely than invasive ones to take over your land and impact other plant species, while they also tend to require little maintenance and need significantly less water. They will also be more tolerant to your location's weather conditions. 

If you've unfortunately inherited invasive plants, there's no time like the present to get clearing. This Redditor received praise from like-minded gardeners for taking action.

"You're doing good work," one user said, with another adding: "This is gods work. Keep it up."

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