Invasive Plants: 10 Beautiful But Invasive Perennials You Do Not Want In Your Garden
These invasive plants are all beautiful so you will be tempted to plant them in your garden. Find out which invasive species are not worth the hassle.
Since I’m in planning mode for adding a Japanese-inspired garden to my yard, I have been looking for plants that I will want to include in the space. (You can see some of my inspiration for that HERE).
And I was surprised to find that some types of Japanese maples (a requirement for a Japanese garden if you ask me) are on the Invasive Species list!
That got me thinking about all of the experiences I have had with invasive plants over the years. I know that I do not want to intentionally plant another one!
For one thing, invasive species add so much more work to the gardening process. If you read my post on low maintenance gardening, you know that even though I love my garden, I also don’t want to spend all of my free time working in it.
And the second problem is that most of these plants can easily escape your garden. When they set up shop in a natural habitat, they really cause a lot of damage to the native ecosystem.
So in the interest of sharing, keep reading to see my list of beautiful invasive plants you do not want in your garden.
Note: Whether or not these (or any other) plants will become invasive in your garden depends on the growing conditions in your area.
The plants on this list can all be found on invasive plants lists maintained by state and university extension programs. Which means they have the potential to become invasive.
But if you live in an area where the growing conditions are not favorable for the plants, they may not cause any problems…or may not grow at all 🙂
If you’re not sure how a plant will behave in your area, talk to your local nursery and other gardeners in your neighborhood to find out. Or check the Invasive Plant Atlas for North America, which provides maps of where different varieties of plants are considered to be invasive.
Purple Loosestrife (Lythrum salicaria)
Purple Loosestrife by GartenAkademie (Own work) [GFDL or CC BY 3.0], via Wikimedia Commons
Purple Loosestrife (Lythrum salicaria) is a very hardy perennial that spreads easily and can choke out a natural wetland (or field) very quickly.
The density of the shoots kills all other plants in its path, which is why it is on many invasive species lists across North America (and has even been banned in some places).
Cooper Marsh Purple Loosestrife By Saffron Blaze (Own work) [CC BY-SA 3.0], via Wikimedia Commons
This picture of the Cooper Marsh Conservation Area in Ontario, Canada shows just how invasive it can be.
Garden varieties of Loosestrife are still for sale in some places, and are sometimes included in wildflower seed packets.
Since these can cross-polinate with wild varieties to create seeds, make sure to double-check what you are buying.
If you want more information, there is an in depth article on the Minnesota Sea Grant website.
Japanese Honeysuckle (Lonicera japonica)
Forest & Kim Starr [CC BY 3.0], via Wikimedia Commons
I have never actually planted Japanese Honeysuckle, but I do have first hand experience with how invasive it is.
Some of it is growing wild in the ravine behind my house and it is impossible to keep under control. I actually think it is worse than the kudzu…and if you live in a location where kudzu grows, you know how invasive it is…
This Honeysuckle has white and yellow flowers that are really pretty, and it smells wonderful when it is blooming. But it is definitely not worth the trade off of trying to keep it from strangling all other living plants!
Once it escapes into the wild (as it inevitably seems to do), it is devastating to the environment.
Note: There are non-invasive varieties of Honeysuckle which will be just fine in your garden. It’s the Japanese version that can cause problems.
Autumn Clematis (Clematis terniflora)
Autumn Clematis is not a plant that I ever would have guessed to be invasive. All of the other clematis varieties I have grown have always been very well behaved.
I planted this on my fence a couple of years ago, and actually it never did very much in my yard (I thought it had died). Then I was out pulling the kudzu and honeysuckle outside my fence, and saw this other vine that was growing everywhere. The blooms looked a lot like the autumn clematis I had planted, but I thought it couldn’t be the same plant.
Then I looked it up and found it on the Invasive Plant Atlas for South Carolina.
Of course, there are many non-invasive varieties of Clematis which absolutely deserve a spot in your garden, so don’t be afraid to plant those ones!
Wisteria (all varieties)
Wisteria By Dcrjsr (Own work) [CC BY 3.0], via Wikimedia Commons
I hate to add Wisteria to this list (it is really beautiful when it is blooming!)…but having lots of personal experience, I really can’t leave it off…
When I moved to South Carolina, a lot of people warned me that I shouldn’t plant Wisteria. I even had a co-worker tell me a story about over-turning a rented Bobcat trying to pull out Wisteria from the ravine at the back of his yard…but that still didn’t stop me from planting it.
