Plants on The Yard Fairy's "Use with Caution" List

We have so many different plants available to us that sometimes it's tempting to use some that may be a little too vigorous. Here are six plants that we only use with caution.

Horsetail or Equisetum hyemale

This is a grass-like plant with hollow, slender stems marked with black and gray rings at each joint. It has a very striking, modern look to it and it works really well in wet situations.

However, it is extremely invasive and needs to be planted in a pot or used with root barrier to surround it and stop it escaping.

Morning Glory or Ipomoea indica

While these plants promise to provide rapid growth that can cover unsightly objects like chain link fences or sheds, they can also get out of hand, sending their runners throughout the planter bed.

They will then root wherever the stems touch the ground, creating a new plant. Seeds can also be dispersed via the wind. This causes a lot of maintenance work to ensure that they are kept in check. Better alternatives would be Passion vines (Passiflora), Bower vine (Pandorea) or one of the large flowering Clematis varieties.

Ivy or Hedera

This plant is well known to many, with its thick, leathery, juvenile lobed leaves. It grows quickly and climbs walls and fences using aerial rootlets. It spreads beyond the area in which it was intended, and can escape into adjacent wild areas.

Spider Plant or Chlorophytum

Usually grown as a houseplant, the spider plant can be grown outside in San Diego County. It has variegated soft, curving leaves like long broad grass blades and it sends out small copies of the mother plant.

These 'babies' contain their own root system so they will root when they touch the ground, or they can be cut off and potted up as viable individual plants. As each plant is capable of sending out multiple 'babies' each year, it can quickly over fill a planting area and become a pest.

Periwinkle or Vinca major and minor

Often used as ground and bank covers, vinca have shiny dark green leaves with lavender-blue pin wheel shaped flowers. Their trailing, arching stems root where they touch the soil, causing them to spread rapidly. If they escape into nearby wild areas they can quickly crowd out the native species.

Running Types of Bamboo

Bamboo has become the 'bad boy' of the plant world and some cities and home owners associations are trying to ban its planting outright. With over 1,000 different varieties however, this approach seems ignorant and ill-informed.

Common running types that need to be planted with care are Golden Bamboo (Phyllostachys aurea); Giant Timber Bamboo (Phyllostachys bambusoids), Moso Bamboo (Phyllostachys heterocycla pubescens), and Black Bamboo (Phyllostachys nigra). The best way to enjoy this plant is to restrict its growth by using root barrier or planting it in a large and sturdy pot. Alternatively do your research and chose the clumping kinds instead, such as Bambusa multiplex 'Alphonse Karr' or 'Golden Godess'.

About The Yard Fairy:

Diane E Downey is the owner of The Yard Fairy Inc, a North San Diego County based award winning landscape design and installation company creating low water, low maintenance landscapes that are as functional as they are pleasing to the eye. To arrange your consultation with The Yard Fairy, please call 760 804 1661 or email info at yardfairy.com today.

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