Warn others! (bad bad plants) - Page 3

[ItyBty]

Originally Posted by MidnightCommando

don't buy: scotch broom

Whats wrong with scotch broom??

(In a panic because I have 2...)

[wallacesmum]

Adenaphora in z4-5. I think we have tons of pokeweed; I will have to look into that.

[megamom]

Jacaranda They drop all of those pretty purple blooms and they are sticky and gummy. If it's over your lawn the blooms will gum up your lawn mower. It just leaves a big gunky mess everywhere and our town is full of them.

[MidnightCommando]

Originally Posted by ItyBty

Whats wrong with scotch broom??

(In a panic because I have 2...)

Invasive plant! http://www.invasivespeciesinfo.gov/p...tchbroom.shtml

In Idaho it is illegal to have it on your property. you might want to check CT noxious weed laws. Google it or you can call your local extension office

[NamastePlatypus]

Originally Posted by graysonva

I personally hate the Bradford Pear. It has an awful smell in the spring while it flowers. Once they get old enough they split in half. They are originally from china and have been modified to live in the west. That modification makes them weak. And to top if off the fruit is not eatable.

we call them cum trees:

[NamastePlatypus]

Originally Posted by megamom

Jacaranda They drop all of those pretty purple blooms and they are sticky and gummy. If it's over your lawn the blooms will gum up your lawn mower. It just leaves a big gunky mess everywhere and our town is full of them.

to bad it is really pretty

[wallacesmum]

Originally Posted by MidnightCommando

Invasive plant! http://www.invasivespeciesinfo.gov/p...tchbroom.shtml

In Idaho it is illegal to have it on your property. you might want to check CT noxious weed laws. Google it or you can call your local extension office

Is this zone specific? I planted one for someone 2 years ago because she bought it (I don't know anything about them so I wouldn't have purchased it, but I didn't know that they were bad). Anyway, in her zone, which is really a 4 or borderline 5, it just doesn't do very well, so it doesn't seem like it would be invasive.

[Viola]

Originally Posted by griffin2004

unless you love pulling sproutlings -- forever!!, never plant a sumac tree; major pain, and not that pretty a tree

We have sumac trees growing up in our yard that apparently are coming from the neighbors yard. They send up runners or something? I don't know.


We get a lot of rabbit bush and sage brush here. They'll take over if you let them get a foothold, but they are low water plants so maybe I should get rid of my grass and just let them grow. I have heard that honeysuckle is also considered a pest plant, but I like it in the places where I see it.


A lot of people here have scotch broom and I like it, but my friend is allergic to it. We also have a cottonwood tree in our yard that I guess grew from the neighbor's tree under the fence, and I think technically we aren't supposed to have it.

[ani'smommy]

Originally Posted by ElliesMomma

mustard garlic: in the same sad class as buckthorn. it's everywhere. i hear people say, "oh those nice white flowers." this must be literally burned up or hauled away in bags; if you pull weeds and leave them in your yard or in the compost pile, the seeds will continue to grow more of the plants.

Ugh, we have garlic mustard EVERYWHERE around here, it is horrible. In fact, DD and I just spend about three hours with the Michigan Land Conservancy pulling and bagging garlic mustard from our old growth forest and dunes on Lake Michigan. It feels pretty futile, honestly.

[griffin2004]

here in the PacNW, scotch broom is considered a nasty weed (although I think it's pretty in bloom) and it will KILL you if you suffer from spring allergies

[MidnightCommando]

Originally Posted by wallacesmum

Is this zone specific? I planted one for someone 2 years ago because she bought it (I don't know anything about them so I wouldn't have purchased it, but I didn't know that they were bad). Anyway, in her zone, which is really a 4 or borderline 5, it just doesn't do very well, so it doesn't seem like it would be invasive.

I'm not sure what zone it sets in but does quite well here in the NW, I live in a 3b micro climate 4-5. It is not classified as invasive in every state, you can find complete lists for your state here:http://www.aphis.usda.gov/plant_heal...ds/index.shtml and your state dept. of agriculture web site will have a lot of specifics

[Twwly]

I despise thistles. They hide in our lawn, making it impossible to walk barefoot outside, and they will grow into 5' tall spiny monsters if let go. Needle sharp, and unnecessarily nasty... I cannot beeeelieve people plant them for ornamental or medicinal properties.