I read that the Chinese (Wisteria sinensis) and Japanese versions (Wisteria floribunda) of Wisteria were invasive (you can find them on the Plant Conservation Alliance’s Least Wanted Vines list), but the American variety (Wisteria frutescens) was not on the list. So how bad could it be? (I have since found out that only non-native plant varieties are classified as “invasive”. So because this is a native variety, it isn’t on the list.)
Now that I have it growing in my garden, I can vouch for the fact that once it gets going, even the native variety grows like crazy.
It starts out as a little plant, and it takes a little while to get going…but once it does, look out! You have to be really vigilant about pruning to keep it where you want it. The picture above was taken in the spring after I had completely cut the wisteria down to the ground in the fall. By the time it started blooming, it had completely covered the fence.
Then if you ever want to remove it, good luck 🙂 I tried to dig up a plant at the back of my yard 7 or 8 years ago, and I am still pulling rogue Wisteria plants out of the garden in that spot. The lesson learned is…if you love the look of Wisteria as much as I do, you need to be prepared to do some work to keep it contained!
Maybe I should just stick to the painted kind…like I did in my office a while back (you can see the instructions for that project here).
Lily of the Valley (Convallaria majalis)
Lily of the Valley By H. Zell (Own work) [GFDL or CC BY-SA 3.0], via Wikimedia Commons
Lily of the Valley is a pretty woodland plant that blooms in the spring and has a wonderful perfume.
They are very easy to grow and will spread like wild fire…which is the first reason you don’t want them in your garden.
But the second (and maybe more important) reason is that these plants are extremely poisonous. Any pets or children (or even adults) that eat part of the plant will require medical treatment for poison.
Periwinkle (Vinca minor)
By Forest Wander from Cross Lanes, USA (Forget me not flowers) [CC BY-SA 2.0], via Wikimedia Commons
Periwinkle is an easy to grow evergreen ground cover that does well in the shade and is covered with really pretty blue flowers in the spring.
Sounds great, doesn’t it?
However, it also will overrun every other plant in your garden if you let it.
It starts out well mannered and seems like the perfect plant to add some interest underneath other plants in your garden.
But after if has become established (which takes a few years), it will start to grow up the stems of other plants and choke out any smaller plants in its way…except for the weeds which still seem to survive. You can see it in the background of this picture…it is beginning to get to the “takeover” stage.
This is another plant that I have spent many years trying to eradicate from my garden…without success so far…
Non-Clumping Bamboo (Phyllostachys aurea)
Ever since I saw this bamboo forest on Maui, I have loved the look (and sound) of bamboo.
It adds such a relaxing feel to the garden.
And then I saw the bamboo that had been planted along the railway tracks in South Carolina to act as a sound barrier…and has now taken over whole backyards. It is incredibly difficult to remove or contain once it has become established.
Since bamboo is part of the grass family, it is literally like grass on steroids. If you’ve ever tried to keep a running variety of grass (like Bermuda) out of your garden, you know how hard it is. Then think of trying to do that if the grass were the size of a bamboo plant!
There are some clumping bamboo varieties that are not as invasive, so make sure you plant one of these if you want bamboo in your garden.
Pampas Grass (Cortaderia selloana)
Pampas Grass is another large perennial grass that looks beautiful and is very easy to grow.
It also grows very quickly into a large clump and will self seed freely.
And that’s where the problem starts. It can easily crowd out all other plants if you are not vigilant about keeping it in check. Then if you try to dig it up, it has a massive root system that is very difficult to remove.
English Ivy (Hedera helix)
![English Ivy by MurielBendel (Own work) [CC BY-SA 4.0], via Wikimedia Commons](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3AHedera_helix_juvenile_leaves.jpg)
English Ivy by MurielBendel (Own work) [CC BY-SA 4.0], via Wikimedia Commons
Like a lot of people, I used to love using English Ivy in my hanging baskets. It always looks so nice trailing over the edge of the pot.
But if even one little piece of it touches the ground, you will have more ivy than you know what to do with.
That’s also what makes it so hard to get rid of…you have to remove every little bit of it from the ground or it will grow back.
