New Southern Invasive Plant

Some times landscape contractors choose invasive plants unaware of their status. Japanese blood grass (Imperata cylindrica 'Red Baron') is being recognized as a new invasive plant to avoid in certain southern states.

Environmental educator Daniel Wheeler described 13 of the most common and most noxious invasive plants in a program entitled "Aliens In Your Garden." The lecture marked the beginning of National Invasive Species Awareness Week.

He warned of one recently escaped plant, Japanese blood grass, as "worse than kudzu" and said the chemical-resistant and fireproof grass is pushing its way north toward North Carolina from Georgia and South Carolina.

"Studying invasive species can be a little depressing when you realize how many there are," Wheeler said, "And part of the problem is that people are still buying and planting them."

Other Invasives And Their Alternatives
Local contractors know that Bradford pears and some bamboos can get out of control, but it's not so common knowlege that snacking on the leaves of the privet bush is poisonous to horses and other domestic animals. Wheeler labeled the Privet as his "Top Ten Public Enemy."

Wheeler offered suggestions on native ground covers, climbing vines and flowering trees that can be grown in place of popular invasives, among them the tulip poplars, and the intoxicatingly fragrant "Maypop" passion fruit vine, are still novelties to many landscape professionals.