Top Evil Nursery Plants (workshop handout)

English Ivy (Hedera helix)- the most environmentally destructive nursery plant in the NW- “Kudzu of the Northwest”. For wall climbers, various nonnative alternatives include Fatshedera, Clematis, Parthenocissus, climbing Hydrangea. Orange-flowering Honeysuckle (Lonicera ciliosa) is a NW native vine with large, bright orange flowers. Deciduous, climbs to 20 or 30 ft in full to part shade- needs support, doesn’t cling to walls etc. without staples. For ground cover, native and nonnative alternatives. English Ivy is never recommended. Extreme care recommended in discarding ivy from eradication projects or containers, as cuttings take a long time to die.  Contact with the plant can cause dermatitis; wear gloves when pulling.  Eradication requires a long time, watching for re-emergence of rooted segments.

English Holly (Ilex aquifolium)- widespread noxious weed, bird-planted. Never recommended. Cut down and destroy the stump. Try other hollies, multitude of evergreen shrubs, native and nonnative. (Many people confuse English Holly with our woodland natives Mahonia spp., particularly Holly-leaved Oregon Grape, Mahonia aquifolium. True Holly has alternate leaves; Oregon Grape has opposite leaflets.)

Vinca major, Vinca minor- invasive, particularly in shade. Very difficult to eradicate due to runners. Take care in disposing of ripped-out plants or container leftovers. Never place in open ground or near woodland. Many more benign alternatives for ground cover, native and nonnative.

English Laurel (Prunus laurocerasus)- monstrous, spreading via suckers, to 20 ft or more tall, at least 15 ft wide; neighbors will hate you. Also spreads via bird dissemination of berries.  Eradication requires extensive digging, possibly with backhoe. Nonnative alternatives for evergreen screening include the somewhat more modest-sized and comparatively polite (and more attractive) Portuguese Laurel, various Rhodies, Escallonia, Ceanothus, etc.  Native alternatives include California Wax Myrtle (sun or shade, evergreen to 15 ft tall and 10 ft wide) and Rhododendron macrophyllum (part shade).

Lamium and Lamiastrum spp.- usually variegated groundcover; L. galeobdolon is listed and quarantined but all plants in this group (in nurseries mostly L. maculatum) are invasive in our region. Never, ever plant near woodland. Spreads very quickly and is impossible to eradicate without eliminating all other vegetation as well. Use in containers; take care in discarding, as uprooted plants remain alive for a long time.  Many native and nonnative alternatives.

Bishop’s Weed (Aegopodium)- white-variegated groundcover for shade; inexorable until it meets concrete; very difficult to remove. Close relative Peucedanum is very similar in appearance, said to be much less invasive.

Garden Loosestrife- Lysimachia spp, erect types. (Ground covers are assertive, but not horrid.  Erect loosestrifes are merciless and impossible to eradicate.) Plant these only within concrete barriers. (Note: this is a different plant group than the famous Purple Loosestrife, Lythrum spp., which is quarantined in many states.) Take care in discarding.

Euphorbia spp- many many species and cultivars.  Not all, but most are very invasive, and several spp are listed noxious weeds in various western states.  Extreme caution recommended.

Buddleia davidii- Butterfly Bush- there are several spp of Buddleia available horticulturally; this is the only one that is invasive. Listed noxious weed, not yet quarantined but may become so.  Nurseries are encouraged to discontinue selling it, and putatively sterile hybrids are becoming more available.  Clumps of escaped B. davidii can be seen in many places in our region and in general coastally from N. CA to BC.