Create Wildlife Habitat. Protect the Environment
Several weeks ago, my friend Stacey Cornelius and I were having a discussion on twitter about how we could control invasive plants if we just started eating them. We know that the top reasons that wildlife are declining are habitat loss due to human action and the spread of invasive plants. Humans are really good [...]
Yes, Butterfly Bush (Buddleia spp) is an invasive plant. Oregon has even banned the sale of this plant. I’ve seen it in action myself as it is blocking out fragile dune vegetation on the beaches in Cape May, NJ. I’ve also seen it taking over an entire streambank for miles along a stream in the Poconos [...]
[Guest post by Debbie Roberts as part of the Most Hated Invasive Plants series] I have a confession to make. Almost two decades ago, when I was a first time homeowner and newbie gardener, I actually bought and planted Japanese barberry (Berberis thunbergii). Not only did I not know any better, I was encouraged to [...]
I asked for your opinions last week about an article that proclaimed that invasive plants can have beneficial ecological impacts. And boy did you have opinions! Thank you for sharing them. The article was a study of Japanese Honeysuckle in areas of Pennsylvania in October. The short version is that these researchers concluded that since [...]
[Guest post by Ursula Vernon] I have occasionally wondered why people are so protective of their invasives. I first noticed this when I was fighting silk trees—mimosa—which are a weed-tree down here in the Southeast, and I blogged about how awful the bloody things were and how I felt like I was fighting a really [...]
Humans are blessed with the capacity to learn from situations, assess the consequences, and alter our behavior in the future. We can learn from our mistakes. Unfortunately, when it comes to the environment, we rarely exercise that capacity (Can we say Oil Spill?). We have refused to learn from our mistakes way too many times [...]
Invasive Chinese and Japanese Wisteria Chinese Wisteria (Wisteria sinensis) and it’s relative Japanese Wisteria (Wisteria foribunda) are landing squarely on the Most Hated Invasive Plants list. One of my neighbors across the street has this plant in his yard. Not only is it pulling down the arbor in his yard, it is spreading its runners [...]
Really? You could do just two things that could help wildlife in your garden? Yes. Taking just these two steps would make a huge difference for the wildlife in your area. And teaching your neighbors to take the same action will magnify your efforts and help a lot more. Now I’m not saying there’s some [...]
I’d like to dedicate this post to my blogging friend, Carol at Flower Hill Farm, for her long-suffering with this invasive plant, her nemesis, Bishop Weed, also known as Goutweed (Aegopodium podagraria). But first, a disclaimer. I call this ongoing series “Most Hated Plants,” but some have taken issue with “hating” poor defenseless plants. Most [...]
The Most Hated Plants series is devoted to the worst of the worst invasive plants. These plants are causing great ecological harm and habitat devastation for wildlife, plus the cost of managing these plants is billions of dollars of taxpayer money every year. Knowing these plants will help you make much healthier decisions for your [...]
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