By Ginger Hogan
Special to the Coastal Point

As a gardener, I’m all for new and different plants. I love trying plants from exotic places. But history has shown us that even plants introduced with the best of intentions can sometimes wreak havoc on the environment. Informed selection is our best defense.

To aid the public in making informed choices, the Plants for Livable Delaware program was created. This program is a collaboration between the University of Delaware, the Delaware Invasive Species Council, the Delaware Center for Horticulture, the Department of Agriculture and the Delaware Nursery and Landscape Association to educate the public on the issue of invasive species and non-invasive alternatives.

Invasive plants can be broken down into two basic groups. The first consists of plants that were introduced in the past but are no longer on the market. The second group has plants that are still popular and widely sold. Livable Delaware has put out two free brochures to address each of these groups, available through the Delaware Master Gardeners, the County Extension Office and many garden centers throughout the state.

The first, “Plants for a Livable Delaware,” was released last spring and addresses the second group. In it there is a brief explanation of the problem of invasive plants and a list of the criteria a plant must meet it be considered a Livable Delaware Plant. Additionally, the top 10 potentially invasive plants still widely being planted are listed as well as environmentally appropriate alternatives for them, many of them Delaware natives. The list may surprise you, since many are well known and widely popular. Each of these shady characters (pun intended) is given a brief description and an explanation of its potential for problems, and then multiple plant alternatives are listed, many with beautiful color photographs. This brochure would be useful even without the threat of invasives for introducing the gardening public to some lesser-known plants of great beauty and potential.

As an aid to consumers, many garden centers throughout the state will be featuring signs that encourage the buyer to “Take a Closer Look” on plants with invasive potential and to perhaps consider an alternative. Alternative plants will feature markers bearing the “Livable Delaware” logo.

Among plants earning the invasive designation are some hugely popular trees and shrubs such as Bradford pear, burning bush euonymus, and Japanese barberry. Each of these plants has demonstrated a potential to spread widely beyond its planting area and disrupt the natural eco-system. Consider the Japanese barberry, long grown for its compact foliage in shades of green, red, gold and burgundy. It can seed itself into an area so densely that it can chemically alter the soil so that nothing else will grow there.

The second category of invasive plants, those no longer being sold, but already well entrenched in some areas, is covered in the newest brochure, “Controlling Backyard Invaders,” available this spring. This booklet helps homeowners identify and control some of our worst past mistakes, plants like Japanese honeysuckle, multiflora rose, and Japanese knotweed. Many of these plants, once established, will fight tooth and nail to remain. This brochure gives the homeowner the tools to fight back and win.

Much of the data used to create this program was collected in New Castle County, with its longer history of higher development pressures and density. With the speed we’re developing southeastern Sussex County, perhaps we should consider their history as a cautionary tale for those of us here. We owe it to future generations to learn from their mistakes.