Pachysandra or Japanese Spurge, Is it really Invasive?

[@jenniferarey8872]

I have a little bit contained in my garden. It’s in a very shady corner where nothing else will grow. I’ve wrestled with whether to pull it up. I think the thing to realize is that the plant outlives you. It keeps creeping out when you are elderly, when you sell your home, when you pass away. You can’t expect that whoever comes after will keep it managed (as we see here). Gardening isn’t just for us-it continues beyond us, and the choices we make need to take that into account.

[@TheWoodlandSteward]

Very good point! I think my conclusion was too short sighted.

[@markjones5561]

Great to see a new video! Thanks for the information !

[@TheWoodlandSteward]

It's been a busy year!

[@markjones5561]

@@TheWoodlandSteward glad you're putting up videos again :)

[@artofmagi]

It is starting to escape cultivation, not just via rhizomes. I'm starting to see tiny patches of it coming up here and there in the woods in my yard where there hadn't been any, and it had no way of moving there otherwise. It probably takes a long time to get going from seed, but all you need is for one or two to pop up randomly where nobody sees it in the woods, and after a few years it'll start filling in patches and reproducing from there. My guess is it's like English Ivy or other things that people didn't think would spread except for what they could control, only to find that it can re-seed in other places. Maybe it doesn't get pollinated as readily, or isn't as palatable to wildlife as other foods, but there are always a few who will try just about anything (recently found a cedar apple rust gall that had been nibbled on by a squirrel). Even with it being an aggressive ground cover, I wouldn't plant it. Lots of ticks in the patch I dug up thanks to the mice. Finding it in random places in other spots just makes it that much more important to get this under control before we have a lesser celandine-type situation on our hands, because it's also hard to kill off.

[@AnomadAlaska]

Thank you for introducing me to that species. I will be on the lookout for it.

[@TheWoodlandSteward]

No problem! I guess it is not used up by you.

[@NanaWilson-px9ij]

I wasn't aware that there was a native pachysandra!

[@relsoe]

What happens if you plant some of this in your garden and keep it from escaping a controlled area but the next property owner fails to do same? Just seems like the risks will always outweigh the benefits.

[@TheWoodlandSteward]

I can only control my own impact, unless I'm advocating for outlawing it for everyone. Sure, I would rather encourage a native planting that actually has environmental benefits, rather than plantings (like pachysandra) that might not be awful if they are carefully tended. I just want to emphasize that if someone decides to use pachysandra, it comes with the responsibility to keep it under control.

[@relsoe]

@@TheWoodlandSteward I understand your perspective for sure, and enjoy your videos. I do think it’s a good reminder to viewers though that the choices they make on their properties will almost certainly outlive them for better or worse.

[@TheWoodlandSteward]

@@relsoe Very good point! When you mentioned the "next property owner" I was thinking of the next property owner geographically, like a neighbor. You are right that if I sell my property to another person I am potentially passing on a ticking time bomb. I hadn't thought of that, so I appreciate your perpective.

[@relsoe]

Sorry, re-read my initial post and realized it may have been confusing in that regard.

[@2ndbar]

Thank you for this information. I am against an area that is being restored to native prairie. A friend gave me some of these plants. As a result of your video, I am not going to plant them as I do not have a contained garden. Thank you!

[@vlink4071]

This is timely for me as I was just pulling up variegated and green pachysandra from my garden. It didn’t grow much at first but now is taken over my garden beds and is creeping into the woods here. It is difficult to pull it up after 17 years of growth, there’s many deep layers of it. How do you suggest I keep it from the woods, and get it out of the beds? Thank you for your informative videos.

[@TheWoodlandSteward]

When we removed it from our landscaping we did it with a shovel (or pitch fork), and cleared the whole bed. It was a relatively small area, though. We only allow vinca in beds that are surrounded by mowed lawn, or other barriers, so that it can't spread by rhizomes into the woods.

[@ManitowocMarine]

Please send me some Pachysandra! I am struggling to get mine to spread!

[@GlenaGarrett]

I like the native Pachysandra procumbens (Allegheny Spurge) much better. The leaves are less shiny, brighter green, and the Spring flowers have a nice fragrance unlike the Japanese variety. It is easier to control, too, so less work. Highly recommend that plant if it will grow in your area. I'm in Virginia and it does really well here.

[@TheWoodlandSteward]

I would love to try it!

[@threeriversforge1997]

It's a dang shame that P.procumbens is so hard to find for sale anywhere. I've found a few places, and it's very pricey to get a decent amount for making a bed up!

[@GlenaGarrett]

@@threeriversforge1997 Agree. It's maddening to see nurseries and landscapers still pushing non-natives and especially those known to be invasive. I have nothng against a few well-behaved non-native ornamentals in the home landscape but known invasives are an entirely different thing.

