Yes, some plants are not good — they don’t belong in this area, they don’t provide resources for insects or birds, and they smother or crowd out more desirable plants. You could write a book on this issue, and I’m not going to cover it all in one article, but let me highlight a few of the more notorious offenders.
Luckily, Massachusetts and many New England states have banned some of the worst. You can no longer buy burning bush, Norway maple, sycamore maple, or tree of heaven in Massachusetts. In recent years, Japanese black pine, Scotch broom, and weeping love grass have been added to the growing list.
English ivy, creeping Jenny, and ajuga are low-growing plants that choke out native vegetation in woodland areas, forming dense mats. Vinca vine is another invasive that should be avoided.
Fragaria vesca, commonly called the woodland strawberry, is a good alternative to non-invasive plants.Dave Epstein
OK, that’s the bad stuff. So what can you plant? There’s plenty! Golden ragwort (Packera aurea) makes a nice dense evergreen mat with yellow spring flowers and is a good alternative to pachysandra, which, guess what, should not be planted.
But there’s actually a native pachysandra that I had no idea about, but I did plant a few years ago. It’s much more manageable, it’s more attractive, and gets a really sweet, nice white flower in the spring.
One of my favorite ground covers is wild strawberry (Fragaria virginiana). You’ll get small, sweet strawberries, and the plants will eventually create a dense enough mat to crowd out weeds. I know some of you find ferns messy, but they’re native and create a lovely carpet of green — and depending on the variety, can stay green all year.
Christmas fern and evergreen wood fern don’t necessarily look their best by late winter, but they do provide good cover. Hay-scented fern is a vigorous grower and a great choice for part-sun to shaded areas. Don’t plant it where it can spread into other parts of the garden, though. For something more refined, try maidenhair fern in a shady spot — mine were just emerging as I wrote this.
Adiantum pedatum, or the northern maidenhair fern.Dave Epstein
One plant I need to remove from my own garden — and it won’t be easy — is Miscanthus sinensis, also known as Chinese silver grass or maiden grass. The state has added it to the prohibited plant list, with a phase-out at the end of this year, meaning you won’t be able to buy it anymore.
There are still plenty of ornamental grasses worth planting. Carex pensylvanica, or Pennsylvania sedge, supports butterfly and moth species and makes a wonderful lawn alternative for dry shade — no irrigation or mowing needed. And according to the Native Plant Trust, Panicum virgatum (switchgrass) may be the most widely planted native grass in America. It’s reliable, creates dense vertical structure, puts up beautiful seed heads in late summer or fall, and tolerates a range of soil types.
Lily of the valley is another good plant to add to your yard or garden.Dave Epstein
Pachysandra procumbens, also known as Allegheny spurge.Dave Epstein
It’s amazing what marketing and a catchy name can do. Butterfly bush (buddleja) is a real problem in Washington, Oregon, and 25 other states where it’s listed as invasive. In New England, it’s less of an ecological threat, but it’s essentially a fast-food restaurant for pollinators — the nutrients are far inferior to what they’d get from buttonbush, summersweet, milkweed, or Joe-Pye weed.
I’m not telling you what to plant. I’m just saying I’ve made mistakes, most of them because I didn’t have the right information at the time. Today, we have a plant database at our fingertips. A quick search of any plant name — asking whether it’s invasive, aggressive, or likely to take over — can save you a lot of work and may genuinely benefit the environment.
May is a fantastic month for gardening. Let’s just do it with the best information possible!
Have a gardening question for Dave? Email weather@globe.com or leave it in the comments below, and he will answer it in an upcoming gardening column.
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