A gardener on Reddit shared a series of photos of a pesky plant they’d been dealing with for months, and the responses weren’t exactly encouraging.
Photo Credit: Reddit
The images were uploaded to r/Gardening with the explanation that they’d been pulling it all summer. The opening post noted: “But I was unable to pull it for the last two weeks or so and it grew into this. It’s now about 18″ tall. Northeast. So, what is it?”
Unfortunately for the homeowner, it wasn’t good news. The top-rated comment identified the culprit right away: “This is the commonly called velvetleaf, and it’s an invasive weed here in the Northeast USA. Keep removing them.”
The velvetleaf is a rather appealing name for an incredibly unappealing plant. It is a scourge for corn and soybean farmers in the East and Midwest, causing immense damage to crop yields. Like other invasive plants, velvetleaf outcompetes other flora for nutrients and water. Worse still is just how rapidly it spreads and how incredibly resilient the velvetleaf is. According to a profile by Wisconsin Horticulture, one plant can produce as many as 17,000 viable seeds, and they’ll remain viable for over 50 years.
Prevention is always the optimal move for managing invasive plants, and that’s best achieved with greater awareness of the harm they can do. By gardening with native plants, a homeowner can enjoy a thriving yard without the drawbacks of imported, ornamental flora. Better yet, a natural lawn doesn’t have nearly the same maintenance or water requirements as those dull, lifeless grass lawns.
The comments were quite emphatic on the struggle ahead for the original poster. “Yeah, it’s velvetleaf, and if you don’t stop it before it reseeds it spreads like wildfire,” one user cautioned. Another said only slightly hyperbolically: “Kill it with fire.…. then kill it every 2 months.”
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“Oh jeez. Velvetleaf! They’re invasive. Toss it in the garbage. They’re easy to pull out but a pain because they pop up everywhere if they go to seed! Between these, galinsoga and stilt grass… it’s an endless battle!” a user empathized.
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