No Room for This Bloom: Invasive Plants to Look Out for This Spring

Written by Jack Meyers, Environmental Educator

Signs of spring are everywhere! Brilliant red buds are emerging on our maple trees, migratory birds are returning in droves, and flowers, like daffodils, are popping up all over our grounds. That said, did you know that daffodils are not native to North America? Introduced by some of the earliest colonists from Europe, daffodils can often be found in areas already disturbed by human activity and have become naturalized in the wild, meaning that they can grow and propagate on their own. Luckily, these early-rising flowers do not displace any native flora or cause significant ecological harm. As a result, they are generally not considered to be invasive.  

As the warmer weather arrives, so do several other unwelcome plants and so begins our conservation team’s busy season. With help from volunteers and seasonal staff, the spring and summer months are mostly devoted to managing invasive plant populations on our 47 acres. So, if you see someone pulling plants on your next visit, it is with good reason!

Our conservation team has curated a list of invasive plants commonly found in this region to assist you in identifying these problematic plants, educate you on how they threaten or disrupt our local environment, and the best (or most fun) ways to handle any plant waste should you answer this call to action.   

1. Garlic Mustard

Though this plant may have a delicious-sounding name, if left unchecked it can turn any plentiful wooded area into a bland monoculture. Like many other invasive species, garlic mustard crowds out native species and prevents other plants from obtaining their share of light, water, and nutrients. If that’s not bad enough, garlic mustard is also a producer of allelopathic chemicals that inhibit the growth of other plants and fungi sharing the same soil.  

Garlic mustard has a very early growth and bloom schedule, popping up as early as April and dropping seeds around June. Luckily, the removal of the plant itself is rather easy! The roots are generally shallow and with a proper pull from the base, you can remove the entire plant. The sheer volume of plants is what keeps our garden waste bags filled and our conservation team hard at work.

Even though it is best practice to have all invasive plant matter removed to prevent the spread of any seeds, there is a fun alternative for garlic mustard specifically. That is, to eat it! The entire plant is indeed edible and very nutritious. Leaves from younger sprouts can be a great addition to any salad or stew. For the more mature plants, it is strongly recommended to cook them thoroughly. A common dish made here at the Rye Nature Center is a garlic mustard pesto. Click here for our go-to recipe! Garlic mustard seeds can lie dormant in soil for up to ten years, so FRNC will continue working hard to combat their return each spring. (And, if you are a fan of the garlic mustard pesto, you can save on grocery bills for years to come!)

2. English Ivy

English Ivy has been in the Americas for hundreds of years. It was brought over by some of the earliest colonists in the 18th century as an easy-to-maintain ornamental plant. It gained popularity due to its evergreen foliage that can easily cover large areas, ease of maintenance, and resistance to pests. However, it is these same reasons that makes English ivy an extremely aggressive and hard-to-deal-with invasive plant.  

Native vines, such as wild grapevine, have evolved and adapted alongside our native trees—these vines grow up the trunk and get their fix of sun as they reach the very top. As English ivy climbs a tree it covers any branch, it shades out the existing foliage and deprives the tree of a much-needed resource. As the tree begins to whither and weaken, the existing ivy turns into a giant windsail, catching any strong gust that blows. Not only does it slowly kill any tree it wraps its vines around, but they also create hazardous situations where trees that would normally stand though a storm can be easily knocked over.  

Best practice for managing a problematic vine like English ivy starts before it even has a chance to climb up a tree. However, should you come upon a tree already wrapped in the vine, our team prefers to utilize the “window” method. This involves completely separating the vine mass on the tree from the section connected to the soil. This cuts off the supply of water to the part of the plant that has taken over a tree and will result in the vines slowly dying off. The one thing you must be careful of is to only cut as deep as the vine goes. Any deeper into the bark and you risk harming the tree you are trying to save.  

3. Japanese Barberry

The last invasive covered in this spotlight has become better known for what it hides rather than its effect on local flora. We were able to talk with our Conservation Director, Jax Mack, to get a better understanding of why the correlation between ticks and Japanese barberry exists and what the best method is for combatting this invasive plant.

Jax explained that the widespread presence of Japanese barberry poses a risk for the transmission of Lyme disease. These invasive shrubs create ideal conditions for blacklegged (deer) ticks by forming dense thickets with small, compact leaves that block sunlight and retain humidity—conditions in which ticks thrive. The humid, sheltered environment attracts white-footed mice, a primary host for Lyme bacteria, which seek protection among the plant’s thorny branches. As ticks feed on these infected mice, they become carriers of the disease, increasing the risk of transmission to humans. According to Jax, research consistently shows that areas heavily infested with Japanese barberry have significantly higher populations of Lyme-infected ticks, contributing to a greater potential for human infection.

What is his advice for combatting this problem? Remove the root system completely to manage this plant because cutting it back will only result in regrowth. Fortunately, the roots are relatively shallow and not very strong, making them easy to remove with a shovel.

It is safe to say, whether you think Japanese barberry is a beautiful plant or not, the aesthetics are not worth the ticks!

If you are interested in incorporating more native flora into your own garden or would like to lend a hand and talk plants with us, feel free to contact jax@ryenaturecenter.org. We always welcome volunteers and love to share our nature knowledge!