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The Seed Exchange

lonicera bush honeysuckle - invasive, nasty, detrimental, awful

16 years ago

Hello to all plant-lovers and nature buffs - I beg you, please educate yourself about "invasive exotics" and do not offer them to unwitting growers/gardeners. Mother Nature will be forever in your debt, since she likes diversity, not smothering monocultures.

Sincerely,

mrnatural

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Comments (6)

rbrady
16 years ago
I second that notion.

Rhonda
countrykitty
16 years ago
Agreed. Along a 150 foot stretch of the creek bordering my property, Japanese honeysuckle has so severely strangled the young trees that they only get about10-20 foot tall before the crown starts to die. In my DH's home state of Georgia, Kudzu is slowly but relentlessly smothering forests. A friend in NH says that burning bush has completely filled the understory of areas of woodland, crowding out species that support wildlife.

It's just not nice (or wise) to fool with Mother Nature.
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Its driving me nuts. I live near a state park and the entire thing consists of just a few types of plants: 1. Ailanthus (of course) 2. Jap. Knotweed (of course) 3. Jap. barberry vine (horrendous) 4. Mugwort. ->Everywhere 5. Multiflora Rose (worse than ailanthus to me. this plant is just awful) I'm trying to be more zen about plants. One of the problems is this whole concept of 'weed' there are many native plants that are considered invasive/weeds. Wild Grape is considered native in NJ, its exciting to see wild grape choking an ailanthus to death. Its also nice to see virginia creeper and trumpet flower fighting neck and neck with the japanese barberry and multiflora rose. Sadly though, Staghorn sumac (native) is also getting choked by the wild grape. In embracing native plants don't fall into the same trap that got us in trouble in 1st place -> embracing natives like purple cone-flower, oaks and blueberries, but despising natives like whorled loose strife, wild thorny blackberries and poison ivy. (Okay you can hate PI) Keep pulling up those invader plants. Eventually lack of sunlight, water nutrients will have them die off. AND, -> in the same way that if you dumped just a little motor oil in the ground it could have extremely dire consequences to the ground water, the opposite is true. -> Just a little effort can have a lasting effect. Have your natives ready as soon as you remove the invaders, also start off with tough/pioneer natives. In my part of NJ that would be honey locust, wild sunflowers, oaks, hickory, brown/black eyed susans, trumpet honey suckle trumpet flower.. Watch these closely and then plant your prized natives. It helps me to be a little more zen with native weeds, they play there part in our local eco-system AND our loathing them is what got us in the invasive mess. One last thing, I do see Ailanthus and knotweed getting tore up by some insects, (just not sure what they are) Also seen ailanthus on the NJ highways completely defoliated and its only July. Bugs and fungus and virus constantly mutate, at some point one of these critters is going to get hip to the abundant invasive supply and destroy them. Also, one last zen thing: Near my state park, there are these huge 15'-20' tall 20' wide mounds of invasive plants. Its like there was one tree that was mobbed by multiflora rose and than jap.barberry and then virg. creeper and then trumpet flower with hints of ailanthus and mile-minute weed etc. In that huge mound I am sure there are probably 5 birds nests, several squirrel homes and protection for many bugs and animals. Is this a justification for invasives, most certainly not, but know this nature adapts. Its just not on our schedule. And you doing your best to get rid of invasives, is also part of nature. Keep up the hard work!
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pinkspoonbill
16 years ago
I spend a ton of my time cutting this honeysuckle out of my yard. It was here when we moved into the house. It is one plant I will not offer in a trade. I wouldn't want to be responsible for its invasiveness anywhere else, nor would I want to do to another gardener what I am having to do. Having said that, it get beautiful, fragrant flowers reminescent of childhood tasting the nectar. I know it is invasive, but am tempted to keep just a small amount that I can keep in check just for the flowers. It does not seem to seed, so is probably not bad if you keep on top of it. This invasiveness, by the way, does not apply to other honeysuckles, I don't think, and some may be attractive to wildlife. Other plants besides this and kudzu may also be invasive or exotic, but not nearly as invasive and their good points (butterfly host/nectar, flowers, fragrance, etc) may be worth keeping if you do prevent their spread. Many plants are invasive in some climes but not others, and to some people but not others. So, most can be shared if done so with a statement about their nature.
medontdo
16 years ago
i think if you plan to let it grow all over the place, then do not get it!! i have mine on a cattle pannel. grows great, every couple of years i have to take it down to about a foot or so but by spring it grows back beautifully!! i would never let this grow out in my tree's, that's for sure!! these are one of them ya have to keep trimmed. (honey suckle) i would love some of your lonicera bush one if ya'd like to trade some kinda seeds for them seeds. i love to watch these things grow from seeds!! (crazy i know) and does kudzu have seeds? i'd love to try that some day. i grow things in containers on twine. just to make sure! LOL i learned the hard way with morning glory and cardinal vine!! ahhhhh!!! LOL :')) is japanese honeysuckle very fragrant?
juliaw
16 years ago
It isn't up to us to decide who's "unwitting" and who isn't. I refuse to assume that others are ignorant and treat them like children, telling them what's good for them and what isn't. If someone is here on GardenWeb then they have an internet connection, which also gives easy access to Google searches. And PlantsDatabase. And Invasives.org.

I somewhat resent being told to "educate" myself about invasives. I know all about invasives, thank you very much. And the ones I don't know about specifically, I know how to research -- as do other "unwitting" gardeners.

I know that what is invasive in some places isn't in others. Granted, there are plants that have proven to be a problem nearly everywhere, but many of the plants that make some people hide under the bed out of sheer terror will languish, or fail completely in other areas. "Invasive exotics" can be grown in ways that limit growth: containers to prevent root spread, flowers deadheaded before seeding -- heck, most could probably be grown indoors!

And let's not get all xenophobic in our outlook; you don't need exotics to destroy an ecosystem. Even North American native plants can wreak havoc in other areas in North America. If you really want to be thorough in your warning, then maybe you should have added the breathless plea to not trade with people across the rockies, or from dry areas to moist areas, or from crowded forest areas to the Midwest plains.
pearlgirl
16 years ago
I have four of these bushes and do find that they send
out suckers, however, I just never thought of them being
a real problem...will keep my eye on them though. The
flowers are beautiful, the bees love them and I love
them more because my Mother bought them for me. I was
just about to offer cuttings but I guess I'll keep
them to myself. I wouldn't want to create a possible
nightmare for someone else :)

Margaret

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