Carpet Bugleweed (Ajuga reptans)
As the name suggests, Carpet Bugleweed (Ajuga reptans) is another ground cover that on the surface seems like a great addition to your garden.
Low growing, evergreen with purple-green leaves, and beautiful blue-purple flowers. And then it starts to spread and it’s impossible to pull out…the roots are in there, and like the ivy, any little piece left in the ground will grow.
In fact, in my yard, it not only takes over the garden but will totally cover the sidewalk, too if I let it.
If you are looking for a more comprehensive list of invasive plants, try the Invasive Plant Atlas for North America. The site was developed by The University of Georgia – Center for Invasive Species and Ecosystem Health and the National Park Service, and is maintained by several university, state and federal extension programs.
invasive.org is another organization that maintains a database of all kinds of invasive organisms (not just plants) for North America.
Both sites provide maps with each plant listing that let you know where the plant is considered to be invasive.
Other Plants You Might Like Better
Do you have experience with any other types of invasive plants? Tell us in the section below.
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This post was originally published on January 13, 2017 but was updated with new content on September 15, 2022.
morning glories are messy messy messy! planted one 10 yrs ago and it takes over by reseeding over and over.
Thanks, Dee! I totally agree! I have lived with the Morning Glory problem, too!
I havehad a lot of experience with invasive plants, unfortunately. I agree that it really depends on your location. I am in zone 5. Trumpet vine was nearly impossible to eradicate, along with physostegia, or obedient plant, along with snow on the mountain, aka bishop’s mantle. It was a many year’s long battle to discourage these plants. However, i have not had a problem with lily of the valley or morning glories. I guess it’s all about location, location, location!
Thanks for the additions, Sheree! And yes, it definitely is dependent on your growing conditions.
St John Wort. Their root structure is incredibly difficult to remove. I’ve livedone in our home almost 4 years and still trying to eradicate it. Takes over everything!
Thanks, Angela! I haven’t tried to grow that, so it’s good to know I should steer clear of it 🙂
St. John’s Wart is my worst enemy here in Northern California. I can’t stand it and with that cannot get rid of it!! I am at a point where I am planting other herbs that will hopefully take it over but are prettier, smell better and easier to pull out of the ground.
Violets- ground cover I inherited in my SE MI garden. Cute in early spring with little purple flowers, then they grow to about a foot, rampantly, trying to take over, making the while garden look messy. Every year I dig out huge clumps of them. They seem to spread by both seed and rizhome.
Thanks for the addition, Renee! I think the plants that have multiple ways of spreading are the worst to deal with!
Wanda,
I have found that love-in-the mist is also very invasive. After it flowers, it produces many seed pods and some of these seed pods can be pretty good size. These pods contain many seeds. So I work the last two or three years trying to keep them under control. The wind just carries the seeds everywhere. Before you know it in a year or two you’ve got more than you can handle.
Thanks, Annie! I’ve had a similar experience with love-in-the-mist. Good addition to the list.
I agree with you on all of these, especially Japanese Honeysuckle! I had been feeding the birds, no more! They eat the berries, spread the seeds in their droppings and it spreads by runners. I have been and out of the hospital for three years with doctors telling me to take it easy and it has taken over the whole yard. The only way to kill it is to cut and then paint the cut stems with Tordon. This way you save valuable plants and reduce the risks involved with using herbicides. This year I will have no garden.
Hi Dorlis…sorry to hear about your health issues. Yes, that honeysuckle is terrible! It is growing wild behind my house and I have a constant battle trying to keep it from taking over my yard. I’ll have to try Tordon and see if that makes more headway. Thanks for the suggestion!
Zone 7 here. I have to add Cleome to your list. They self seed and spread everywhere. They smell bad and are not pretty after a while. They get very thick ,thorny stems as they age.
I pull out 100s and they still show up the next year.
I agree on the ivy , ground cover vinca and I will also add lemon balm to your list.
Thanks for the additions to the list, Pat! I haven’t tried either of those, so I’ll have to remember to steer clear of them 🙂
Avoid Snow on the Mountain…I just takes over. You pull it up and it ccomes back. Zoysia grass is the worst. It grows everywhere and is a terrible Brown in the winter.
