We’ve had a lot of posts here at Beautiful Wildlife Garden recently about how autumn is a wonderful time to plant berrying-plants for winter foods for wildlife. But over the past few weeks, several volunteers and I have been wrenching hundreds of Nandina plants out of the woodlands at my son’s school, felling many a Ligustrum, and yanking Chinaberry saplings out of the ground, and suddenly I had the inspiration for today’s post.
American Beautyberry is a lovely native that mockingbirds and other birds love.
The truth is, not all berries are created equal. Remember that native plants and animals evolved together, and also that animals need diversity in their habitat for the best nutrition. Birds might find exotic berries attractive, but those berries don’t offer the same nutritional value of plants in a diverse native habitat. Even worse, as the birds drop the seeds of some of these exotic species, the plants start to spread at an alarming rate and push out native species — this is why they are called invasive plants. The result is that for a brief time during the year, berries might be found on the exotic species, but the rest of the year, the area is dead to wildlife because there are no native species left to support the animals, and meanwhile the exotic species continues to spread unchecked.
The foliage and berries of Nandina might look attractive, but the plants spread out of control.
The problem stems (no pun intended) from misleading and false information that can be found throughout the garden industry. Homeowners and new gardeners visit stores and online sites that tell them a particular exotic plant thrives in the area and is a fast grower — these places might also tell you that the plant has berries for birds, making it sound extra appealing. In some areas, these plants are even on a recommended plant list because the plants grow so easily. What they don’t tell you is that those berries will drop to the ground or be carried by animals to other areas to create more plants, and the root systems will send out runners that will spawn even more saplings, and if you try to pull any of the plants out, the roots will dig down and grow stronger and make you wish you had a front loader just to get the plants out of the ground.
Nandina (also called Heavenly Bamboo) is a plant that spreads both by berries and by sending out runners . You can see two Nandinas in the photo below, connected by their roots. Before long, a single Nandina will become a multi-stemmed mass of plants, all interconnected.
Nandinas are an example that spread both by berries and runners.
Once established, Nandina can then create huge thickets that push out native understory plants. When they reach this stage, the progression to take over and spread to other areas becomes very rapid.
Nandina produces thickets of plants that become almost impossible to remove.
This same woodland area is filled with the invasive WaxLeaf Ligustrum, Japanese Ligustrum, and Chinaberry trees, all of which have spread by berries and potent, aggressive root systems. Happily this area is not one of the woodlands at my son’s school, but unfortunately, it’s nearby in our neighborhood. Below you can see a giant Japanese Ligustrum doing its best to outcompete the equally invasive Nandina. Where are the natives?
Invasive Japanese Ligustrum and Nandinas, coming soon to a woodland near you.
Chinaberry, like Ligustrum, produces berries by the thousands. The berries are quite viable, and many a sapling will be found all around the mother tree as well as in nearby acres.
Chinaberry trees drop berries by the thousands -- producing new trees that will outcompete native trees.
So not all berries are created equal, and the same can be said for nectar sources. Some flowers are better nectar producers than others, and some flowers don’t produce much in the way of nectar at all — or pollen, or seeds. Many exotic blooms don’t have the nutritional value our native animals need, but there is another garden industry that sometimes has its own negative effect on native diversity, and that is cultivars. Cultivars are plants that have been selected or bred for a specific feature that makes the plants appealing to people — perhaps the plants have enormous blooms or a particular popular color or size range. Even though the cultivars might have originated from a native species, the selection process sometimes results in plants that produce little nectar or pollen to none at all. Some plants are completely sterile and can only be grown through cuttings. So they might be pretty to look at, but these types of cultivars offer little to support wildlife. On the other hand, other cultivars can provide enormous amounts of nectar. My point here is that it is worth your while to do a little investigating before you make a purchase.
Texas Lantana, shown here with Winecup, is a butterfly favorite, but a white cultivar Lantana won't get the same attention from wildlife.
I am reminded of a photo shown during my Habitat Stewards training of a gorgeous, immaculate public garden that the speaker had visited. Every hedge was perfectly trimmed and shaped, colorful flowers were placed strategically along the garden paths, the grass was exceptionally green, and there was not a broken twig, chewed-on foliage, or dead leaf in sight. Sounds lovely, yes? But what was missing from this garden was the sight of butterflies flying about. There were no bees buzzing from flower to flower, no birds singing happy tunes in the nearby trees or making nests — basically, this pristine garden was dead in terms of wildlife.
How can that be when so many flowers and shrubs were growing so nicely? I’m sorry I don’t have the image to show you, but imagine such an immaculate garden. The grass was green, yes, but not a natural green — the kind that only chemical fertilizers can produce. The flowers were from sterile cultivars and exotics — they were pretty and grew well in that garden, but they offered no nutrient source for hummingbirds or pollinators. The hedges gave no berries for birds, nor did the garden have insects to tempt other birds to look for food. There were no leaves or natural mulch on the ground to hide lizards or to offer organic matter back to the earth and to earthworms. I don’t know whether pesticides were being used, but given how void of life the garden was, chances are that chemicals were being used for pest control.
Photinias, which produce pomes, have massive root systems that can injure your back when you try to remove them.
But on a smaller scale, a similar scenario can be found at many a residence here in the United States and around the world. Homeowners select easy-to-grow plants and support them with chemicals, because that’s what they’ve been taught to do by neighbors and the garden industry itself. Take Red-Tip Photinia, an exotic commonly chosen for its screening ability, but one that’s an invasive plant with roots to rival Godzilla in strength. Our volunteer crew had to yank out Photinias at the school by tying them to a trailer hitch and using a van’s horsepower to get them out. Believe me when I say that we worried that the trailer hitch would instead be yanked from the car by the Photinias.
