Does Your Garden Harbor Invasive Weeds?

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Some of the varieties of plants growing in your yard may actually be harmful to the environment.

“What many homeowners and gardening enthusiasts may not know is that some popular garden varieties of plants may actually be considered invasive weeds,” says Alan Tasker, Ph.D., National Noxious Weed Program Manager at the USDA Animal & Plant Health Inspection Service. “They are considered invasive because they can take root in a particular area and spread unchecked, possibly choking out other plant species natural to that area.”

I’ve seen this happen with bamboo. If you don’t plant it with the roots surrounded my a deep cement barrior, the plant will start sending up shoots in your neighbor’s yard. My father had to constantly pull up these shoots after our neighbor planted bamboo in along the fence between the two properties.

Some of these invasive weeds can be quite pretty, including some wildflower mixes, multifloral rose (Rambler Rose), orange daylily and Baby’s Breath. Whether or not these plants are invasive or not depends on the geographical location. Plants can be star performers in one region yet pose a serious threat if introduced into another. So it’s worth a trip to your local nursery or visiting your state’s department of natural resources website to find out if your yard is harboring any potential invasive species.

Some store chains are doing things to help out. Meijer stores removed Norway maple and Lombardy poplar from their inventories because they are known to be invasive in the Midwest. They also have tagged some of their stock “Recommended Non-Invasive” to help customers identify the proper species to plant in their area.

Lowe’s also worked with organizations in Florida to eliminate potentially invasive plants from their stores in that state and are currently working on a similar initiative in California.

Many common weeds are notorious allergens. Because their seeds and spores are readily disseminated over wide areas, increased pollen levels can wreak havoc with allergy and asthma sufferers. Ragweed, pigweed, Russian thistle and sage brush, along with poison ivy, oak and sumac, are just a few invasive species that irritate allergies.

Another weed, giant hogweed, actually blocks the skin’s resistance to ultraviolet light, often leading to serious sunburn.

Invasive plants, or biological pollution, cost an estimated $34.7 billion annually, according to a Cornell University report, devouring three million acres a year in the U.S.

“Invasive weeds can take over cattle grazing areas, as leafy spurge has done in the northern plain states or overrun crops, much like cocklebur in corn and soybean crops throughout North America,” says Dr. Tasker.

An interesting site from the University of Nebraska, Kearney features a cost calculator that tracks the cost of invasive species in the U.S. in real time. (Note this site tracks the cost of all invasive species, including plants, animals and insects.)

We all play a part in containing these overpowering species from destroying our natural lands. Awareness is the first step. Contact your state’s department of natural resources to find out more about invasive species in your area or log on to www.wssa.net for more information.