Things I’m working to eradicate

Officially designated as invasive plants in my region

• • • Ailanthus altissima (Tree of heaven — (*snort*))
      • I didn’t do my research and cut down a tree. At that point in time there were already long suckers vining all the way across the back end of my property. This plant is hell.
    • Clematis terniflora (Sweet autumn clematis)
      • WHY could they not have planted the native Clematis virginiana, with which this is often confused?
    • Ligustrum sinense (Chinese privet)
    • Lonicera japonica (Japanese honeysuckle
    • Microstegium vimineum (Japanese stiltgrass)
    • Nandina domestica (Heavenly bamboo — (again, *snort*)
      • A previous inhabitant planted one YEARS ago. I cut it down within the first year I lived here (2014). I am still pulling sprouts and suckers off the stump. Thankfully there was only one!
    • Sorghum halepense (Johnson grass)
      • My comment on discovering this plant’s rhizomes was: “And I thought Bermuda grass was evil…” I think I got rid of this stuff. A lot of digging was involved.

      Other nuisance plants

      • Toxicodendron radicans (Poison ivy)
        • After a scary case of a systemic urushiol reaction a few years ago (where the inside of my body started to itch in ways I couldn’t scratch), I acquired some glyphosate. I use it, very carefully, only on this foe, and only in places where I ever need to go.
      • Smilax spp. (Greenbriars)
        • Just ouch. They grow up on other plants and stab you when you try to take care of them.
      • Commelina communis (Asiatic dayflower)
      • Lysimachia nummularia ‘Aurea’
        • I planted some of this before I knew better. This is one of those heart breakers, because I love how it covers the ground beneath dark foliaged plants. However, having it in cultivation will block me from ever getting certified as a native or wildlife sanctuary garden.

      Maybe just take a thumb or two

      Perhaps full eradication isn’t needed, but these need to be kept in check with a heavy hand

      • Artemisia absinthium
      • Lunaria annua
      • Persicaria maculosa

      Not plants

      Things previous inhabitants put in or on the earth, left for me to discover in horror

      • The yellow carpet “weed barrier” along the back of the property whose backing has disintegrated, so I have to disentangle hunks of loose plastic carpet fibers from the roots that have grown through
      • The thin blue, thankfully still intact, carpet “weed barrier” along the side of the shed toward the back of the property
      • Other trash I’ve found in the soil, including:
        • broken glass
        • old plastic bread bags
        • screwdriver
        • old point-and-shoot camera
        • nails, screws, bolts, etc.
        • a bra
        • old metal roofing
        • discarded linoleum flooring
        • old tarp, disintegrating