by Ann Farnham, LLA
In September 2017 the Ewing Green Team and the Ewing Environmental Commission published a brochure about twelve invasive plants which, unfortunately, are sold at nurseries and garden centers in our area. Some states and communities prohibit the sale of known invasive plants, but Ewing does not do this. We named the brochure Invasive Plants commercially available in New Jersey. It was distributed at the 2017 Ewing Community Fest along with another brochure, The Ecological Benefits of the Not-So Perfect Yard. We called the invasive plants “The Dirty Dozen”, citing the most commonly used invaders.
In the chart below we list good substitutes for these popular but invasive garden plants. The suggested plants are all hardy to our USDA Hardiness Zone and are native plants.
To clarify what the advantages are to using native plants, the information is available on this web site, dated March, 2017, “Native Plants”. More information, titled “More Bad News”, was the April, 2017 Plant of the Month. More information about the substitute plants, natives and invasives, is easily accessible on the Internet.
Be sure to visit www.npsnj.org/plant-lists-native/trees for landscaping; www.MAIPC (The Mid-Atlantic Invasive Plant Council), and plants.usda.gov. We also recommend the book, Plant Invaders of Mid Atlantic Natural Areas by Swearingen, Reshetiloff, Slattery and Zwicker.
The Ewing Environmental Commission welcomes suggestions for the Plant of the Month from all Ewing residents.
| PLANT SUBSTITUTES FOR THE “DIRTY DOZEN” | |||
| Common Name | Botanical Name | Substitute Common Name | Substitute Botanical Name |
| Autumn Olive | Eleagnus umbellata | Bayberry | Myrica pensylvanica |
| Winterberry | Ilex verticillata | ||
| Highbush cranberry | Viburnum trilobum | ||
| Bamboo (Running) [ 1] | Several species and genera | Ilex opaca | American Holly |
| Magnolia virginiana | Sweetbay Magnolia | ||
| Ilex glabra | Inkberry Holly | ||
| Ilex verticillata | Winterberry Holly | ||
| Rhododendron maximum | Rosebay Rhododendron | ||
| Juniperus virginiana | Eastern Red Cedar | ||
| Bradford Pear [2] | Pyrus calleryana | Amelanchier laevis | Allegheny Serviceberry |
| American Snowbell | Styrax americanus | ||
| Fringetree | Chionanthus virginicus | ||
| Green Hawthorn | Crataegus viridis | ||
| Winged Silverbell | Halesia diptera | ||
| Dogwood * | Cornus alternifolia, florida*, sericea | ||
| Burning Bush [3] | Euonymus alatus | Chokeberry | Aronia melanocarpa, arbutifolia |
| Highland Blueberry | Vaccinium corymbosum | ||
| Fragrant sumac | Rhus aromatica | ||
| Burning Bush [3] | Euonymus alatus | Summersweet | Clethra alnifolia |
| Smooth Witherod | Viburnum nudum | ||
| Butterfly Bush | Buddleia davidii | Ceanothus americanus | New Jersey Tea |
| Cephalanthus occidentalis | Buttonbush | ||
| Clethra alnifolia | Summersweet | ||
| Japanese Silver Grass | Miscanthus sinensis | Sorgastrum nutans | Indian Grass |
| Andropogon gerardii | Big Bluestem | ||
| English Ivy | Hedera helix | Pachysandra procumbens | Allegheny Spurge |
| Xanthorhiza simplicissima | Yellowroot | ||
| Gaultheria procumbens | Creeping Wintergreen | ||
| Mahonia nervosa | Longleaf Oregon Grape | ||
| Japanese Barberry | Berberis thunbergii | Fothergilla gardenii | Dwarf Fothergilla |
| Ceanothus americanus | New Jersey Tea | ||
| Itea virginica | Sweetspire | ||
| Diervilla lonicera | Bush-Honeysuckle | ||
| Myrica pensylvanica | Bayberry | ||
| Winterberry | Ilex verticillata | ||
| Chokeberry | Aronia melanocarpa, arbutifolia | ||
| Japanese Honeysuckle | Lonicera japonica | Lonicera sempervirens | Trumpet Honeysuckle |
| Clematis texensis | Scarlet Clematis | ||
| Japanese Wisteria | Wisteria floribunda, sinensis | Wisteria frutescens | American Wisteria |
| Purple Loosestrife | Lythrum salicaria | Monarda didyma | Bee Balm |
| Asclepias syriacus, incarnata | Butterfly Weed, Milkweed | ||
| Coreopsis verticillata, grandiflora | Tickseed | ||
| Echinacea tennesseensis | Tennessee Coneflower | ||
| Eupatorium dubium, hyssopifolium | Joe Pye Weed | ||
| Liatris spicata, aspera | Gayfeather, Blazing Star | ||
| Winter Creeper | Euonymus fortunei | Arctostaphylos uva-ursi | Kinnikinnick, Bearberry |
| Decumaria barbara | Woodvamp | ||
| Vaccinium crassifolium | Creeping Blueberry | ||
| 1 | See July POM, 2017 | Running Bamboo | |
| 2 | See March TOM, 2016 | Callery Pear | |
| 3 | See July POM 2016 | Burning Bush | |
| See also | March POM 2017 | Native Plants | |
| April POM 2017 | More Bad News | ||
| Cornus florida* | Choose disease resistant variety | ||
Ewing Township Environmental Commission 