1. A hickory tree - while a great native tree, you should not let it grow there, it is too close to the house.
2. Canna lilies - easily moved.
3. Mixed in with the rose is an Eleagnus shrub (silvery leaves); not native, rather aggressive shrub.
4. Virginia creeper (5 leaves, a native vine with great fall color) mixed in with Japanese honeysuckle (white/yellow blooms).
5. Sassafras, a native tree
6. Smilax, native vine, but rather a pest and quite thorny
7. A hickory tree (thick vine may be grape)
8. Looks like a Spirea shrub.

Ooh..keep the Sassafras tree..it give spectacular fall color and interesting flowering habit in the spring.

esh_ga that is awesome!! I looked up the plants you listed and I agree with all of them but I have to question #1. I do not think this is a hickory tree based on the close up leaf photos I saw on this website (below). These leaves are very soft and they have a lemony fragrance I think it might be something else. Everything else looks right on the money. Now I have to figure out how to get this stuff all thinned out so they can all be in their glory!! I am going to watch that sassafras tree as that seems to be GREAT.

Also I am a nut about fragrance and whadda ya know I have lots of fragrance!! I geuess I better get to thinning that stuff out some and fertilizing!!

You're good!

Thanks so much!!

Here is a link that might be useful: va forestry website

ok I had a chance to read up on this stuff and I am not happy anymore. Basically if 1 is a chestnut I need to get rid of it. I have cut it down but because I was not sure what it was did not cut it down to the ground. I will have to do that if it is indeed chestnut.
#2 I will be keeping that but moving it to a better place
#3 can be pretty if properly trimmed keeping it
#4 gotta get rid of this in case my goats get to it. says it is poisonous to all mammals.
#5 keeping it although I might transplant some of it closer to the house to enjoy the scent
#6 I had to blow the photo up a little larger because I did not see the veining in it as the specimen photos show. Once that was done I agree and thats has got to be dug up ASAP!! Another invasive plant to add to my list. I have ivy, kudzo and wisteria killing everything out here!!
#7 are you saying 1 and 7 are the same? they both gotta go then. They do look similar one being young and the other more mature. ugggh
#8 definitely a keeper!! I love that plant. I do not think I have seen it in bloom though. that wood line is so think I can't see the good stuff for all the junk in the way

again thanks

Don't try to move the sassafrass, jacki- they don't take to moving at all. You're very likely to kill it if you try to move it. Even little ones don't like to be dug. Just enjoy it where it is. They tend to form suckering colonies- so it's possible one will come up closer to your house. You can also plant seeds if you notice it setting some one year (they don't always seem to bloom, and it's inconspicuous when they do).

I'd say if you enjoy the lemony fragrance of whatever it is close to the house, keep trimming it back hard so you get that new growth. If you don't let it get big it won't cause problems. It's not chestnut- they are virtually extinct because of a bad blight that went through 100 yrs back.

Eleagnus can be pretty and the flowers smell heavenly, and the little fruits are edible and taste a bit like lemonade. You probably don't want to trim it- the natural shape is a nice fountain-y shape that doesn't do real well with heavy pruning- they tend to look awkward pruned. All that said, it's an invasive non native that the birds love to spread via those delicious berries, so you might want to think twice about keeping it. You could always put it low on th to-do list and enjoy it meanwhile. It certainly isn't as bad as honeysuckle or wisteria or kudzu. Both smilax and VA creeper are natives, but i don't care for either one, and cut them back/rip them out on my prop, too. I didn't know VA creeper was poisonous. For that matter trumpet vine is native too, but terribly pesty and is said to be poisonous to cattle. Don't know if you have any of it or not. Not to mention poison ivy! Animals often have a 6th sense about things that are poisonous, so don't be too concerned with every last thing. Kudzu is said to be a decent spinach and or grape leaf substitute for cooking, BTW. But the seeds and flowers are poisonous.

ok I won't move the Sassafras :(

I have to find out what that is by the house. the tunk is about 3" thick. I am going to have to find photos because I think I took pictures of it before I cut it down. it is very aggressive.

I need to get really aggressive in getting control over that stuff cause I know it will look better than it does now once it is trimmed. The 'floor' is covered with vinca so I hesitate to get too close plus there is a stream right there with a funny drop off. I would die if I fell in. LOL

Thanks. I am going to see if I can find a photo of #1 in full form and maybe that will help. I did have a walnut tree that I cut down very near it. could that be what it is?

It doesn't really matter what #1 is because it needs to go regardless. Its just too close to the house. It looks like a juvenile Ailianthus or Tree of Heaven to me but I could be wrong.

The Eleagnus you have is the Silver Berry one which is not the super invasive type. Its berry's are not as special as the weedy one. It is a common road side tree around Raleigh. It is pretty much fool proof.

Cherish your sassafras. They are impossible to grow where you want them. They hate to be dug up and moved. You have to build your garden around where they spring up instead.

Any gardener would kill to have a chestnut. The only ones that live for any amount of time are the hybrids or asian species, all the old timey ones died out.

#7 looks like a Hickory to me. I love the yellow colors in the fall.

T John, I looked up the tree of Heaven plant and I do not think that is it either. Although the leaves do look similar they grow 3 together (similar to a marijuana plant) whereas the tree of heaven each leaf is singular. I am going to try and get it cut down even further. I cut it down but it seems to keep on growing. I have 2 of them actually and the other is cut down to the ground too BUT

...But it seems to keep coming back very aggressively. I can't dig it out and if I use salt I might kill good stuff. what to do??

Cut it cleanly again and apply a small amount of brush killer or full strength Round up to the freshly cut woody stump.

