How funny! I'd have the same oriental bittersweet and poison ivy, plus barberry and loads of other smaller weeds. The lawn violets will have grown huge.

The sad thing is how quickly it would all happen, probably a lot faster than 10 years. I speak from experience, I'm afraid. I got interested in gardening in the early 90's. Then I got busy with other things and we hired a lawn service and I kind of ignored everything. The lawn service faithfully mowed the weeds and dumped mulch on beds every year, but ignored all the volunteers that sprouted up *everywhere*. Many tender perennials died; a few shrubs like rhododendrons flourished, but others got leggy and/or massively winter burned. Much of the lawn turned really bad, in spite of regular fertilizer and herbicides, because of lack of sun. Poison ivy and wintergreen and barberry grew rampant.

In the last two years we've had the trees pruned and one that was dying taken down; we've installed some masonry patios where grass wouldn't grow; removed a lot of nasty volunteer weed shrubs; planted some new shrubs and started some shady perennial beds. I'm worried that my interest may flag again so I'm trying to concentrate on the bones, planting shrubs and groundcovers and more really hardy perennials like hostas. I don't dare predict what it will all, realistically, look like in another 10 years!

and the grandchildren are now kicking their grandfather for having allowed his dog to daily use my property as his toilet.

:-D

Mine is easy: the back yard is a dense stand of bloody Norway maples (what, that's not its actual name?) which are growing everywhere, battling it out with the bigtooth aspen saplings that have sprouted from underground runners now that they're free of the tyranny of the lawnmower. Oriental bittersweet and Virginia creeper are running rampant over every tree.

I've had a preview, because the "landscaper" who rented this house for about 10 years before we bought it had abandoned the garden. Greening's prediction is on the money: our back yard was a dense stand of norway maple saplings, battling it out among themselves, growing no more than 6 inches apart. The previous owner had had a lovely garden here before she rented it out, the only things that remained from her garden were a pair of New Dawn roses and, virtually in the middle of the maples, an old peony. Those are still my favorite plants.

Oh, wait! That was all before the days of garlic mustard. No, I have to revise my vision of my garden's bleak future. It will be wall to wall garlic mustard; the only plant that can out-thug the maples. Oh, yeah, there will be lots and lots of sweet autumn clematis, which has curently seeded itself all through the lawn as well as the mixed beds.

I can testify to what would happen because I saw it before my eyes. Thirty years ago, our neighborhood was new. Our then next-door neighbors sued the builder because the land behind our homes was supposed to be conservation land and he started another street there as soon as we all moved in.

The lot behind the neighbors was held up in the lawsuit for seven years. It had been clear-cut out of the forest. Not a blade of grass. The builder had used it as a stump dump and storage facility while building our street.

In those seven years, I was amazed to see not only annuals, perennials, ferns, grasses of every description appear but shrubs follow very quickly and then trees, especially our native birches. Luckily, no Norway maples in the neighborhood. Lots of swamp maples, red oaks, serviceberries, bird cherries and on and on.

In just seven years--seven!--this scraped-bare lot was well on the way to becoming forest again. I would not have believed it if I had not seen it myself.

BTW, the lawsuite was settled and there is a house there now.

I've had a preview also. My father had lawn all over the property except for my mother's garden area. I couldn't see the reason for having grass in areas where you almost never walk, and don't need to see past the grass. So I stopped mowing some areas. Within a few years there's white wood aster all over and volunteer oaks, pines, cedars, crabapples, viburnums (dentatum) and cherries (sour and wild). And some maples, of course.

If I abandon the whole site, the oaks and pines and cedars and cherries will revert to their historic battle - Pines on the street side and oaks and cedars by the bay. The wild cherries will probably out-reproduce every other tree species, closely followed by the sour cherries.

In ten years, the understory will probably be mostly pokeberries (and poison ivy and oriental bittersweet and Virginia rose and white wood aster and goldenrod). The old winterberry will still be visible, but crowded. Same with the osmanthuses.

Any bare spot will be filled with phlox maculata. Grasses will be hunkered down waiting for lightning to clear some space for them.

In twenty years it will look like the forest across the street.

