Re: Purple Loosestrife and other Invaders

---

With the revival of the loosestrife discussion I'm reminded of this message of Marge's from a few weeks ago.

 

Marge, your mention of garlic mustard taking over woods made me stop and think about experiences and my own observations of this plant.  Most of us have seen situations where purple loosestrife takes over wetlands.  One can almost stand for a while and watch it happen.  On the other hand, have you ever seen actual situations where garlic mustard -- or ground ivy, for that matter -- has supplanted native flora?  Yeah, I've seen many river and stream banks where all that can be seen is garlic mustard, but in every one of these situations these were sites that had already been denuded of native flora  by either human activity or livestock.  I've never seen garlic mustard or ground ivy growing in healthy "wild" woods.  Has anyone?  Or are we just blaming the plant because it grows where we've killed (or collected) everything else?  When I think of all the miles and miles of stream and river banks that I've seen slicked down by fishermen, canoers and cattle, I'm somewhat relieved that at least something can grow in these places.

 

Trillium and Arisaema seedlings come up "volunteer" all over the place in my shade beds, regardless of the ground ivy.  I don't see why this would be any different in "wild" situations where these plants encounter each other.  On the other hand, where English ivy pervades seedlings seldom come up; it shades the ground too thoroughly.   Things one learns through observation.

 

Dean Sliger

Warren, Michigan, USA

Zone 6B

 

 

On Thu, 27 Jul 2000 01:27:14 -0400 "Marge Talt" <mtalt@clark.net> writes:
> Well, Dean, if this doesn't go to show that one person's weed is
> another person's treasure:-)  "Trim" ain't the term I use nor the
> method, either.  Around here, ground ivy is rampant in wet or dry
> times, in deep shade or part sun and esp. in decent soil.  It has
> carpeted vast areas of our wild woods, to the detriment of anything
> interesting that might have wanted to grow there.  I class it right
> up there with garlic mustard in the noxious weed category.   I can
> clear an area in early June and return to find it covered again in
> late July.  "Bounds" is not a concept my ground ivy understands:-)
>
> Unlike non mature English Ivy and periwinkle (vinca), it also seeds
> around with abandon when those cute little blue flowers are
> pollinated - which they always are....seeds seem to have a good
> afterlife in the soil, too.  But, real persistence in pulling each
> piece when it pokes its nose out of the soil will, eventually,
> eradicate it.
>
> Marge Talt, zone 7 Maryland
> mtalt@clark.net
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> ----------
> > From: Dean Sliger <deanslgr@juno.com>
> > Date: Sunday, July 23, 2000 2:09 PM
> >
> > The best time to trim it back is in late spring (early June
> here),
> after
> > flowering and the subsequent flush of growth.  After that initial
> late
> > spring spurt it grows pretty slowly and stays more or less within
> bounds,
> > especially in dry shade.
> >
> > Ground ivy is certainly no more difficult to control than, say,
> > periwinkle or English ivy.  The roots are shallow and it pulls up
> easily,
> > unlike ajuga or violets which cling more tenaciously to the
> ground.
>  Then
> > there's something I once made the mistake of buying, Houttuynia
> cordata,
> > which is commonly sold as a groundcover to the unsuspecting
> masses
> > despite that it could give spearmint lessons on rampant growth.
> >
> > Dean Sliger
> > Warren, Michigan, USA
> > Zone 6B
> >
> >
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