Thanks, Jane! I have experience with Zoysia grass, too…you’re right, it always seems to grow better in my garden beds (where I don’t want it) than it does in the yard 🙂
Omg,chameleon is awful,im not sure how i ever got it ….but it was beautiful poppin up in one spot n thn it got roots as long as about 2 ft long n spread all over to another bed…….im in process now of takin out my flower beds due to this plant…and my beds were beautiful n about 20 ft by 12 ft or more…..we are adding gravel n i hope that takes care of it…under layers of weed barrier…..if u have it,get rid of it nowwwww.
Im dreading the site of a piece poppin up again.
Thanks, Bob! It sounds like you have a battle going on in your garden! I will definitely but Chameleon plant on my “Do Not Plant” list!
Foxglove – started with on plant and now they are sprouting everywhere- in cracks, walkways and rock beds
Thanks, Dot! The self-seeders do become a nuisance pretty quickly if they like your growing conditions (and apparently Foxglove is in love with your garden!)
In Colorado, while aspen trees are lovely in the mountains, they should be outlawed in the suburbs. They multiply through the root system, so if one neighbor plants an aspen or two, pretty soon entire groves are trying to pop in their yard, their neighbors’ yards, the whole neighborhood, and because the root system is everywhere, it’s impossible to eradicate! In terms of flowers, Jupiter’s beard (Centranthus ruber) is pretty invasive, too.
Thanks, Paula! I had no idea about the aspen trees spreading by runners. That does sound like a nightmare to control!
We had some morning glory come up in an area of the yard that needed some help. By the end of the summer it had taken over everything. We were never able to completely get it under control.
Thanks, Geneva! I have had that same problem with morning glory. It has such pretty flowers but it definitely is hard to keep under control!
Zone 4, flax. Every one of those tiny black seeds sprouts.
Thanks, Jean! I haven’t tried flax but I have heard that it self-seeds a lot!
I have four of these plants in my yard and get along, fine, with all of them. Well, Vinca minor can be a problem but I live in the foothills of the Sierra with a very hot summer, heavy clay soil and other growing problems and VM chugs along and keeps the bare spots green (or varigated, which I have, also). The secret to growing these invasive plants is to plant them in a contained spot. I love the large, shiny leaves of acanthus or Bear’s Breeches (not so much the dramatic blooms) and it will gobble up all other plants but I keep mine in a separate bed, surrounded by curbing and enjoy it. The ivy I have, is actually on the neighbor’s fence and I cut off any runners that try and invade my lot. I do have a problem with Chinese Sumac (not a flower but a very invasive tree) or Tree of Heaven, which will destroy a septic tank or the house foundation in a few short years. Trumpet Vine should have been on the list…invasive and loaded with ants that love the gooey secretions this plant oozes.
Thanks for the additions to the list, Bonny! Keeping invasive plants in a contained spot is a great idea if you still want to grow them 🙂
Yarrow. It took over the garden and moved into the grass. Impossible to control. And annoying
Thanks, Karen! I haven’t tried Yarrow, so I guess I won’t be planting it now 🙂
I’m in zone 5B. Crown Vetch hasn’t been mentioned yet, or I missed it. I’ve spent years trying to get rid of it. It’s successfully used along the highway embankments as ground cover but that’s about it. Many of those menaces above, I agree with. Some work fine in my zone like bee balm. I second the role Japanese knotweed plays in invading your garden and your life! I’d like to try the motor oil idea on it. Any thoughts?
Thanks for the addition to the list, Jaime! I haven’t tried motor oil on perennials like knotweed. I suspect it would work in killing them off, but I’m not sure what it would do to the soil. You might not be able to grow anything in that spot for a while 🙂
They have attractive white flowers but the obedient plant was misnamed! I planted three one year, had thirty the next year and what felt like three hundred the next year, and they pushed everything else out. When I tried to dig them out, I found flexible little white roots as big around as my pinkie. Every root that broke off formed it own plant; I finally had to dig up all the soil and around and beneath the patch and replace the soil.
Thanks for sharing, Joy! Wow, that sounds like a lot of work! One of my friends had a similar experience with obedient plant in her garden, so they are definitely on my “do not plant” list.
