Garden Wise : Non-Invasive Plants for Your Garden

How do you convince gardeners, landscape designers, or nurseries to avoid planting or selling invasive plants? An effective tool is to provide alternatives – plants that provide a similar aesthetic but do not wreak havoc on our native plants and ecosystems.

“Garden Wise: Non-Invasive Plants for Your Garden, Western Washington Guide” is just such a tool. Published since 2006, the newest edition (2019) presents a selection of herbaceous, groundcover, aquatic, and even woody plants that are invasive in western Washington. Described typically with two photos, a close-up and a landscape shot of an aggressive stand, each entry will help even the casual plant observer identify the culprits. One example is Yellow Archangel ( Lamiastrum galeobdolon), a “trailing plant [that] easily establishes wild populations, in many cases as the result of improper disposal of garden cuttings or hanging baskets.”

Best of all, at least three alternatives are described for each invasive plant, also with photos that demonstrate their similar “look” and garden appeal. Many of these are natives. As an alternative to Yellow Archangel, the gardener is encouraged to consider Wild Ginger ( Asarum caudatum), a native groundcover that also grows well in part to full shade.

The Washington State Noxious Weed Control Board heads a long list of organizations (including the UW Botanic Gardens) that have produced this document. Coming soon is a similar booklet for eastern Washington. Both will be available in the Miller Library, or in .PDF format at the Board’s website (www.nwcb.wa.gov).

Excerpted from the May 2019 Leaflet for Scholars Volume 6, Issue 5.