Claire

No doubt. ASIATIC BITTERSWEET would smother everything. Maybe some Purple Loosestrife in the pond, for good measure. But mostly Bittersweet.

When we moved here, the beautiful Hemlocks that lined the driveway were choked with Bittersweet, and in the old field behind, entire trees were taken down with the weight of the Bittersweet vines.

I would like to imagine a scenario closer to Ginny's though. Perhaps the Yellow Birch, Red Maple and Hemlock could win. I'd hate to think that traditional forest succession is dead :-)

I'd hate to think that traditional forest succession is dead :-)
While on a hike out side of Canso, Nova Scotia this summer I came across this relatively young stand of Jack Pine 1970. I dont believe they thrive as far south as Massachusetts but I could be wrong. In terms of forest succession the Jack Pine is one patient tree, it is so intolerant of shade from competing growth that is usually only found growing in stands of Jack Pine which are often found where the soil conditions are extremely poor. It is a fire adapted tree, in other words the pinecones will sit on the ground for many years and will only open from the high heat of a forest fire. The Jack Pine stand then reseed in the burnt ground, and so goes the life cycle of the Jack Pine. Depending on its growing conditions this tree can grow as tall as 70 feet or stay short and shrub like. This stand after nearly 40 years of growth were approximately 4-5 feet tall.

It's worth adding to this thread that scientists report that New England--indeed, much of the eastern US--is more heavily forested than at any time since European colonization. That's one reason so many animal species, like deer, have made such a comeback.

Some years ago, I had an elderly visitor from California. He had spent his childhood in the early 1920s in Cornish NH and had not been back since. He was astounded at all the trees. Cornish in his day was completely deforested for agriculture, lumber, fuel etc. Not anymore.

kt, i remember your stories about this neighbor and i was thinking of an idea. if you're not on speaking terms with the neighbor, you could write a letter that says something like,"We are notifying all our abutters(or "we just wanted to let you know" )that as part of our ongoing garden development,we have begun to broadcast a pelletized slug repellant on our property but near your property line. This slug bait is highly toxic to dogs and they can die within an hour of eating some of it. As we will continue broadcasting fresh slug bait throughout the year, we thought we should let you know."

you probly already know that slug bait CAN kill dogs. the fact that you are not actually spreading it is irrelevant if the letter would change your ugly neighbor's ways.
best,
mindy

Mindy, thanks but I like to keep my thoughts of retribution limited to fantasies otherwise I would probably wind up doing time in the big house. Hmmm..I do think however prisons have agriculture programs and I would never have to cook again!! kt

Katy - Too funny! Leave it to you to contemplate the upside to the big house!

Mindy - What kind of slug bait is that? Not the iron phosphate (Sluggo, Escar-Go) stuff? I am convinced that the chipmunk has been stealing mine - much to the detriment of many of my potted plants.

I don't have to imagine what my property would look like - I am living it! ;-) A large section of weedy vine infestation that I never got to clear is my view beyond my vegetable garden. I will thankfully (hopefully) be gone before the huge multi-vine enshrouded tree on a disputed property line is pulled down completely. My sunny garden was reclaimed in stages, so I got to see what is was like once the vines were removed, but before final work and it was a sea of Jewelweed and Pokeweed. It would have been quite pretty if the deer didn't like the Jewelweed quite so much. It always fascinates me the endless parade of weeds that appear in my beds and try to trick me with their unfamiliarity. As it is I cannot walk a back path that has been neglected enough this year for the black raspberries to reclaim the area.

In actuality I AM abandoning my garden and I can imagine what its fate will be - flat pristine lawn and professionally installed gardens and complete loss of mature trees and animal habitat anywhere but the very back wetlands. Sigh. (and shudder).

hi there,cloud,
it's the pellet stuff!
best,
mindy

I live on Cape Cod & have "summer people" on either side. One side has a gorgeous & well maintained garden & plant a huge veg garden every year. There is also a plethora of non-stop blooming plants. On the other side, there is an invasion of oriental bittersweet which is about to take over this yard. When I tried to cut it back several years ago, the summer folks arrived for their annual weekend & were outraged since they "thought" it was a natural fence. Now if this bittersweet took over the rest of their yard, it would be fine. But it doesn't. It moves toward this yard & is a constant battle. So, were I to leave this place, each building & every fence & plant would be covered by bittersweet w/in a few years. And yes, weeds would take their turn as well but mostly it would be bittersweet. My lilacs & forsythia have already been strangled. How I wish I could make it grow on THEIR house/plants instead of mine!

