Purple loosestrife, privet, barberry, winged Euonymus (burning bush), honeysuckle, Norway maple, oriental bittersweet, autumn olive. These and some other plants have two things in common. They are commonly used in landscaping and gardens, and they threaten to take over more than a few Land Trust properties.

Why, you may ask, should we be concerned about the presence of these plants on Land Trust preserves? After all, many of our common wildflowers that we see along roadsides or in woods or fields have escaped from yards and gardens in the nearly 400 years since European settlement.

Purple loosestrife

Multiflora rose

The problem comes when the escapees begin to outcompete and displace the native plants that were there before them. The problem plants share one or more characteristics that gives them a leg up in getting established and grabbing more than their share of the limited resources. These include high fertility, with fruits that are attractive to birds which spread the seeds, and a tendency to leaf out earlier or hold their leaves longer, giving them a longer growing season. Some, like Norway maple and Euonymus, shade out competitors. Euonymus also forms a dense root mat that prevents other plants from growing. Loosestrife fills entire wetlands, preventing other plants from growing and leaving insects with no nectar sources except for the few weeks when the loosestrife is blooming.

The resulting loss of the native plant species poses problems for our butterflies, which are often very specialized in terms of larval food sources, or for birds, which turn out to be more susceptible to nest predation when nesting in plants like honeysuckle. (The changes also make the woods and fields less interesting and beautiful for us humans.)

What does this have to do with you and your back yard? You can help the Land Trust by avoiding the problem plants when you landscape. The Department of Environmental Protection has compiled a list of native plants that provide the same benefits as the problem plants (see below). Whether you're looking for a source of berries to attract birds or a plant with attractive fall foliage, there are native plants that can give you what you want without contributing to the Land Trust's management problems.

Japanese barberry

Euonymus

Ask your local nursery for these native plants. If you can't find the plants that you're looking for in your local nursery, call the Land Trust (483-5263) and we can send you a list of nurseries that carry them, compiled by the Connecticut Invasive Plant Working Group. Thanks for your help.

For more information about the problem of invasive plants in Connecticut, see below or visit the Connecticut Invasive Plant Working Group web page.

ALTERNATIVES TO COMMONLY
PLANTED INVASIVE PLANTS
by Alternatives Subcommittee
Connecticut Invasive Plant Working Group

NORWAY MAPLE (Acer platanoides)

Alternatives:
Red Maple (Acer rubrum) - street tree, yards - gives red fall color, good spring food source for wildlife

Sugar Maple (Acer saccharum) - street tree (best if planted away from curbside because of road salt) gives brilliant orange-red color, good fall food source for wildlife

Silver Maple (Acer saccharinum)- tends to get too large for a street tree, but good for bigger spaces; good spring food source for wildlife

JAPANESE BARBERRY (Berberis thunbergii)

Alternatives:

Winterberry (Ilex verticillata) - certain cultivars are shorter in size

Black chokeberry (Aronia melanocarpa)- berry persistence

Red chokeberry (Aronia arbutifolia) - berry persistence

Winterberry (female- Ilex verticillata)- regular variety and shorter cultivars -berry persistence

Mapleleaf Viburnum (Viburnum acerifolium) - berry persistence

Highbush Cranberry Viburnum (Viburnum trilobum) - berry persistence

Pasture Rose (Rosa carolina) - berry persistence

Virginia Rose (Rosa virginiana) -berry persistence

Swamp Rose (Rosa palustris) - berry persistence - wetter sites

WINGED EUONYMUS (Euonymus alatus)

Alternatives:

Highbush blueberry (Vaccinium corymbosum) - orange-red fall color, wildlife summer food value

Red chokeberry (Aronia arbutifolia) - "brilliantissima" variety, wildlife winter food value

PRIVET (Ligustrum spp.)

Alternatives:

Gray Dogwood - (Cornus racemosa)

Arrowwood Viburnum (Viburnum recognitum)

Red Twig Dogwood (Cornus sericea)

Silky Dogwood (Cornus amomum)

Speckled Alder (Alnus rugosa)

JAPANESE HONEYSUCKLE VINE ( Lonicera japonica)

Alternatives:
Trumpet Honeysuckle Vine (Lonicera semprevirens)
(Lonicera x heckrottii variety also)

Five-leaved Ivy (Parthenocissus quinquefolia)

ORIENTAL BITTERSWEET(Celastrus orbiculatus)

Alternatives:

American Bittersweet (Celastrits scandens)

AUTUMN OLIVE (Elaeagnus umbellata)

Alternatives:

Gray Dogwood - (Cornus racemosa) - fall food

Red Twig Dogwood (Cornus sericea) - fall food

Silky Dogwood (Cornus amomum) - fall food

Arrowwood Viburnum (Viburnum recognitum) - fall food

Nannyberry Viburnum (Viburnum lentago) - fall food

Highbush Cranberry Viburnum (Viburnum trilobum) - berry persistence

Black chokeberry (Aronia melanocarpa)- berry persistence

Red chokeberry (Aronia arbutifolia) - berry persistence

Winterberry (female- Ilex verticillata)- regular variety and shorter cultivars -berry persistence

Autumn olive