I'll second #1 being a hickory. It is definitely NOT a chestnut, and I don't think it's ailianthus either. But it could be a walnut as well. Regardless, it's too close tot he house to stay there...looks like someone has cut it down once anyway.

If the tree in question has a bark that turns very dark when wet you might have a black walnut. Oh joy..trying to garden with juglone....juglone is given off by the entire tree and so far, I've gotten secretsea and lambs ears to grow over its root area but it's killed off some important shrubs and trees quite a distance away. Hope it's not a walnut.
If it is, and you cut it down it takes years for the poison in the soil to go away since it doesn't move through the soil very quickly.

Looks like a foundation shrub I have seen recently but I didn't get the name of it... looks sort of like a Nandina when small but the leaf structure is slightly different and its natural shape is different full grown.

Wish I knew what it was to tell you but it isn't anything common I had seen used as a foundation shrub before. Maybe you can post that photo on the trees forum and maybe the shrubs forum.

I know you didn't ask here but just thought I would drop some information about something you seemed curious about in your blog.

If that chooped up snake has yellow tip on its tail, as it appears in the photo, it is more than likely a copperhead. Juvenile Water Moccasins have similar features as juvenile copperheads and they are often confused with each other. The Water Moccasin has a dark stripe running horizontally across the eye. Copperheads are not deadly snakes to adult humans and deaths from bites are rare. Water Moccasins are a different story. Either way you will, of course, want to watch pets and small children in the yard.

Black snakes are often confused with venomous snakes but are not harmful and in fact are very beneficial to a garden environment. They not only eat rodents that are garden pests but they also have been known to dine on other snakes.

You seemed a little unsure as how to proceed. Here is a site that you could reference to get an ID on your snakes in order to better decide how you want to handle them.

http://www.bio.davidson.edu/projects/herpcons/herps_of_nc/snakes/snakes.html

I don't like to assume I know what is best for others but I do like to assume minus an irrational fear that most people, knowing a snake (or any other creature for that matter) is harmless would rather let it be than kill it.

Here is a link that might be useful: Snakes of North Carolina

As silly as this sounds here was my plan to kill the tree... I was going to use a spaded drill bit cut a big hole in the center, fill it with rock salt, water it then seal it with wax so the salt would not spread to the good stuff. LOL don't forget I am a northerner. I will try that brush killer, I have plenty of that. I was planning a trip to the pawn shop this weekend to get a chain saw and then have a cutting good time on the woodland edge and some of these freaking stumps that keep growing back.

aezarian...thanks for the snake info. I shudder at the sound of snakes as I did looking at the photos. I got a case of the heebie jeebies. I do have a stream bordering my property and my neighbor tells me there are copperheads and water moccasins in there. I was not sure about those babies because I was thinking the color did not come in yet. If they are colored from birth then the first one I killed (pictured) was not on the page because it was all silver. The one that got away however looked very similar to the copperhead but yellower. There is also a black snake on the property that I have not and will not touch because mice, I think, are worse.

we put down sulfur all over the place last year and we only saw the black snake. we did not put anything down this year and so far 1 large black snake and 3 babies (2 yellow and one silver).

I am almost willing to bet that is a walnut tree because as I mentioned earlier I had one small one cut down that was not far from it. It had to be pretty young because although it was tall and producing a few nuts it had a similar tall skinny bark. I have to wet the one I have to see if it turns dark. I just can't remember what the leaves looked like. What is it called when three leaves grow together? Well no matter I am convinced now it is not something I want growing so close to the house and I will be killing it this weekend.

You guys are so helpful! Thanks so much!!

msjay2u, I also have to come to the defense of the snakes. I would much rather have a snake than the nasty rats that snakes eat. Rats carry disease, get into everything, and just plain STINK. Corn Snakes can look very similar to copperheads and are often killed by mistake. You can tell by the head if it is the friendly corn snake or the copperhead (triangle shaped head). We find that most snakes will run away given the opportunity....check out the links below to see the corn snake and the copperhead.

http://www.bio.davidson.edu/projects/herpcons/herps_of_nc/snakes/Elagut/Ela_gut.html

http://www.bio.davidson.edu/projects/herpcons/herps_of_nc/snakes/Agkcon/Agk_con.html

By the way, I had a tree that I thought was a Sassafras tree because of the leaves. but last year we discovered it was a mulberry tree when it had fruit for the first time.

The "baby snakes" you are killing and chopping up and worrying about where their mamas and papas are, are full grown adult Smooth Earth Snakes.

Earth snakes are tiny terrestrial snakes that spend most of their times hiding under rocks and other cover.

No worries..the little buggers are harmless and those tiny snakes are the mamas and papas!

Heeeey were you trying to make me feel guilty? Well you know what they say "Knowledge is power". Now that I know what the snakes are I will let them be. Thanks for providing that info and no I will not be chopping any more of them up. If I see a diamond pattern .... well that's another story.

You guys have been great. I went out this morning to start working on chopping down the Smilax and what did I find in the mix? A Sassafras! What luck that I would find one right where I was thinking of moving the other.

The previous owner of my house worked in Stone Bros for a long time and I decided to take a trip down there to see what trees they are selling. I found the Eleagnus shrub so that is verified that is what it is.

The number one thing I was so worried about close to the house is growing warts all over it. Ugggh how disgusting is that!! anyway I am putting some brush killer on it today.

Thanks so much for your help guys. On the plants AND the snakes. The news was reporting that there is a real problem with copper heads this season so before I found out what I have are Earth Snakes I was planning on going n a seak and kill spree this weekend. LOL. Knowledge IS power.
Have a good weekend!!

Nah, not trying to make you feel guilty. While admittedly I don't like hearing about anything being killed needlessly, fear of snakes is common. When you are working in an environment where you are likely to find them it can be stressful. The more you know about them the easier it is on you as well.