Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Most of the species you listed are non-native, invasive species. They are choking out native plants in many areas of the country which also results in problems for native wildlife.
There is a native species of wisteria and there are nice cultivars of it. It is much more polite than the chinese wisteria and does not choke out trees.
Florida has a fairly rigid ban on the sale of many invasive plants. I wish South Carolina officials would get on board. We are now battling Cogon grass. It is evil!
Oh goodness, I had a feild of cogon grass in the back part of my property that was waist high. A word of caution, that stuff is HIGHLY flammable during the winter. One day I had the bright idea that I would just burn a small area of it off. Well, the fire took off through that stuff and I didn't think I was ever going to get it out. Luckily the fire died down when it got under some oak trees where there was no more grass, I just knew I was going to have to make that dreaded call to the FD. I have actually found that roundup is fairly effective at keeping it suppressed.
I hate Nandina too. That stuff is so ugly yet people keep planting it. There is nothing "heavenly" about it.
To each their own, and everything in moderation. Mimosa and Bradford pears are some of the loveliest-shaped trees I've seen. And how hard is it to pull a couple dozen seedlings out of your yard each summer?
And too many people confuse "spreading" with "invasive." A little perspective, please.
Mimosa trees are very invasive in the southeast, even in high elevations in the Smokey Mountains. In fact, I just had two friends come down from Cincy a few months ago and they were amazed at all of the Mimosa's they seen along the roadsides. Right now they do not have the cold tolerance to be invasive in the northern states, but the big question is.. "will they adapt to the cold over time and become a northern pest too?".
BTW, there's a dozen seeds just in one pod, and sometimes there's thousands of pods on one tree.
My worst decision was to plant bougainvillia. Grows fast and wild. And no matter how careful you are with trimming it, you will get stabbed or scratched.
...#3:tree of heaven...almost everyone who sees it likes it,..until it turns up in your yard...then the battle begins... it is listed as extremely invasive in many places,and for good reason...one mass of seed hanging on the tree will create hundreds of babies everywhere...and i mean everywhere...
..though from a distance it looks like a sumac...it grows much taller..and a sample of the foliage reveals the foul-peanut butter like smell that distinguishes it...amongst trees...there are many,much better choices...if you have this invader on your property..get rid of it...
What I thought was a pecan tree last winter turned out to be a tree of heaven. I have 4 on my property. I've cut them all down this summer before they set seed. In one of my planters in front of the house, there is a sapling that came up this spring. I pulled it out. It came back. I pulled it out. It came back. I let it leaf out and sprayed it with full strength Roundup straight from the concentrated bottle. It died. And came back. I've tried digging it out, but it's growing right next to a 60 year old oak. At this point, the only thing I'm able to do is cut it down every time it gets a foot tall. I've even swabbed the cut trunk(s) with stump killer. And yet it thrives.
In my opinion, the very worst thing to plant is a tree that threatens your home structure. No tall tree should be close enough to your home to fall on the house.
Obviously you don't appreciate shade on a hot summer day. Homes with mature trees surrounding them are usually worth more than homes without trees.
I can understand your concern about large trees leaning over a home, but I worry about the common sense of people who "fear" having trees nearby.
In my opinion, the very worst thing to plant is a tree that threatens your home structure. No tall tree should be close enough to your home to fall on the house.
Seriously? I mean how often does that happen? Do you live near the coast? We chose our house BECAUSE of the large trees near it. The insurance company came out and gave it an OK (after we had one limb removed), so in the rare chance that something were to happen, we're covered. Also, living in the South, the two Huge trees on the south side save us money by keeping the house cool in the summer and allowing the sun to hit the house in the winter.
The most depressing thing about new subdivisions is when they have been totally cleared of mature trees. I can not understand how people live in these neighborhoods.
I think that some of the worst landscape choices have to do with scale. The tags on those plants are not very accurate in terms of how big they will get. How many houses do you see with huge shrubs devouring them? Then people react by pruning the bejeezers out of their shrubs and making little balls out of them. This is hugely popular here in SC, and I just don't get it. I can understand a topiary here and there, or a few tightly pruned boxwoods/japanese hollies, but whole landscapes with tightly cropped hedges and no two plants touching each other is very strange and unnatural.
So, I guess, no-two-plants-touching is on my list of worst landscape choices.
I think that some of the worst landscape choices have to do with scale. The tags on those plants are not very accurate in terms of how big they will get. How many houses do you see with huge shrubs devouring them? Then people react by pruning the bejeezers out of their shrubs and making little balls out of them. This is hugely popular here in SC, and I just don't get it. I can understand a topiary here and there, or a few tightly pruned boxwoods/japanese hollies, but whole landscapes with tightly cropped hedges and no two plants touching each other is very strange and unnatural.
So, I guess, no-two-plants-touching is on my list of worst landscape choices.
My sister, in SC, does that. I hate it. Even her azaleas and boxwoods are pruned into round little 4' tall balls. It looks silly. I don't mind a shrub that needs to be pruned, but there are certainly better ways to do it.
Obviously you don't appreciate shade on a hot summer day. Homes with mature trees surrounding them are usually worth more than homes without trees.
I can understand your concern about large trees leaning over a home, but I worry about the common sense of people who "fear" having trees nearby.
The worse thing about trees near a house is that most peole do not take care of them. They get some hack to trim them because of low cost and in the end that is the start of the tree dying. Good large trees are expensive to maintain;otherwise best choice is to not have them near a house IMO.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
. I have actually found that roundup is fairly effective at keeping it suppressed.
