Glencarlyn Library Community Garden Educational Video
The Glencarlyn Library Community Garden coordinators have created a new series of short videos about locally invasive plants and native alternatives. This series looks at individual invasive plants, discussing how to remove them and suggesting native plants to consider as replacements.
Invasive Plant Video: Tree of Heaven (Ailanthus altissima)
Native Alternatives
- Carya glabra (Pignut Hickory)
- Carya ovata (Shagbark Hickory)
- Juglans nigra (Black Walnut)
- Liquidambar styraciflua (Sweetgum)
- Oxydendrum arboreum (Sourwood)
- Rhus glabra (Smooth Sumac)
- Rhus typhina (Staghorn Sumac)
- Sassafras albidum (Sassafras)
Virtual Classes
- Invasive Plants & Native Alternatives. 2020. Elaine Mills, presenter.
- Spotted Lanternfly: Identification and Control. 2022. Kirsten Conrad, presenter.
Articles
- Mills, Elaine. Invasive Plants and Better Alternatives. 2021. MGNV.
- Snape, Karen. Invasive Plant Species: Ailanthus (Ailanthus altissima). 2021. VCE.
- Spotted Lanternfly. 2022. MGNV.
- Virginia Department of Forestry. 2019, Control and Utilization of the Tree-of-Heaven.
Invasive Plant Fact Sheet
Definition of invasive species
- Plants designated as “invasive” are distinct from weeds or other plant species that simply spread aggressively in our own gardens. In the United States, invasiveness was formally defined in Executive Order 13112 (1999), which was amended by Executive Order 13751 (2016).
- Together, those directives state that an invasive plant:
- Is not native to the ecosystem in which it occurs.
- It can spread by seeds, spores, or other biological material capable of propagating that species beyond cultivation.
- Its introduction into natural areas causes economic or environmental harm or harm to human, animal, or plant health