Lisa Turoczi, accompanied by one of her dogs, stands beside a highbush blueberry growing at EarthTones Nursery. She and her husband Kyle co-own the nursery, where they sell only shrubs, trees and plants native to New England. (Janine Sullivan-Wiley photo)
By JANINE SULLIVAN-WILEY
Around here, until recently we had a locally famous escapee, Buddy the Beefalo, since captured and moved to an animal sanctuary in Florida. His last minute dash to freedom, and subsequent elusive wanderings, were fun to track.
Other escapees are less famous and far more damaging to the environment, including the lands protected by the Middlebury Land Trust (MLT). These are not fun to track, and are even less fun to “catch and contain.”
What are they, how did they get there and why should we care? They are the non-native invasive plants. They got there as escapees from home gardens, where they have been and continue to be planted – even now. You will find them for sale in garden centers and big box stores like Home Depot. Why are they bad? They replace native species but then do not provide the year-round food needed by our own native wildlife and birds.
This is the time of year when many homeowners are eager to plant and enhance their gardens, so this is also a great time to rethink some of what you have already planted (as in “please yank them out”) or may think about getting (as in what tops the “please don’t buy” list).
High on the bad boy list is Japanese Barberry (Berberis thunbergia). On the MLT work day on April 17, volunteers spent vigorous hours around Lake Elise cutting down and digging up the this highly invasive shrub. These nasty shrubs also form dense thickets which are a documented haven for ticks – the kind that carry Lyme disease. Sale of one of its close relatives is already banned across the country (berberis vulgaris).
If that leaves you in a gardening quandary, happily there are fine alternatives. Some of these include winterberry holly (Ilex verticillate – which has lovely red berries in winter), inkberry holly (Ilex glabra), bayberry (Myrica pensylvanica), wild hydrangea (Hydrangea arborescens), ninebark (Physocarpus opulifolius – which has really pretty flowers, and is easy to grow), silky dogwood (Cornus racemosa), red chokeberry (Aronia arbutifolia), and black chokeberry (Aronia melanocarpa).
Another shrub that is still widely planted and has the habit of escaping and then running amok in woodlands is burning bush (Euonymus alatus). True, it is really impressive in the fall with its scarlet leaves, but some day take a look in the woods near where they are planted and – there they are, escaping all over the place. Again, these replace the native shrubs that our other native species rely on. Sale of this type of euonymus is banned in New York, New Hampshire and Massachusetts, but not (yet?) here in Connecticut.
Fortunately, again there are some great alternatives including Fothergilla (Fothergilla gardenii or Fothergilla major), Red chokeberry (Aronia arbutifolia ‘Brilliantissima’), highbush cranberry and high bush blueberry. That last is the same blueberry bush that produces those yummy blueberries. I grow these in my garden and their fall color is fabulous. Unfortunately, the birds are as likely to eat the berries as we are. But that’s the point. This is one of the very best plants for wildlife including insects, birds and a wide array of mammals.
Other invasives are scourges in our state, but they generally are not planted on purpose anymore.
You can contact this writer at jswspotlight@gmail.com, visit the Middlebury Land Trust on Facebook or the website at middleburylandtrust.org. Happy hiking!.
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