Need plant help (Austin: house, fence, garden)

[CptnRn]

Originally Posted by mickey65

I see Yellow Bells everywhere in my neighborhood. They get pretty tall with pretty yellow flowers on the top.

There are a couple of different varieties, one that grows 7' tall and one that grows only 3' tall. I accidentally bought one of each at the nursery and noticed after I got them home they were labeled with the different growth heights and they have grown as stated.

[oldtoiletsmkgdflrpots]

Originally Posted by mesmer

Please don't plant nandinas if you live anywhere close to your neighbors - they're invasive with an underground root system that knows no bounds. Nearly impossible to get rid of.

Is this the nandinas you are talking about? Would you mind linking some information you have? The one I planted is dwarf and it doesn't appear to be bamboo at all. It's a very small, compact, round shurb.

Nandina - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[CptnRn]

Originally Posted by oldtoiletsmkgdflrpots

Is this the nandinas you are talking about? Would you mind linking some information you have? The one I planted is dwarf and it doesn't appear to be bamboo at all. It's a very small, compact, round shurb.

Nandina - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Yes, that is it, we have a lot of them in our yard and love them. The leaves have a slightly bamboo texture/shape to them, but they do not get very tall, few of them have grown over my 8' fence in my experience. They are very hardy and do well with low water in this area. I question how invasive they are in a domestic environment. These don't seem to spread very fast at all. They are hard to remove once you have one in place, but not impossible. I removed one 2 years ago near the corner of my foundation and the base was a very hard, compact, rootball close to a 2' cube. It was very hard to dig up and remove, but has not been a problem to control any grow back from roots that I missed underground.

[G Grasshopper]

Nandina domestica, all berrying varieties, are listed in the Grow Green guide as an invasive plant, to be avoided. Some other plants that have been suggested here, but are invasive species which are destructive of native habitat are pyracantha, Vitex, and Photinia. Also, although they are not in the book, I believe that all Brooms (Scotch, French, and probably Sweet) are considered highly invasive. They are European, not new world plants. You might want to ask about that at the Wildflower Center or a nursery that specializes in natives. Don't ask about plants in a place like Home Depot; they know nothing about natives and adapted plants, and frequently sell plants that are very harmful to the Texas environment. Really, you need to get the Green Guide. It's free. I'm sure the Wildflower Center would give you a copy if you go for a visit. But the Nature Center at Zilker Park also has them (usually,) and other places.

[oldtoiletsmkgdflrpots]

I don't have all the "correct" plants but I don't see any of the plants I do have spreading like wildfire. When we moved in this area was basic farm land built over and it was bare. I'm not going to feel guilty about this.

Maybe before we leave here I'll just pull everything out and have a bonfire to ease my conscience. Or not.

If there is such a danger why isn't the USDA putting warning stickers on them or why are they being sold at all for that matter?

I'm guilty...I have plants and shrubs that are not native.

We have an electric lawn mower, does that count?

Here is a blurb about vitex: Invasive Spotlight: Lilac Chaste Tree
[SIZE=2] (Vitex agnus-castus)

Vitex agnus-castus is a sprawling shrub that grows to 10-20 ft. Branched flower clusters range in color from violet to blue to deep purple. Not only is the tree strikingly beautiful when in full bloom, but also attracts pollinating bees and hummingbirds.

Vitex is common in xeriscape gardens due to its fast growth and drought tolerance, and is even promoted as a Texas Superstar by Texas A&M AgriLife. The Nature Conservancy now considers Vitex a threat to wildlands and citizen scientists from the Invaders of Texas program have reported Vitex invading riparian areas and lakesides in the Hill Country down into South Texas.

Next thing I know the plant police will be knocking on our door.

Ugh, I'm going to bed. I can't take much more.

[mesmer]

Originally Posted by CptnRn

Yes, that is it, we have a lot of them in our yard and love them. The leaves have a slightly bamboo texture/shape to them, but they do not get very tall, few of them have grown over my 8' fence in my experience. They are very hardy and do well with low water in this area. I question how invasive they are in a domestic environment. These don't seem to spread very fast at all. They are hard to remove once you have one in place, but not impossible. I removed one 2 years ago near the corner of my foundation and the base was a very hard, compact, rootball close to a 2' cube. It was very hard to dig up and remove, but has not been a problem to control any grow back from roots that I missed underground.

