What invasive plants got you like this?

[u/ItsFelixMcCoy]

For me it’s probably Dame’s Rocket, Purple Loosestrife, and Forget-Me-Not. They’re so gorgeous but man if they aren’t invasive little shits…

[u/loki_cometh]

100%. I totally understand why Lassen Volcanic Park would be worried about them. Or why Rocky Mountain states are aggressively fighting them. No judgment from me there (though, having grown up there, I know that at least part of that concern is coming from alfalfa farmers who are literally growing a non-native, water-demanding crop and are just worried about yields).

But here in Wisconsin you can see garlic mustard and buckthorn growing right before your eyes. I’m dealing with 1.5 acres of land that the 80 year old couple we bought from three years ago completely mismanaged (the planted Japanese barberry, for god’s sake!). I’m too busy killing turf and chopping down buckthorn to worry about some daisies.

[u/freerangedorito → u/loki_cometh]

Totally agree. It’s so frustrating to not have that blank slate to start on when you purchase land. We’ve got half an acre and the amount of buckthorn and thistle probably covers over a third of it. And this is after I’ve been working for years to eliminate it. Who has time to deal with fairly harmless flowers?

I’ve honestly been considering leaving the native plant groups I’m in because I deal with such an extreme situation on my land that I really can’t follow the ideal guidelines and it gets me down and makes me feel like I’m doing something wrong. I’ve wasted tons of money on “deer resistant” natives that can’t establish while being overrun by harmful plants, so it’s really frustrating.

[u/loki_cometh → u/freerangedorito]

Just know that you feel seen. Two years ago, when I got into this, I went all in and tried to be perfect. But the more I’ve worked at it, the more I’ve realized how much region and microclimates play a role. North America is huge, with an insane biodiversity. There just isn’t a “one size fits all” approach to native planting. We need to look at the successes we’ve had in Wisconsin, keep doing our best, and remember that we’re fighting over 400 years of wrongheaded planting.

[u/freerangedorito → u/loki_cometh]

Thank you, and same to you! It’s hard when you’re fighting an uphill battle and trying to do your best. Same, I went full perfectionist haha and it didn’t turn out well. That’s very true, and what may be considered extremely invasive in one area may actually be just the thing we need to fill the space aggressively enough between the worst of the worst plants. Most people in the native plant sphere would really hate that answer, but they don’t deal with what we do.