Rampant plants that escape...

[stripee]

I planted a type of common ornamental grass next to my pond some years ago, and now I find new plants of it everywhere in the woods and along the hedgerows, I have to go and dig them up. It has a long seed stalk with thousands of small seeds, which seem to get on the soles of shoes and trodden around the paths. Are there any plants that other WABers wish they had never planted! And should garden centres either stop selling these plants or put a warning on them as they escape into the wild?

[Gill Catton]

Originally Posted by stripee

I planted a type of common ornamental grass next to my pond some years ago, and now I find new plants of it everywhere in the woods and along the hedgerows, I have to go and dig them up. It has a long seed stalk with thousands of small seeds, which seem to get on the soles of shoes and trodden around the paths. Are there any plants that other WABers wish they had never planted! And should garden centres either stop selling these plants or put a warning on them as they escape into the wild?

Are you sure it isn't an ornamental species that is also a wild plant? Can you remember what it is called?

Yes I think garden centres should print warnings - I also think they should state where plants are from and how they are sourced (there is a lot of evil in garden centres!) and that they should be banned from selling known trouble species such as floating penny-wort for example.

[stripee]

I will take a photo this afternoon, Gill. It is a common ornamental plant as far as I know, a small plant was given to me by my sister-in-law from her London garden where it's common. I have seen clumps of it (not from me) along the small country roads in the hedgerows...I think there should be warnings on plant labels too.

[Gill Catton]

Originally Posted by stripee

I will take a photo this afternoon, Gill. It is a common ornamental plant as far as I know, a small plant was given to me by my sister-in-law from her London garden where it's common. I have seen clumps of it (not from me) along the small country roads in the hedgerows...I think there should be warnings on plant labels too.

It will be interesting to see - after all the last thing you want to do is be removing something that's either supposed to be there or is naturalized and causing no harm!

I find it odd that people care about where their fruit and veg comes from but not their garden plants. People often seem to worry about the loss of tigers from the wild or illegal trafficking of parrots for the pet trade but not of rare or very ancient tree-ferns for gardens or orchids for the house.

People seem to assume that 'someone somewhere' is doing the responsible thing in order to supply the garden centre with plants and products and easily the opposite can be true and the general pubic often have no way of telling! (though I have seen lables on a number of tree ferns explaining their source recently so hopefully things are changing)

[stripee]

Here's a juvenile specimen I've dug out all the big plants, they all seem to ccome from the first plant by the pond, and I haven't seen it in the woods before I planted it.
It has a long stiff stalk with many very small brown seeds on a stiff tassle.
It might well be either a native plant or a close relative, but from another type of habitat possibly??

I also wish that I hadn't planted an ornamental lamia, dead nettle, which has to be mown off with the lawnmower, and alchemella mollis which is also taking off everywhere! I suppose people are pleased with the idea of rapid ground cover or growth, but then it doesn't always stop when you want it to

[Kayleigh]

Originally Posted by Gill Catton

Are you sure it isn't an ornamental species that is also a wild plant? Can you remember what it is called?

Yes I think garden centres should print warnings - I also think they should state where plants are from and how they are sourced (there is a lot of evil in garden centres!) and that they should be banned from selling known trouble species such as floating penny-wort for example.

Exactly what I was going to say Gill..I bought floating penny wort for my pond and now I have to remove loads every year...I wish Id never set eyes on the stuff.The frost did't kill it either so it must be a pain to remove it from the wild. Mine goes in the compost bin when it has dried out.

[Adam Cheeseman]

It looks like a sedge, possibly pendulous. If it is, it's native to British woodlands etc. I have one in my garden that I have to keep in check. I cut it back hard each autumn.

Cheers,

Adam

[Mercadante]

I have Japanese Knotweed in the garden, so this is a thing I am fairly passionate about. But the plants themselves are not the only problem with careless importing - there's also all the fungal and other diseases we spread around the world this way. Banning only known invasive species is inadequate - I think we should really discourage long-distance plant and animal trade altogether.

[naturelover]

i tell you what dose germinate easy,thats silver birch,as you all know half of my garden is gravel,two doors away have giant and i mean giant silver birch about half way up his garden,you would be suprised how many little saplins i pull out in the summer,i have kept a few if they gave grown along the fence,also have a couple in pots,but when they grow in the middle where you walk i pull them up,they are a bit like budlia how they germinate,very easy.

[aeshna5]

Originally Posted by Adam Cheeseman

It looks like a sedge, possibly pendulous. If it is, it's native to British woodlands etc. I have one in my garden that I have to keep in check. I cut it back hard each autumn.

Cheers,

Adam

Yes as soon as I saw the image I immediately thought Carex pendula which is a native but also regularly escapes from gardens/churchyards too. I would leave them be- 1 of the easiest sedges to ID!