You've found the famous Dave's Garden website! Join this friendly global community that shares tips and ideas for home and gardens, along with seeds and plants!
Check out the DG homepage for a brief overview of what you'll find in this gardening mega-site.
Login
If you don't have an account yet, visit the registration page to sign up.
Since it's Fall and harvest time, and Dave's has a lot of new neighbors, I thought it would be a good time discuss invasive plants.
As serious gardeners, we are the primary stewards of our local habitats. It is our responsibility to maintain and protect these habitats by our choice of plants and how we use them.
Every state has been invaded by species of plants that have run amok. What people do not realize, is that when you take something out of its native habitat, you usually do not take the natural checks and balances, such as disease and predators that keep them in check.
One of the most heartbreaking to me is the Malelucca tree. It was brought into Florida from Australia back in the 1920's. Malelucca makes willow pale in comparison when it comes to sucking up water. They were brought in to literally drain swampy land, the Everglades, for development. Our precious irreplaceable Everglades is being decimated by this tree and there is no way to stop it. It thrives because there are no insect vectors to keep it in check. You can't burn them either because it helps the seeds to germinate.
Kudzu is another species of plant that has literally taken over whole states and destroyed native plants and animals and habitats. Again, it thrives here because there are no disease or insect vectors to keep it in check.
Most of you have never had the heartbreaking experience like I have, seeing a habitat you grew up in utterly destroyed by a foreign invader. I hope you never do. I literally grew up swamp tromping in the Everglades. Every weekend I'd don my water proof boots, grab my camera and drive just 20 miles from Ft. Lauderdale to go wading through the saw grass, beat the alligators off with a stick, annoy the egrets and eagles and explore the hammocks for unknown orchids. It's a 2 hour drive now to get to the Everglades.
It is our responsibility to know what we are growing. It is our responsibility to maintain and control what we are growing. We have a responsibility to ourselves, our children, grandchildren and neighbors to conserve our precious habitats and native plants. We have a responsibility to educate others when we see them planting invasive plants.
So when you see seeds or plants offered that you gotta have, take a few minutes to check them out in Plantfiles here on Dave's or search the internet to see if they might be considered invasive in your state before you introduce them to your habitat. As serious gardeners, it should come naturally and willingly to choose wisely!
I'd like to hear from other gardeners, their experience with invasive plants, ones that got away from them and ones they are fighting to get rid of.
Xeramtheum
There are 12 replies. The replies of posts in this forum are viewable only by paid subscribers of Dave's Garden, and only subscribers can post new replies. We are a member supported website.