"...I don't have to imagine what my property would look like - I am living it! ;-)..."

LOL, Deb! I was thinking the same thing about my yard!

:)
Dee

if you want to kill the bittersweet but have blight appear as the culprit, pour a gallon of muriatic acid on its base. it be dead in short order. i know someone who did this to some norway maple seedlings stupidly placed on their property line, and it worked like a demon. if you do decide to try this(and NOT on a windy day), make sure to cover your mouth and avert your face from the powerful fumes.
best,
Mindy

Muriatic acid is extremely dangerous. Read all precautions before you even think of using it for any purpose and I wouldn't. Sorry, Mindy, gotta disagree with you on this one.

no worries about disagreement. it worked perfectly for me, errr, my friend, that is.
best,
mindy

Maimie,
We seem to have similar problems with our neighbors. I came across this Globe article by Carol Stoker that I thought I would share. kt

Forget about ten years, the summer I was pregnant black swallowwort took over our back yard. After a few years, it'd be a nice ground cover under the forest of Rose of Sharon trees that would pop up.

michelle - I wasn't familiar with black swallow wort, so of course I had to Google it and found out that an interesting common name for it is Dog Strangling Vine! Maybe you should see if Katy wants some to work into her 10 and 20 year plan. Too bad it isn't Dog Owner Strangling Vine.
Deb

I like this thread.....it reminds me of the History Channel special about EARTH WITHOUT MAN. It was no surprise to me that it was PLANT LIFE that began the assault on the relics of man's presence on earth. If anyone has a chance to see that long presentation, I highly recommend it.

But your topic also reminds me how hard it is for us to make a lasting impression of our presence or existance on earth. After 18 years of gardening on my beloved Moccasin Landing property, I sold it to a man buying up all the houses on our street. In short order, he'd bulldozed all the plants and trees and bamboo and woodland corner, turning my secret garden into an exposed tract house. I'd much rather see all my beloved plants climbing into the tree tops, like the Cherokee rose and the wisteria that both reached for the stars. The wild irises clumped and multiplied in the woodland corner. The birds pooped out the poison ivy seeds to restore the stand my son killed off for me before he died. My pears dropped unnoticed to rot hidden in the bosom of the monkey grass covering the whole north side of my lot with a delicious dark cushy green. My hammock hung unused between the two pear trees for years, until it rotted and was replaced. I watched the cedar waxwings on their irregular migrations devour the pear blossoms some April day.

But all good things come to an end. Autumn is approaching and we must get ready to tuck the garden in until spring. At least, most of it. After being up here and listening to you ladies and gents talk about many topics, I know you don't necessarily stop gardening just because your hands are not in the dirt.

By the way, what do you do in the winter with all your plants that are too tender to stay outdoors? Would you believe that when we go south in November I am taking my geraniums and begonia boliviensis? I will probably take the heuchera that I like so much too. And the black eyed susan vine, the staghorn fern, and the horsetail fern all of which I found at Jones Nursery here in Chelmsford. I love these plants too much to entrust to anyone else.

Hubby says it is ELEVEN OCLOCK...oh boy isn't that awful....and I must get up early to paint 3 rooms in the morning. G'night ladies.

Deb, heck, we have enough of that vine in our neighborhood to let everyone have a piece. I live in a bit of a city area and some people think it is a nice thing to grow on their chain-link fences. I didn't know the name of it until this spring when I think I did a google search on invasive vine with black flowers. Wouldn't you know it is on the top ten list of invasive plants in Massachusetts. The root system is amazing on these things, very hard to get rid of. We also have Tree of Heaven and a new vine this year that I am blanking on the name of, but I think the Rose of Sharons would give them all a run for their money.