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hesanflicka
Cabot, AR
May 9, 2008
1:07 PM Post #4929142
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We moved to a new house last August here in Arkansas (with AF, absolutely new to AR), the builder put bermuda grass squares down for us. Now with Spring, there are all kind of plants popping up from in between the squares -- like the ones I have pictured here. Could someone please identify them for me and let me know if I should get rid of both or just one -- are they both weeds? Also would they destroy the brick of our house, if I replant them next to our house?
Thank you so much for your time! 
Click the image for an enlarged view.
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threegardeners
North Augusta, ON
(Zone 5a)
May 9, 2008
1:09 PM Post #4929145
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ackkk!!
Get rid of it. It is a real pest here and will take over in no time at all. |
hesanflicka
Cabot, AR
May 9, 2008
1:20 PM Post #4929193
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Thank you so much for your reply -- wonderful not to have to deal with an invasive weed -- now that I know it is one! |
altagardener
Calgary, AB
(Zone 3b)
May 9, 2008
1:40 PM Post #4929266
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I only see one kind of plant in the picture - virginia creeper, Parthenocissus cinquefolia.
[HYPERLINK@en.wikipedia.org] |
sarazen
Glen Rock, PA
(Zone 6b)
May 9, 2008
2:12 PM Post #4929362
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Yes, those are all the same type of plant, Virginia Creeper. The number 2 garden thug here at DG [HYPERLINK@davesgarden.com] While I admit that it does look glorious in the fall, it will overtake your garden beds if you leave behind even one of those leaves. It spreads underground and will pop up a good distance from where it started. It is also stubborn, even a small piece of root left behind will sprout leaves and begin growing. If this is all you have perhaps you can act quickly and rid yourself of it now. Chances are there is more, so keep your eyes peeled and weeding hands ready. |
claypa
West Pottsgrove, PA
(Zone 6b)
May 10, 2008
6:10 AM Post #4931871
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A lot of the hysteria about this plant is based on people confusing it with poison ivy. And it often grows with poison ivy. It's not an invasive plant, it's a common native plant. I think it's a "number 2 garden thug" because it's so common. I have no problem pulling the occasional seedling the birds have left. To me, that's just part of gardening. I get oak, elm, pine, walnut, cherry, and maple seedlings in flower beds too. That doesn't make them invasive!
[HYPERLINK@www.arhomeandgarden.org] |
sarazen
Glen Rock, PA
(Zone 6b)
May 10, 2008
8:17 AM Post #4932113
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claypa I suppose that we each have our own way of defining what 'invasive' is. For me, invasive does not simply mean 'non-native', but rather anything that will grow wildly, out of control and is also difficult to get rid of regardless of its origin. I do think that you are probably right about the poison ivy confusion. They do often grow together, and especially when the spring sprouts are first coming up they look very similar. I have also heard that some people can have a skin reaction to it as well, so perhaps they are more similar than we imagine.
My warning came not only from its presence on the thug list, but also from personal experience. I had a neighbor once that had a patch growing on a fence. During the course of one year, it popped up 30 ft away on my sun room. At the time, I didn't know it to be aggressive, and I was already trying to kill off some poison ivy which I have been allergic to since childhood and know very well. So anyway, I left it. Big mistake. By the end of the summer it had overtaken half the sunroom. It was working its way under the gutters, and was running amok in an adjacent rock garden. When I finally went to work on it, its roots were so intertwined with some of my shrubs and plants, I ended up losing a few.
While for the most part it was easy enough to pull up, the roots were everywhere but they weren't too deep, many broke off as I pulled. Even after I killed off the main plant on the fence, I was still pulling up new shoots from the roots I missed by the sunroom YEARS later
YMMV on how weedy and invasive this plant is for you. If one has a lot of space, I could easily see leaving it be. For me, if it is anywhere near my garden beds, it is an invader and must go. If I learned one thing from my experience it is that you had better be sure that you like it if you leave it, because you will be seeing it for years to come. |
ecrane3
Dublin, CA
(Zone 9a)
May 10, 2008
10:04 AM Post #4932453
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Invasive actually has an official definition and is not really a matter of personal interpretation. Invasive plants have escaped cultivation and are crowding out native plants in the wild. Many people use the word invasive to describe things that behave like thugs in the garden, but "aggressive" would probably be a better term for that situation. There are some plants that are aggressive garden thugs that are also invasive, but that's not necessarily always the case, some plants may spread like wildfire in your garden, but if you take away their water and fertilizer they don't do nearly as well. Or they still grow quickly, but not in such a way that they choke out and destroy native plants in the process. And conversely, there are some plants that can be invasive in the wild but may be relatively easy to control in the garden where you're mowing/pulling whatever seedlings that come up, etc, but in nature where nobody's monitoring and removing the seedlings, they can eventually be a huge problem (Paulownia, the Royal Empress tree is a good example of this...while some people do get them popping up in their yard from time to time they're not really a huge problem in the garden, however in many states they have become a problem in natural areas) |
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