Return to the Hawaii Gardening Forum
| Post a Follow-Up
'I wish I'd never planted...' Invasives to avoid
| | |
Posted by catkim San Diego 10/24 (My Page) on Wed, Dec 16, 09 at 12:36
Hello, first post on this forum, happy to be here.
After many years of gardening in southern California, my dream of a tropical garden is about to come true. The new garden, in a very wet area of the Big Island, will be a project spanning many years.
While the primary emphasis will be palms from around the world, other plants will be used to add color, texture, scent, and possibly food to the garden.
One mistake I hope to avoid is planting invasives out of ignorance. We've all had the experience of finding a beautiful or interesting plant at the nursery -- you bring it home and it goes berserk trying to take over the entire garden, and eradication becomes a nightmare.
Experienced Hawaii gardeners, please tell me what you wish you'd never planted! |
Follow-Up Postings:
RE: 'I wish I'd never planted...' Invasives to avoid
| | |
| Avoid palms that produces alot of seeds and germnates quickly. Any clumpy palm that spreads to rapidly. Other thoose tips good luck! |
RE: 'I wish I'd never planted...' Invasives to avoid
| | |
| There are several species that are escaping home gardens and wreaking havoc with the natural ecosystems-give these baddies a wide berth. The link below is not a comprehensive list, doesn't include banana poka (passifolia tarminiana)for example. You can also go to www.hear.org for information about invasives. OK, now on to the fun stuff! I wish i had never planted...psittacorum in my garden. Looks terrible most of the time and is really hard to contain or eradicate. Congratulations on your new project! Sounds like you will be having fun. |
Here is a link that might be useful: Hawaii's Most Invasive Species
RE: 'I wish I'd never planted...' Invasives to avoid
| | |
RE: 'I wish I'd never planted...' Invasives to avoid
| | |
- Posted by catkim San Diego 10/24 (My Page) on
Sat, Dec 19, 09 at 15:42
| Thanks for the responses and resources! While I was aware of some of the plants named as invasive, there were also some surprises, such as Clusia rosea and mauirose's mention of psittacorum -- never would have known it was so maddeningly prolific. I thought they were planted in masses for effect. : D Please continue! |
RE: 'I wish I'd never planted...' Invasives to avoid
| | |
| Not Hawaii, but similar climate. Busy Lizzy: Impatiens walleriana. The New Guinea type is OK. Very pretty but self seeds like mad. Black-eyed Susan - likewise. GRASS! Keep your grass areas down to a minimum or you will spend all your time with a lawn-mower! And be prepared to use a herbicide. Whatever you do it will come up everywhere! Big bushy plants that shade it out are best. Good luck! |
RE: 'I wish I'd never planted...' Invasives to avoid
| | |
| Golden pothos. Once they escape cultivation, they start to blanket and crawl on trees and the forest floors. |
RE: 'I wish I'd never planted...' Invasives to avoid
| | |
| Impatiens walleriana never have reseeded for me, and I tried to germinate them once from buying seeds I got not even one sprout. |
RE: 'I wish I'd never planted...' Invasives to avoid
| | |
| Areca palms, what a pain to maintain! |
RE: 'I wish I'd never planted...' Invasives to avoid
| | |
| Blue Agave! Its comming up everywhere |
RE: 'I wish I'd never planted...' Invasives to avoid
| | |
| Cashew tree; while it grew fast and produced nuts in about 3 years, it was impossible to harvest and prepare---it produces a harsh acid-like substance that will take your skin off until it is 'prepped' which means exceptionally high heat and other "not goin' to happen outside of big industry" requirements. |
RE: 'I wish I'd never planted...' Invasives to avoid
| | |
| Heliconia. They take over and just keep going. I've been trying to dig them out ever since. Most of the gingers would probably be the same way, too. Running bamboo is bad but the clumping varieties are good. We have a passion fruit vine which is all over the place but it at least produces lots of fruit. If you want a vigorous climbing vine, then that's a good choice. |
|
|
|
|
