If it's true what they say, one picture on the subreddit r/landscaping tells a 1,000-word story about invasive plants.
A homeowner posted the photo, which depicts a neatly mowed yard bordering a wild and overgrown forest. They captioned it, "Why invasive plants are bad in one picture."
"Those trees are loblolly pines being smothered by exotic wisteria that escaped my yard," they explained. "The wisteria has spread down 100 yards into the forest along a road. … We are about to spend absurd amounts of money to eradicate it (thousands), then more money in subsequent years to keep it from coming back."
But that wasn't the worst part: "Incredibly, I was told that you can still purchase exotic wisteria in nurseries and big box stores," they continued. "Please don't buy and plant plants that have proven to be highly problematic in your area."
Commenters sympathized with their plight. "I'm in the same boat," one person shared. "It's taken a tree and a whole fence.. I've ripped it from the ground too. It's maddening."
"Reminds me of my nemesis — 60 year old honeysuckle vine," another person chimed in. "It too is still sold but should be outlawed."
While any gardener should check their local invasive species lists before planting anything, it's hard to blame somebody for simply buying what's available at their local store.
"We'll never get ahead on this until nurseries stop selling invasive plants," one person argued. "Home Depot is currently selling at least 35 plants that are listed as invasive somewhere in the U.S."
And once an invasive species has established itself in an ecosystem, it becomes near-impossible to eradicate. Invasives are masters of spreading far and wide, often traveling hundreds of miles via birds and other pollinators.
🗣️ Should we be actively working to kill invasive species?
🔘 Absolutely 💯
🔘 It depends on the species 🤔
🔘 I don't know 🤷
🔘 No — leave nature alone 🙅
🗳️ Click your choice to see results and speak your mind
To deal with their invasion, one person suggested using goats, which can be effective in clearing ground-level invasives. But OP explained, "These old vines are very thick, and I don't see goats chewing through the trunks."
Instead, they shared that they plan on using the cut-and-paint approach. This entails cutting plants at their base and painting herbicide onto the stems so that it travels into the roots. But even with that, they explained, "the assumption is that there WILL be regrowth that will need to be addressed each year. It really is a matter of attrition with aggressive plants like this."
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