There is nothing more pleasing to see than a field full of wildflowers in full bloom. Ma Nature is the best gardener-ever!! Many, when they see my flower gardens make comments about the "weeds" growing in them amoung the added greenhouse plants. There is nothing to compare to a 8' tall Bull Thistle in full bloom, or Queen AnneÂs lace...Have you ever smell the bloom of a milk weed on a warm august night? I call them summer lilacs. There is nothing more stately than a old stand of sassafras trees, or the many verities of Sumac growing in their miniature forests when left undisturbed by "progress". I can go on and on--but in reality these will soon be only memories due to invasive species. One can only hope; with the help of science; that these desirable looking "invasives" will be genetically altered to not produce viable seed/shoot/runner thus soothing the hackles of the naturalist while feeding the desires of the every day gardener that just likes their unique looks. This will only happen if State Governments prohibits their sale/propagation within their borders.

Kaja, I can relate. I started doing the same thing last week. Although the Ivy up in the trees that I could not reach is wilting, I'm doubtful that it will die as long as we keep getting rain. I'm hoping that when the temperatures get into the high 80's & 90's, it will die. I really feel bad that we let it get to this point. I'm still pulling up vines with roots and some of them are big enough for Tarzan to swing on. LOL I raise Monarch Butterflies and Giant Swallowtails during the summer. I really don't won't to use any kind of herbicide. From what I've been reading here on GW about Ivy, I may have to use something like Roundup to kill it for good. I had no idea the root system for Ivy could get so big. Hopefully, some of the GW experts will chime in and give us some tips. My hands have blisters from pulling up vines with roots and I was wearing 2 pairs of gloves. Our neightbors down the street have Ivy along their long driveway that is taking over the huge wooded area next to their property (It's across the street from us.) That is such a shame and it breaks my heart as I watch it progress up the street...taking over everything it touches. I wish that the owners of that property would do something before it's too late. After the past week of going to battle with this plant, I put English Ivy into the same category with Kudzu. For us, family illness and an accident left the Ivy to just take over for several years. In the future, I will only grow Ivy in a pot. Sorry for going on and on. It's just been such a pain. There's no way that I could bag all of this stuff. I started burning some but with our little fire pit, it would take forever. For now, I'm putting it into big piles and will let the county come pick it up the middle of this week. Anyway, Kaja, I believe the Ivy we cut growing into the trees will eventually die. Let us hope for the best. In the meantime, I feel your pain!

achang89, I have been removing invasives both from my property and as a volunteer for our local park district. I have lead crews to remove invasives from several local parks. For invasives that propagate by seed, it may take 2-5 years to clear an area. I have been pulling blackberries from my forested land for 4 years now. I did not spray a weed killer, because I have native plants that I want to keep. Of course, I have deer who are now browsing the multiflora roses that I cut down from 15 feet to 3 feet high. You may want to plant native shrubs and nuture them to fill in some of the open space. Why? Well, plants engage in "warfare" in the root zone. It's just possible that what you plant will suppress the growth of the invasive plants. I have already planted many native plants with the hope that they will fill in the space. And I have noticed that the birds are very happy to have new cover. If you are working in a forested area, you may find that once you remove the invasives, the land is pretty barren. What I have been doing is making small piles of branches (noninvasive stuff) and wood that can serve as shelter for wildlife. Of course, it isn't landscaping or artistic, but I'm trying to restore the forest understory. I also have many native blackberries in bloom now. Good luck to you...

Thanks, vonyon. I, too, am wondering just how deep the water will be before the cattails will say "that's too deep." If they stopped right where they are, I would be happy. I would take a photo of the pond but can't get it all in one photo and have it show details well. It may be about 40 feet long by 30 feet wide but I am not a great judge of distances. At the center, it's about 8 feet deep and yes, the pond does drop off quickly. This area had been just a wet spot that we guessed was at water level and some folks wanted permission to cross this land to get to theirs to do some logging. In return for giving our OK, they agreed to dig us out this little pond and it has proven great for attracting wildlife. We have had 6 types of frogs/toads, one turtle, a heron stopped by, moose, deer, ducks, other birds, butterflies, bats, and more. I have planted various plants and shrubs around the perimeter. It's a challenge because one side is quite marshy and there is no good earth around any of the edges because they dug up the hole and piled what they dug out to make the bankings. So it's clay and rocks. So I have to amend any soil I plant in and hope it won't get waterlogged by the clay soil around it. So far things do well: rhododendrons, serviceberry, artic willow, some other willow, blueberries, roses, weigela, raspberries that grow wild there anyway, lilies, lupines (I know they are not native to Maine though), daisies, primroses, irises and more. From now on,though, anything else I put there will be to make berries the birds like. That serviceberry is growing so slowly though. It was small to begin with and has not put on much growth. Haven't seen berries yet. I think I am going to start a new post about a bullfrog that showed up at the pond for the first time this year. I read that bullfrogs will kill other frogs and I am wondering if we should try to remove him. And I THINK I see the female there too, though she looks a lot like a green frog. I have read about how to tell the difference though. It will be too late to prevent them from laying the eggs, but if they are capable of wiping out the other frog species, I wouldn't want them there, although I know this is nature and nature does as it wishes. But bullfrogs ARE native to Maine, so maybe he will only kill some of them and all will be well. I have read on the net about places out west where non-native bullfrogs HAVE wiped out resident frogs in areas. Sorry, I guess I put the whole post here about the bullfrogs. But I will still start another post, because I would like the answers to be delivered to my email. I wish we could put checkmarks beside "threads" that we would like delivered to our emails instead of just the threads that we start outselves. Oh, and you are right that I should also post on the pond group. Thanks.