Invasive plants in the home garden like English Ivy, Bamboo, Porcelainberry, and Mimosa, can spread from cultivation to our natural areas where they out-compete beneficial native plants. Learn how to rid your yard of some common invasive plants and substitute alternative native species that have similar ornamental qualities and which also support our local wildlife.
Speaker: Extension Master Gardener Elaine Mills, a creative force behind the resource Tried and True Native Plant Selections for the Mid-Atlantic, serves as a co-coordinator at the Glencarlyn Library Community Garden, a Virginia Cooperative Extension Demonstration Garden in Arlington, Virginia.
Zoom session, recorded November 13, 2020
Video of Presentation
Chapter Breaks
- 0:00:00 Introduction & Overview
- 0:01:59 Invasive Species
- 0:05:12 Native Species
- 0:07:46 Plant List
- 0:08:57 Grasses
- 0:14:35 Ground Covers
- 0:22:28 Questions
- 0:24:50 Perennials
- 0:29:52 Shrubs
- 0:40:10 Questions
- 0:45:25 Trees
- 1:00:52 Vines
- 1:07:05 Controlling Invasives
- 1:16:53 Resources
- 1:22:27 Questions
Plant List
Invasive Grasses
❌ Bamboo (Bambusa, Phyllostachys, and Pseudosasa spp.)
✅ Bottlebrush Grass (Elymus hystrix)
✅ River Oats (Chasmanthium latifolium)
❌ Chinese Silver Grass (Miscanthus sinensis)
✅ Little Bluestem (Schizachyrium scoparium)
✅ Switchgrass (Panicum virgatum)
Another invasive grass: Fountain Grass
(See recorded presentation on “Native Grasses, Sedges & Rushes for the Home Landscape” for further information.)
Invasive Ground Covers
❌ English Ivy (Hedera helix)
✅ Fragrant Sumac (Rhus aromatica ‘Gro-Low’)
✅ Virginia Creeper (Parthenocissus quinquefolia)
❌ Liriope (Liriope spicata and L. muscari)
✅ Appalachian Sedge (Carex appalachica)
✅ Plantain-leaved Sedge (Carex plantaginea)
❌ Periwinkle (Vinca minor)
✅ Moss Phlox (Phlox subulata)
✅ Wild Pink (Silene carolinana)
Other invasive ground covers: Creeping Jenny, Japanese Pachysandra, Wintercreeper
(See recorded presentation on “Native Ground Covers for Sun & Shade” for further information.)
Invasive Perennials
❌ Common Daylily (Hemerocallis fulva)
✅ Turk’s Cap Lily (Lilium superbum)
✅ Ox-Eye Sunflower (Heliopsis helianthoides)
❌ Lesser Celandine (Ficaria verna)
✅ Golden Ragwort (Packera aurea)
✅ Green-and-Gold (Chrysogonum virginianum)
Other invasive perennials: Italian Arum, Purple Loosestrife, Yellow Flag Iris
Invasive Shrubs
❌ Butterfly Bush (Buddleia davidii)
✅ Sweet Pepperbush (Clethra alnifolia)
✅ New Jersey Tea (Ceanothus americanus)
✅ Steeplebush (Spiraea tomentosa)
❌ Rose of Sharon (Hibiscus syriacus)
✅ Swamp Rose-mallow (Hibiscus moscheutos)
✅ Scarlet Rose Mallow (Hibiscus coccineus)
Invasive Shrubs – Continued
❌ Leatherleaf Mahonia (Mahonia bealei)
✅ Inkberry (Ilex glabra)
✅ Winterberry (Ilex verticillata)
✅ Black Chokeberry (Aronia melanocarpa)
Other invasive shrubs: Asian Viburnums, Autumn Olive, Burning Bush, Bush Honeysuckles, Japanese Barberry, Japanese Spiraea, Nandina, Privets
(See recorded presentation on “Overused Foundation Plants & Native Alternatives” for more information.)
Invasive Trees
❌ Callery Pear (Pyrus calleryana)
✅ Downy Serviceberry (Amelanchier arborea)
✅ Flowering Dogwood (Cornus florida)
✅ Cockspur Hawthorn (Crataegus crus-galli)
❌ Mimosa (Albizia julibrissin)
✅ Eastern Redbud (Cercis canadensis)
✅ Witch Hazel (Hamamelis virginiana)
✅ Red Buckeye (Aesculus pavia)
❌ Tree of Heaven (Ailanthus altissima)
✅ Staghorn Sumac (Rhus typhina)
✅ Sourwood (Oxydendrum arboreum)
✅ Sassafras (Sassafras albidum)
Other invasive trees: Chinese, Japanese & Siberian Crabapples, Chinese & Siberian Elms, Golden Raintree, Japanese Maple, Non-Native Willows, Norway Maple, Princess Tree, Sawtooth Oak, Sweet & Higan Cherry, White Mulberry
Invasive Vines
❌ Asian Wisteria (Wisteria floribunda & W. sinensis)
✅ American Wisteria (Wisteria frutescens)
✅ Carolina Jessamine (Gelsemium sempervirens)
❌ Japanese Honeysuckle (Lonicera japonica)
✅ Trumpet Honeysuckle (Lonicera sempervirens)
✅ Cross-vine (Bignonia capreolata)
❌ Sweet Autumn Clematis (Clematis terniflora)
✅ Virgin’s Bower (Clematis virginiana)
Other invasive vines: Five-Leaved Akebia, Oriental Bittersweet, Porcelainberry
Additional Resources
External lists and fact sheets on invasive species and recommended control methods
- Non-Native Invasive Plants of Arlington County, Virginia
- Non-Native Invasive Plants of the City of Alexandria, Virginia
- Invasive Species: What You Can Do, The Nature Conservancy
- Invasive Alien Plant Species of Virginia, Virginia Department of Conservation & Recreation
- Factsheets, Blue Ridge PRISM, Partnership for Regional Invasive Species Management
- Least Wanted: Alien Plant Invaders of Natural Areas, Plant Conservation Alliance, U.S. Department of the Interior Bureau of Land Management
- Non-Native Invasive ID and Control, Fairfax County Park Authority
- Non-Native Invasive Plant Species Control Treatments, Virginia Department of Forestry