Weeding and getting rid of invasive plants isn't exactly the most exciting of gardening tasks, but seeing the pile of undesirable undergrowth you've ripped from the soil is undoubtedly satisfying.
One Redditor posted an image to the r/NativePlantGardening community of a huge pile of honeysuckle they had dragged out of their yard.
"This was just the front yard, too," they commented under the username BostonBurb, suggesting they live in New England. "There's still more in the back. Unfortunately, everything beyond the grass is wetlands and the town already threatened me once for trying to clean up the invasives back there — there's honeysuckle, wisteria and oriental bittersweet that I can't touch even though it must be even more terrible to have in a wetland area."
The town's attitude toward the gardener's invasive clear-up attempt is a little confusing. While the negative reaction is perhaps to keep the wetlands free of harsh weed-removing chemicals, eliminating invasives should be good for the ecosystem.
According to the Invasive Species Centre, honeysuckles outcompete native plants for sunlight, nutrients, and space, leading to single-species stands that can impact biodiversity, and they have been confirmed as invasive in 25 American states and reported in six Canadian provinces. Wisteria acts similarly, while oriental bittersweet's vines can wrap around trees and essentially choke them to death.
In your garden, though, tackling invasives as soon as possible will help stop them spreading in a blink of an eye. Your native plants, which are suited to local conditions and require little maintenance compared to typical monoculture lawns, will thank you — as will crucial pollinators and your neighbors.
Redditors shared similar tales of woe regarding honeysuckle.
"Nice work!" one user said after seeing the ripped-out pile. "It's everywhere around my neighborhood."
"In my area, it's everywhere everywhere," added another. "It's nuts."
Some also shared their tips for eradicating the plants.
"I chopped my honeysuckles down, then just pulled off new growth every time it appeared," one gardener said. "It took two seasons to use up all the roots' reserves, but they died eventually. It's not fast, but it's chemical-free and (after the chopping is over) it's an easy task."
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