Often the damage caused by invasive species cause irreversible damage to the environment, reduce recreational space and affect human health. There is also a significant economic factor—the time and expense of removing invasive species from a space.

How Invasive Species Come Into An Area

Invasive species are often sold at our local nurseries. Homeowners believe them to be safe to plant or not harmful because they are so commonly seen on landscapes and sold to us by landscapers and the nursery trade. We plant them on our landscapes and they spread through seed dispersal, wind, and root systems, and not just in our own property but out into common areas or to the wild.

They can come from many unintentional means by humans as well through travel and trade or the soles of our shoes after walking through an infested area.

How You Can Help Stop Invasive Plants

Don’t buy non-native invasive plants Just because you don’t see it spreading it in your landscape doesn’t mean it hasnt spread to other areas. The seeds and roots can travel great distances and create havoc somewhere out there. That non-native invasive, sacred bamboo, the nursery tells you is a variety, it will eventually revert to producing seed. The invasive Bradford pear that we were told was sterile is now along every corridor on the east coast. Create demand for native plants by asking your local big-box stores to carry more natives. Shop at local native plant nurseries and pop-up sales (such as the Cape Conservation Corps plant sales)

Common Cape Invasives

There are many invasive plant species in the yards and open spaces of the Cape. The small trees, shrubs, vines, herbaceous, and grass plants listed below are among the most common and are the worst of the worst invasives as they are known to spread aggressively by seed or roots. They are also more easily removed by homeowners compared with invasives such as grown trees, bamboo, and phragmites reeds.