I call it “Reform School Dropout” plant!n
Still do not understand why people put an article on multiple pages. What should have taken less than 5 minutes to read has taken 20. Would have been longer but I stopped at page 9. You have other articles that sound interesting but not going to bother to click on them. Came here from pinterest. Will not repin.
I’m sorry you feel that way, but when an article has as many images as this one does, it loads very slowly on slow networks/phones. So for all the people who don’t have the newest equipment, the pages make it display a lot faster. (Even for those people, it doesn’t add 15 minutes to their read time, so that sounds like a bit of an exaggeration on your part).
There is a “View All” link at the top of the page that you could have used to see the whole article at once if you didn’t want to go through all the pages.
I have bought a house half year ago and I was looking for planting Morning Glory because that is the meaning of my name in English.I am sad to learn that it is so messy.Maybe is it possible to put it in container?
Morning glory does have such beautiful flowers! You can grow it in a container which will help to contain them. The only issue will be that they self-seed, so if any of the seeds end up in your garden, you’ll still have them growing where you don’t want them. So maybe put the container on a patio away from the garden, or be very vigilant about deadheading the flowers before they go to seed.
I have something that has medium size leaves and the storm’s resemble bamboo.My sister said it is a plant that WE used to gnaw on as kids.It does have kind of a sour taste.I don’t eat it now but,it is HORRIBLE.Anyone know what it is?
Hi Melanie…it might be Japanese Knotwood, which is supposed to be one of the most invasive plant species around, but it is edible.
Boysenberry! Love the berries but it spreads everywhere, crawls under sidewalks and won’t die. One plant and 21 years later I’m still pulling it up!
Thanks for the addition to the list, Stefanie! It sounds awful.
I planted two Bachelor Buttons two years ago, not knowing how well they reseed – I have pulled out ove a hundred this year – they completely took over parts of my paths between the beds. Like wisteria, I will enjoy them from afar if I ever manage to get rid of all of them,
Thanks, Vicki! I have had that reseeding experience with Bachelor Buttons, too…good luck getting rid of them!
I believe what I have are elephant ear ferns – except the leaves are round, not pointed. They spread underground in runners and literally take over. I would never plant these again except in pots on a solid patio! Extremely prolific.
Thanks for the addition to the list, Gloria!
Funny, but I just read another article about shade loving plants to put in your yards and it said to plant all of these! I get so confused!
Hi Pat…Whether or not different types of plants are aggressive in your garden depends on the growing conditions where you live. Some people will not have any problems with them at all and some will have huge issues. However all of these plants have the potential to be invasive, so I would double-check with nurseries or other gardeners in your area to see what their experience is before planting them. Having said that, half of the plants on this list are not shade plants, so I’m not sure why anyone would be recommending to plant them in your shade garden 🙂
This depends entirely on where you are living and various other factors. I have attempted to start lily of the valley in Ohio and here in the Seattle area. I never have any luck with this at all, and am lucky if I can keep it alive, let alone get it to bloom! Vinca is invasive here in Seattle, but if you are willing to use it for an inconvenient otherwise ugly spot and simply pull the lawn mower over it once a year, it’s not a bad plant! Lythrum is reputedly invasive, yet I’d have been glad to get it going when I lived in northern Ohio. Salal is a native plant here in the Pacific NW and although it is sold in nurseries, I’ve found it to be annoyingly invasive, insideious, and downright ugly. The ajugas sold in nurseries I have not found to be invasive, unfortunately. Some of them have been hard for me to keep going. Lamb’s ear I have found rewarding, hardy, but still perfectly polite. Chameleon plant was pretty but somewhat invasive when I lived in northern Ohio. Again, I tried it here in Seattle, and the rabbits keep mowing it down faster than it grows. In fact, rabbits around me are incredibly destructive – I might as well forget liriope, ophiopogon, hollyhocks, muscari, and crocus. My hostas have to be protected constantly from rabbits, and they have even destroyed one large brilliant purple heuchera, some young euonymus fortunei, and a patch of aegopodium!
Thanks for the updates! I totally agree that where you live and your growing conditions are a big contributing factor to how aggressive different plants might be in your garden.
Creeping Jenny and Creeping Charlie. Used Creeping Jenny in a pot as a filler and it did as it is called creeping all over if not maintained.
I totally agree, Sharon! I find Creeping Jenny growing in all kinds of places that I didn’t plant it 🙂