Wednesday, February 15, 2012

Invasive Plants! Oh My!

Silvergrass

Invasive plants (or more correctly, non-native aggressive plants) tend to take over whether it’s a commercial landscape or a residential landscape.  These plants have proven to take over landscape areas, reproduce easily and can spread beyond their original location (making their way into our parks and natural areas).

Some plants are readily known to be invasive:

Honeysuckle (along I-64 around Cannons Lane)

Johnson Grass (taller grass found in roadside ditches such as River Road or along I-71)

Multiflora rose (thorny and ugly)

But some of the plants may surprise you:

Winged Euonymus (or “Cardinal Bush”)

Miscanthus (Silver Reed Grass, shown in the picture)

English Ivy

Kentucky 31 and Bluegrass (both are aggressive taking over native areas)

So what is being done in Jefferson County, KY?  Well, first thing is when a landscape plan is required in the county one does not receive credit for plants on the prohibited list such as the ones shown above.  And instead, other plants are preferred.  To learn more about our county plant lists, see our Louisville Land Development Code at:

http://www.louisvilleky.gov/PlanningDesign/ldc/LDCMarch2006.htm  (See Chapter 10, Appendix 10A and 10B)

General information on any state can be found at

http://www.invasivespeciesinfo.gov/unitedstates/main.shtml

Kentucky Exotic Pest Plant Lists

http://www.se-eppc.org/ky/list.htm

Posted via email from Verdant Design

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