The key with everything is not to buy on a whim at the store. Make a list of the plants you are thinking about, and then go home and visit reliable online sources to learn as much as you can about the habits and wildlife value of the plants. Ultimately this can help you save money, too — you can catch yourself before purchasing a plant you might regret later. Alternatively, make a list of native plants that you know are worthwhile wildlife plants, and visit local nurseries to find them. Pay special attention to the species’ scientific name, and if only cultivars are being sold, do a little more research before you make your final purchase. If you have any doubts about their wildlife value, hold off until you can find the true natives. Do aim for diversity, as well, as that is what animals need in their habitats.
Cedar Waxwings, Mockingbirds, and other birds enjoy feasting on native berries, like this Yaupon.
A side note: I met a woman once who told me that she wraps netting around her Yaupons and other native berrying plants in order to keep the birds from eating up the berries. She complained that the birds were eating the berries so fast that she couldn’t enjoy how pretty the berries looked in the fall. Personally, I find the sight of birds eating berries to be incredibly beautiful and entertaining – in fact, I garden for that purpose — but this woman was willing to cover her pretty shrubs with ugly netting in order to deny a native food to wildlife. I’m truly at a loss of words to explain that one.
Meredith O’Reilly gardens for wildlife in Austin, Texas, and writes about her garden adventures at Great Stems.
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What a FANTASTIC post. You really have captured the essence of life with your words.
I was given nandina by a friend who did landscaping. I LOVED that bush when I first moved to Florida, but after reading that it was classified a Category I on the Florida Exotic Pest Plant Council list of Invasive Plants, I wiped the tears from my eyes as I dug it out and let the roots completely dry out before placing it in the brush pile and I grimace when I see it sold by the “less than enlightened”.
As we all try to encourage, everyone needs to “redefine what is beautiful”. Mom Nature had it right before we intervened!
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Great post. Same problem in northern Indiana, different zone so different species. I’m battling bush honeysuckle and autumn olive in my woods, which were once sold by the DNR for wildlife planting but now on the invasive species list. I’m also battling burning bush starts in the woods, and it “burns” me to see this shrub in most residential and corporate landscapes.
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Thanks for the enlightening post about Southern invasives. I remember the Nandina as being a favorite landscape plant when I lived in Maryland. Yes, like Earth Girl said, same problem different plants. Just starting to see Burning Bush in Minnesota woods as well as Japanese Barberry. Our worst offenders here though are Buckthorn and Honeysuckle.
Should we have better legislation for the continuing sale of these new invasives?
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Yes, how I long for better control of the sales of invasive plants. Good to know about northern invasives like Burning Bush — that’s new to me. We do have Japanese Honeysuckle here, too — and the worst invasive of them all, Kudzu vine.
At some point in our town, giant bamboo became a popular screening plant, and there’s a fair number of lot-edges in town that are completely overrun with it. Which is obnoxious–but the real nasty one is silk tree (mimosa.) We are overrun with silk trees in Raleigh–sometimes if you drive down the highway, it looks like Night of the Living Mimosa along the verge.
Try to explain why it is a horribly bad tree to people, and they look at you like you’re out of your mind and go “But it’s so pretty!” a phrase which I started to hate when I first began battling honeysuckle. “But it smells so nice!” I have tried occasionally to explain that saying this to a gardener trying to kill invasives is rather like saying “But your mugger was so good looking!” but lord knows if it’s making any sense.
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One of my neighbors has the giant bamboo, and the neighbors on either side are very unhappy because of course it has encroached on their property to become a nightmare for them. And I’ve seen the mimosa running wild in Oklahoma — I know it’s a bad one, pretty or not. We’ve had to remove Japanese honeysuckle from the school woodlands, too, but already it’s trying to make a comeback.
The best way I’ve found to educate others here in my area about the problems with invasives is to get them to help dig the plants out of public places with me — the people I’ve worked with tell me that they will never plant invasives again!
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Great post. My neighbor has a stand of buckthorns, and I spend what seems like the entire year digging seedlings and saplings out of my beds, they develop SO fast. I was happy to find something that made it easier (cobrahead) but it’s NOT one of my favorite tasks. I just cringe everytime I think how much Wisconsin spends to erradicate this invasive.
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This is a very thought-provoking article. I truly enjoyed it. I have to admit that I’m not a native plant purist. I certainly want them in my yard and garden…but I do add non-native varieties, as well. Mostly because I like to have different garden “styles” around my home. Many people would be surprised to know that I have a LOT more on my suburban farm than just veggies, LOL.
Anyway, I do, however, try to be cautious about what I chose so that I’m not planting something invasive.
Great post…I am putting your article on our blog!
Karan, thanks so much for sharing the article link on the Invasives.org blog. It’s alarming how out of control so many exotic plant species are, to the demise of our native plant and animal species. And thank you also for all you do to help educate others about invasives!
Dear Meredith,
I really enjoyed this post, am going to go back and read some of your earlier ones in a bit. I like the fact you are in Austin since I am just outside Houston so your natives are my natives, pretty much. So many of the articles are about way different zones and while informative and entertaining they don’t give much practicle info for our climates.
I wanted to tell you about a book I have that talks about gardening for wildlife the entire book. It is called Noah’s Garden by Sara Stein.
Ms. Stein and her husband bought about 10 acres many years ago and spent a great deal of time, labor and money to make a beautiful manicured pristine landscape. When it was “complete” and she and her husband were admiring all their beauty she realized in an ephiphany moment they had excluded all wildlife from their yard. That is chapter One. The rest of the book is restoring what was, ripping out all their hard work, planting natives and building habitat.
It is a wonderful story. How many “gardening” books can you sit down and read, cover to cover?
Anyway, if you come across it it is a really good read.
Thanks again.