Maybe you're in different soil from us. The previous owners of our house planted them, and they got out of control so we pulled them up in the front. There was no root ball - the roots had spread out underneath the entire yard. Now we, and our neighbors, have to mow down the ones that pop up in the yard and pull up the ones that appear in our bed. We have two more in the back we need to pull up, and that will result in more nandinas popping up wherever. My understanding is that this will happen for literally years. And as far as we can tell we had the "less invasive" dwarf variety. Horrible, horrible, horrible plants.

[CptnRn]

You can download the Grow Green plant guide here or view a searchable copy on line. There area also lots of other good resources on that website.

http://www.austintexas.gov/departmen...reen-resources

We live in Legend Oaks, the soil has a lot of limestone fragments in it. The house we bought 9 years ago already had the Nandina planted here. I have not had to put any effort into preventing it from spreading outside of the beds it is planted in. The beds are edged almost weekly which seems to control them. It will fill up the bed if you let it. I occasionally have to trim it back when I think it is crowding another plant too much.

I understand part of the issue with invasive plants is that they produce seeds which are often transported by birds into other areas, including native wild areas, where over time they can crowd out native plants.

The "invasive plant" concern is apparently a recent fairly one, as around 12 years ago the City gave me two trees to plant in the front yard of my previous house, as part of their tree planting program. They gave me two Chinese Pistache trees, which are great trees, but are now on the invasive plant list because they produce seeds.

Note here the Texas A&M calls the Chinese Pistache a "Shade Tree Superstar for Texas". Chinese Pistache

Regarded by many knowledgeable horticulturists as one of the most beautiful, pest free and easily maintained shade trees for the Southwest and Gulf Coast regions.

[CptnRn]

Originally Posted by G Grasshopper

Nandina domestica, all berrying varieties, are listed in the Grow Green guide as an invasive plant, to be avoided. Some other plants that have been suggested here, but are invasive species which are destructive of native habitat are pyracantha, Vitex, and Photinia. Also, although they are not in the book, I believe that all Brooms (Scotch, French, and probably Sweet) are considered highly invasive. They are European, not new world plants. You might want to ask about that at the Wildflower Center or a nursery that specializes in natives. Don't ask about plants in a place like Home Depot; they know nothing about natives and adapted plants, and frequently sell plants that are very harmful to the Texas environment. Really, you need to get the Green Guide. It's free. I'm sure the Wildflower Center would give you a copy if you go for a visit. But the Nature Center at Zilker Park also has them (usually,) and other places.

I agree with what you are saying, but I wanted to add some perspective.

Most of those plants that are now on the invasive plant list were at one time on the City of Austin "preferred plant list" for landscaping in the area. I planted a hedge of Photinia's around our first house partially based on the fact that it was recommended by the City and also recommended in the Central Texas Gardener plant book that I had been required to buy for a landscaping class at UT Austin. All of the plants you listed are described in that book, which for years was the bible of what you should plant here. And it is true, they all do well here.

[G Grasshopper]

Yes, I understand that the concept of invasive species hasn't been around for years and that people "inherit" plants with their houses as well. I have a Chinese Pistache in my back yard. It came with the house I bought (along with 4 beautiful oaks.) I was thinking that it was doing little harm, since the seeds mostly fall on my own yard. But one of the City restoration specialists was out at my greenbelt and pointed out all the small Pistache trees that are undoubtedly "daughters" of mine. So now I am feeling guilty about it and contemplating taking it down.

When I lived in CA, I had a much bigger yard, with all kinds of plants, trees, vines, etc. I did take out some truely invasive plants (pampas grass), but I determined that I couldn't take out all the non natives. Some non-natives, after all, are well behaved. An example is the rose. Although we have some native roses, most non-natives. But they are not invasive, so they aren't an environmental problem. So I adopted a policy of planting only natives or well adapted non-natives when something died, etc. We don't live in an ideal world. We do the best we can with the information we have at the time. So I don't blame people who have inherited "badies" or planted them when we didn't know better. But now we do know better. So I do feel upset when someone buys and plants an invasive plant, because there are so many well behaved alternatives here in Texas.

[orngkat]

The only plant I have that I wish I didn't is the Asian Primrose (Jasmine) - it has little yellow flowers and arching branches. Horribly invasive...if one of its branches even touches the soil, it roots and takes off. Every year, I spend days trying to get rid of it and yet, they still sell it at Home Depot. Ditto ligustrum. Nandina gets a bad rap. What other plant survives just about any abuse. It is probably OK in a controlled environment but if it gets into woodlands, uh-oh.