Thistles are A-holes.

[lactivist]

I hate ivy (all kinds), juniper and cedar. The one thing I haven't seen mentioned here is BAMBOO which is pure evil. That stuff spreads like wildfire, is horrible to try to cut down and is so sharp. I also hate Oleanders but that is a totally different story.
Wendi

[roostery]

For me it is passionflower. I know it's pretty, but it took over our yard and the neighbors, invaded all the nearby trees and shrubs and started coming up in the lawn. I kept cutting it way back to try to get rid of it but 3 years in I still haven't managed to kill it. I'm in Seattle so maybe I should have planted it inside some bamboo barrier or something to keep it from spreading. And the worst thing is I didn't even get any fruit!

The other impossible to get rid of plant for me is forget-me-nots. Every year I pull them and pull them and pull them. They are all through the flower and vegetable gardens. There doesn't seem to be a way to get rid of them.

[NamastePlatypus]

wistera, mom and dad battled that crap for ever, it is pretty and smells wonderful but ugh it is as bad as kudzu!

[StrawberryFields]

Squills, daylilies, and black walnut. The squills and the daylilies are taking over my yard and the black walnut has a nasty habit of killing everything (except the darn squills and the daylilies ) and the squirrels bury the nuts so there are potholes e-v-e-r-y-w-h-e-r-e. Not to mention all the tiny little black walnut trees that keep popping up in the worst places and keep coming back no matter how much I hack them down.

[annekevdbroek]

I hate honeysuckle - it is growing all over the place, full of wasps (the bees don't seem to like it) and just takes over. I hate it. I don't care that the flowers smell good. I hate it. I see it at the garden center and feel bad for anyone who unknowingly buys it and plants it in their yard.

Oleander - why would anyone plant this highly poisonous monster. It gets huge. It can poison your children and pets.

and finally

Leriope - another why? Sure, it looks like a cute little ground cover but it throws up shoots all over and is nearly imposisble to get rid of, and it doesn't stay put.

[*Melissa*]

Spearmint!

We had a little bit of spearmint growing way on the one side of our driveway - but it has made its way all through the front yard, the back yard and the garden. And they seem to grow so fast! Smells yummy, though!

My worst enemy of all time is BINDWEED, which I despise! It chokes pretty much everything that I have growing, and it grows about 6" a week, and that's not an exaggeration. It's horrible and the bane of my existence!~

[Laggie]

I love forget me nots. : I can't help it, I think they're pretty, especially in the lawn. We have a creeping buttercup infestation and I HATE those plants.

Morning Glory is the absolute worst worst worst plant ever. Our entire yard is infested with it. It comes out of cracks in the cement, grows into the garage, and grows in the garage. In the dark. Unbelievable. I think I would have to remove the top 18" of soil from my entire yard to get rid of it. As it is, we're going with trying to keep it "under control" ie pull it out often enough so it can't kill everything else or pull the siding off our house. Yes, it climbs the siding. I just realized Morning Glory/bindweed are very similar, if not the same. Evil stuff.

Oh and blackberry bushes. I had a job years ago removing invasive species and blackberry plants are a nightmare. I wore a double layer of leather gloves and still got thorns in my hands.

I'm still upset that my passionflower didn't come back after the winter- I think it got too cold. That was a very expensive plant, I've never heard of it being called a weed? Maybe in a hotter climate it might spread, but it looks like here it needs to be babied.

[verde]

I second Melissa's opinion about Bindweed. Where I live they call it Mile-a-Minute weed which makes a lot of sense once you start trying to get rid of it. It's got those horrible little thorns which stick to other plants and ultimately smothers them. Wreched stuff. I also hate garlic mustard which is a constant stone in my shoe.

Of course the worst plant of all, in the entire universe (IMHO) is Poison Ivy. It is truly the plant of Satan. I both LOATHE it and live in total fear of it. I've had horrible bouts of poison ivy and now I'm super-aware of every leaf. Although I'm an organic gardener, poison ivy is the one plant that challenges my principles and I confess that I'm willing to use toxic nuclear waste to get rid of the stuff.