[@threeriversforge1997]

@@GlenaGarrett Yep. That's exactly why I mention it whenever I can, like here. We have to educate the public and put pressure on those stores. Just the other day, I saw an "expert" on youtube bragging abou this his Creeping Charlie was taking over his back yard, killing off all the grass, and leaving him with an 'edible' lawn that he could harvest whenever he wanted. He was proud of that, never bothering to think about how that invasive plant was also wiping out all the flora that the ecosystem evolved with, or how he can't possibly hope to contain it to just his yard. It's exasperating, to say the least.

[@mayboggess2783]

Thanks for another great video. I don’t know if day-lilies are a problem in Ohio, but in central New York they are terrible. I’m wondering what advice you have for eradicating a patch of them. Because of their waxy leaves, I don’t find glyphosate sprayed or painted that effective. I have cut and painted, but that is slow. So, any advice would be greatly appreciated

[@TheWoodlandSteward]

I have never fought day-lilies personally, but I wonder about adding more surfactant to your glyphosate mixture. I am trying an experiment right now with adding extra surfactant to glyphosate for use on Stilt Grass.

[@MartyKatz]

Surprise: my partly disturbed woods fragment suddenly overwhelmed by Japanese Stiltgrass last year....but it stopped at the edge of every longstanding patch of Japanese Pachysandra. Stiltgrass is a fire hazard when it dies besides choking everything out, pachysandra can be walked through and seems to not move much and coexist somewhat with other woods plants. Chasing huge stands of stiltgrass in February with preemergent isn't practical through leaf/grass litter, glyphosate/weed whip before seeding hard and toxic. Pachysandra's looking mighty attractive....comment?

[@TheWoodlandSteward]

Interesting. I don't think the pachysandra is going to spread off your property very readily, while the Japanese Stiltgrass may. I would choose to treat the stiltgrass with Acclaim Extra or a 0.1% solution of glyphosate during the growing season.

[@MartyKatz]

@@TheWoodlandSteward Makes sense, thank you and good luck with your efforts too.

[@GriffinsFanChris]

Its not invasive in my yard. Half of mine died off from volutella blight a few years ago, and Im struggling to bring it back. Whats left has never looked as healthy as it once did.

[@teemmm538]

Keep an eye on the ash trees because there's a Emerald bug that came over from Asia and it bores into the tree lays its eggs and the eggs, as they growth to maturity eat their way through the bark killing the ash trees. I know because they killed my big beautiful one I had in the backyard

[@acwright]

Compared to other invasive plants, it doesn't seem that bad.

[@pamelah6431]

It outcrowds native groundcovers - it definitely impacts the overall ecology as a result.

[@TheWoodlandSteward]

It isn't as bad because it only escapes cultivation vegetatively. Once it is in an ecosystem, though, it completely outcompetes everything in its path.

[@pamelah6431]

@@TheWoodlandSteward saw it completely taking over the ground in the back woods of a house in Rockford, IL the other day. On the other hand, nearly everything above it was honeysuckle and buckthorn and garlic mustard... 😭

[@threeriversforge1997]

That last part is where your Cognitive Dissonance really shows. You're looking out over all that ruined ecosystem, even acknowledging that it might have been someone's garden at one time, and then telling folks to go ahead and plant the invasive non-native plant... but keep it contained. You don't want to come straight out and admit that it's a bad idea, that the plant is too much trouble and too high a risk, even as you're standing in the middle of an ecosystem overrun with invasives that are destroying the food web. I've been trying to talk several local churches into doing away with their non-native landscaping by pointing out that God's plan has a greater depth and breadth than we can really understand. Dr. Doug Tallamy touches on this in his videos where he shows who we've so horribly fragmented the local ecosystems that we've seen a 40% decline in insect populations since the 70's. That's basically in my lifetime! How did this happen? Because people forget that while we might be stewards of the land, we don't have perfect understanding of how the ecosystem functions. Think about how Kudzu has ruined millions of acres of ecosystem throughout the south, and is slowly working its way north. That plant was thought to be a great thing by the arrogant fools who promoted it. They thought they knew best. And look at what they accomplished. Look at all those many families who were ruined as their homesteads were overrun and their property values tanked. Look at the ecosystems destroyed. As someone currently battling against invasive plants here on my land, all things planted by previous owners or neighbors, I'm absolutely wrecked by the costs of trying to fend the stuff off so it doesn't ruin my property value. Bamboo, Privet, Creeping Charlie, English Ivy, Wisteria..... every year sees me spending hundreds of dollars in fuel and herbicides, and hundreds of hours of my "leisure" time. And all because people weren't good stewards of the land and didn't appreciate what God put right in front of them. Honestly, this fetishization of foreign plants is a little weird, and it really stands out to me when I can travel all over the country and see the very same plants because everyone's buying from the same growers who promote their stuff in the same few gardening periodicals. If I never see another Crepe Myrtle, I'll be a very happy guy! As The Woodland Steward.... be the steward. Maintain the land as god designed, keep it healthy, and pass it on to the future generations.