Be Careful When Planting Invasive Plants

Before you start planting and growing new garden flowers, or choose beautiful easy-to-grow vines and plants to place around your yard, you need to know what types of plants you’re choosing. Some plants are very invasive naturally, and in some cases they can completely destroy your yard or garden beds.

An invasive plant is one that grows very quickly and agressively. They’re usually extremely tough and hardy too, and it’s this agressiveness which can cause problems because they quickly take over and kill any other plants or flowers you may have planted.

Many inexperienced gardeners buy invasive plants innocently because they’re very easy to grow and since they grow quickly gardeners can get a very quick sense of satisfaction and accomplishment from them. And while they do provide excellent, colorful results in a garden bed, if they’re not native to the area you’re planting them in they can upset the natural ecological balance by destroying native floral.

There are many types of invasive plants, and some which are only invasive if planted in specific areas. Knowing which plants can be problematic in your area will help prevent future problems.

Two very common invasive plants that most gardeners love are Ivy and Mint. There are some parts of the U.S. where specific Ivy species will completely choke and kill nearby plants within months. Mint is another fast and hardy grower that spreads out naturally, and this can cause any plants in it’s growth path to be killed as well.

Invasive plants can still be grown inside or out though, as long as you’re aware of the invasive habits of the plants you’ve chosen, and as long as you’re careful about where you put them and how they’re planted.

To help contain a Mint plant from taking over the entire yard for example, you can plant it into a container or pot. Even if you want the mint to be in the ground near a walkway in your yard, you can still plant it in a flower pot and then simply bury that pot into the ground. As the Mint grows, be sure to snip off any wandering vines that might try to take root outside the contained area though.

Ivy can also be grown in containers and pots, and again you can bury these into the ground if you’d like. You’ll need to be much more careful when growing Ivy though, because it is a trailing vine which will try to quickly send runners out across your yard. Each runner can plant multiple roots which allow the vine to continue growing and expanding.

My personal preference is to grow Ivy and Mint in above ground containers. I like to keep them both as indoor plants but they work well as porch or patio plants too. They’re also quite beautiful when planted in window flower boxes, and generally this is safe enough to keep them contained. Be sure to keep a close watch on your Ivy vines though, because if they start trailing close to the ground from a window box you’ll want to trim it back to prevent it from taking root.