In a post titled "Now what," one homeowner turned to the r/NativePlantGardening subreddit for advice about what to do with an invasive species threatening to overtake their property.
"[I] ordered the 50 plant eastern shade plant kit from [Prairie] Moon Nursery. Found out this week a crop failure occurred and they are not filling my order," the poster wrote. "Ok, so now what? Weed and chip the area I want to eventually plant starting directly behind my yard garden? Order seeds for the fall and learn cold stratification? Plant something in the fall? Other activities?"
As several commenters pointed out from the accompanying photos that the original poster offered, the offending invasive appeared to be Japanese stiltgrass. The National Invasive Species Information Center of the USDA describes it as "an aggressive invader of forest lands throughout the eastern United States" that is "considered one of the most damaging invasive plant species in the United States."
🗣️ 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
Luckily for the poster, many of the other members of the subreddit had experience dealing with stiltgrass. Unluckily, it seems they are in for quite a lot of work if they really want to have a chance at containing or eliminating it.
"Oof I'm hand pulling Japanese stilt grass. You'll want to get it before August when it goes to seed. I've seen research that says controlled burns work for controlling stilt grass. Obviously hire a professional if you go this route," wrote one commenter.
"Weed and chip heavily this year(3-4 inches). … Hand pulling definitely works and I find it therapeutic when it's small or in patches. It's an annual, so if you mow or weed wack any you miss in late summer to prevent flowering that will help too," another commenter advised. "I haven't had luck with fall scattered seeds on top of wood chips. They need to contact bare soil."
If you are considering getting some new plants for your yard, always make sure to do the research first and make sure you're going with native species that are already adapted to coexist with other species in your ecosystem. It will be a lot less work in the long run and could possibly save future homeowners from massive headaches like this one.
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