By Soňa Mason
One of the most ubiquitous and uniform suburban groundcover plants in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic is Pachysandra (P.terminalis – the foreign one). What I have against Pachysandra is that it’s boring and too much of a muchness. Yes it’s convenient and does a good job of ousting any other weed or plant from the area. It’s green all year and handles shady gardens, but the question is, “Why aren’t we using natives?” They support native insect communities that birds depend on.
The reason I don’t recommend replacing it with Vinca or English Ivy or another non-native is because there is an American Pachysandra (P. procumbens), which is much prettier than “that other one.” Also known as Allegheny spurge, the American species is a lovely muted blue-green with subtle silver spots and tracery on its leaves, and a fragrant flower in spring. Granted, it’s not as aggressive as Asian Pachysandra, that is, not as fast a grower, and can take a bit of a winter beating, but it returns bright green in the spring, developing interesting silver and purple mottling as the leaves mature.
Speaking of non-natives, P. terminalis isn’t listed as invasive (as yet), except perhaps in a few states, but because it has no natural enemies here in the USA – no bugs, pathogens, even deer won’t eat it—it has uninhibited opportunity for spreading. And that’s the major problem with plants that have become plant-monsters all over the globe. Controlling their spread is problematic, and soon they outcompete the natives and infest forests and natural areas, as has done the European Multiflora Rose, Japanese barberry, Oriental Bittersweet, and many more.
The trouble with invasive species is that they compete directly with native species for sunlight, water, nutrients and space and often displace them entirely. Some strangle trees. Some even produce chemicals in the soil to stunt the growth of other plants, an occurrence known as allelopathy. The federal government has estimated that nearly a quarter of the 20,000 plant species native to North America are at risk of extinction through habitat loss. You can help reverse this trend by making your garden a haven, giving natives a chance to thrive.
Winter is also a good time to chop invasive species down – while you can see the stems that are normally hidden by leaves in summer. Have cabin fever? Have ax in hand. Or loppers.
Lastly, before you buy anything you’re unsure of, a great place to check on the native or non-native status of your prospective plant is the USDA plants website: https://plants.usda.gov/home/plantProfile?symbol=CEMA20. You can enter the scientific or common name – but use the scientific name if possible, as many natives and non-natives share the same common name.
For more on the topic of invasive species, see https://www.lhprism.org
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Thank you for posting this article! Can the author suggest a good place to get American Pachysandra for planting? When's the best time to plant?