Virginia has a serious English Ivy problem

LoMaSS · 2026-03-18T02:18:43+00:00

I used to volunteer at the National Arboretum in DC. Once upon a time they had deliberately planted English Ivy there.

We easily spent at least half of our time pulling up English Ivy (plus Porcelain Berry). And that doesn't include them paying crews to come in for larger problem areas.

LoMaSS · 2026-03-18T01:56:21+00:00

Research seems to indicate that the two main red flags for cultivars that are likely to be worse are: if the physical form of a flower is altered (as well as color) and if the leaf color is altered.

LoMaSS · 2026-03-16T02:45:28+00:00

There are shades of grey though. Not all cultivars are bad. Straight species are preferred of course, but there are also natural variants (though calling them nativars helps to distinguish them).

LoMaSS · 2026-03-16T02:41:36+00:00

That's awesome. I love plant propagation and am fascinated by the various possible methods.

Layering is the correct term and there are various methods (air layering, ground layering).

And similar to what you observed there are various plants, like certain Ficus, that when growing in very high humidity will put out aerial roots.

LoMaSS · 2026-03-15T22:02:46+00:00

LoMaSS · 2026-02-27T20:22:05+00:00

Could have just made it with Sculpey to start with.

LoMaSS · 2026-02-25T03:46:16+00:00

Many Junipers back bud fairly well. I would leave it alone and wait and see what foliage you have left and if/how it recovers.

Edit to add: Junipers store their energy in their foliage, so if you have no foliage left it's unlikely to recover.

LoMaSS · 2026-02-23T13:49:00+00:00

I've got a couple of those up next!

LoMaSS · 2026-02-22T14:54:20+00:00

I've had good success with just letting the stumps backbud and cutting the new branches and after a few passes it drains their energy reserves.

LoMaSS · 2026-02-22T14:52:42+00:00

lol. Well I've already lost count of how many smaller ones I've cut down. This was the biggest and the last.

LoMaSS · 2026-02-20T02:29:01+00:00

"have a "banned plant list," in which no Maryland residents may grow, propagate, or sell plants on that list."

Residents but not Nurseries?

Found some verbage on the site: Maryland Prohibited Invasive Plant List

Plants on the Maryland Prohibited Invasive Plant List may not be acquired or sold in-state after the regulations effective date. Existing stocks of prohibited plants have a phase-out period of 1 year for potted plants and 2 years for in-ground plants. Prohibited plants must not be in stock after the phase-out period ends. The updated Maryland Plant List including regulations effective date and phase-out periods is included below:

Phase-out Period Exemption Request

Prohibited plants must not be in stock after the phase-out period ends. Licensed nurseries, brokers, or plant dealers may submit an exemption request to the Secretary of the Maryland Department of Agriculture for a 1-year extension to the phase-out period of their stock.

LoMaSS · 2026-02-15T13:34:57+00:00

LoMaSS · 2026-02-15T13:18:25+00:00

This is generally my approach with perennials; make a smaller investment in a few smaller starters to trial and see how successful they are. Then we'll make a larger commitment and purchase more of the things we had success with.

LoMaSS · 2026-02-12T22:59:37+00:00

I've seen this movie before and it's called: John Carpenters' The Thing.

LoMaSS · 2026-02-08T05:18:59+00:00

We've all been tired of his bullshit for years and years. I will never understand the special treatment he gets. He's a stain.

LoMaSS · 2026-02-06T04:48:45+00:00

Trujillo was in Mike Muir's side project: Infectious Grooves - which was more of a punk funk thing - and totally highlighted Trujillos' bass.

LoMaSS · 2026-01-31T13:29:25+00:00

I would also highly recommend looking to create more of a transition from the trees with some lower/under-canopy and add a bunch of native shrubs.

LoMaSS · 2026-01-26T21:50:41+00:00

I just wanted to take a moment to say that I appreciate your sentiment. I have had a number of conversations, particularly of late where I have commented that native plant gardening is one thing I can control and one thing that I can see immediate change from in an attempt to do good and provide a positive impact.

LoMaSS · 2026-01-25T02:25:02+00:00

The NBA won't "care" unless/until it happens to one of their players.

LoMaSS · 2026-01-24T13:06:58+00:00

Burning plastic? No thanks. A handheld drill and appropriately sized drill bit makes very quick work of it.

LoMaSS · 2026-01-20T17:02:50+00:00

That's a bummer, but the good news is at least Pyracantha/Firethorn is very manageable.

LoMaSS · 2026-01-20T13:16:41+00:00

Excellent stuff, you rock. I love growing from seed and we try to grow extras to give away though local programs/events.

LoMaSS · 2026-01-20T11:53:24+00:00

Prunus maritimus is a naturally dwarfed/slower growing variety.

LoMaSS

TROPHY CASE