Invasive Plant Guidelines

Sep 13, 2023 | Landscaping

Invasive Plant Guidelines                                                  

Plants are considered invasive for several reasons:  a) they may overgrow or squeeze out native species; b) they may toxify the ground, poisoning beneficial plants, insects, and pollinators; c) they may be so aggressive that they are next-to-impossible to remove.

Some of these plants may be offered for sale in local nurseries. Reputable Indiana growers do not grow or sell these plants. However, large national nurseries buy plants from a variety of sources. What is invasive in one part of the country may not be invasive in another area. Also, these plants are occasionally mislabeled – or may have different names, depending on regions where they were grown. You help the success of Windridge’s greenspace, local nurseries, and Indiana beautification when you point out invasive species and request that nurseries stop selling them.

Code Key:

*Often included on lists that are recommended as food for wildlife, but their invasive tendencies ruin their valu,e and there are many other plants that are beneficial for wildlife without destroying the ecology. 

 ** Euonymous encompasses over 130 species of shrubs, vines, and ornamental trees. Some can be easily controlled but others are very aggressive. Check with a knowledgeable nursery expert or horticulturist before planting. Once established, they can be very difficult to remove, e.g., they can pull the paint off wood and the mortar out of brick walls!

 #The most destructive and difficult to eradicate. Should never be planted and wherever possible, should be removed. Aggressively.

 ? Possible name confusion: Different names regionally for the same plant; confusion over sub-categories within the same species; breeders rename plants for marketing purposes.   

 Flowering Plants

Bishop Weed (See Gout Weed or Snow on the Mountain)?

Canada Thistle (See Teasel)?

Cattail (Narrow-leaved)

Chameleon Plant#

Cypress Spurge

Common Tansy

Common Wormwood (or Mugwort)

Crown Vetch

Gout Weed (See Bishop Weed or Snow on the Mountain)?

Japanese Knotweed

Lemon Balm

Purple Loosestrife

Scottish Moss

Snow on the Mountain (See Bishop Weed or Gout Weed)?

Star of Bethlehem (ground cover)?

Sweet Annie Wormwood

Teasel (see Canada Thistle)?

Vinca Minor

Yellow Flag Iris

 

Grasses                                

Common Reed

Japanese Blood Grass

Maiden Grass (Japanese Silver)

Reed Canary Grass*

Ribbon Grass

Running Bamboo

Shrubs

Asian Bush Honeysuckle (all taxa)#

Buckthorn

Euonymus, including Burning Bush**#

Fire of the Prairie**

Japanese Barberry

Sumac

Jetbead

Multiflora Rose

Privet

Ribbon Grass

Trees

Black Locust*

Euonymus**

Norway Maple

Olive

Ornamental Pear (Callery: all cultivars, including Bradford:  many decorative pear cultivars can cross-pollinate and be spread by birds. #**

Russian Olive

Siberian Elm

Tree of Heaven

White Mulberry

Woody Vines and Groundcover

Asian Wisteria

Cat’s Paw

Chocolate Vine

Euonymus **#

English Ivy

Honeysuckle Vine

Kudzu

Ornamental Bittersweet

Periwinkle

Porcelain Berry

Trumpet Vine

Wild Grape*

Wintercreeper (See Euonymus)**#

 

 Resources: 

The Indiana Department of Natural Resources: Invasive Species

https://www.in.gov/dnr/nature-preserves/heritage-data-center/invasive-plant-species/

Purdue University:  Official List of Invasive Species, Indiana

https://www.entm.purdue.edu

Indiana Native Plant Society

Protection of Native Plants

https://indiananativeplants.org

Indianapolis Star: “Indiana Invasive Plants Lurking in your Backyard”

https://www.indystar.com/story/news/environment/2021/09/08/indiana-invasive-plants-lurking-your-backyard/5413743001/

A Thanks to Our Volunteers from the Landscape Committee

Dec 2, 2022 | Committees, Landscaping, Uncategorized

VISION: Create a balance between cultivated and natural landscapes that enhances both the physical environment and property values while meeting fiscal obligations.

The Landscape Committee (LC) is all about property values and supports that vision through the following initiatives.

  • The most important job of the committee is to review all landscape requests from homeowners. A *confidential* majority email vote of the members is the recommendation then presented to the Board of Directors for an official decision.
  • A seasonal newsletter reaches out to Windridge homeowners with garden tips for native plantings and ways individual homeowners can help to improve our property values. Please look for future links to the Windridge Newsletters – coming soon!
  • In the Spring and Fall, the LC also organizes a Saturday workday and invites all our neighbors to help with clean-up, weeding, and the on-going project of eliminating invasive honeysuckle.
  • The most visible event, launched in June 2022, was the *first* Windridge Garden Tour showcasing seven beautiful gardens. It was successful in every way with plans to make it an annual event.

 

We invite your participation and if you are interested in joining the committee, we ask that you:

  • Adopt one of the 30 Common Area gardens that we tend. Those include the front and back entrance gates, the Sun Garden on White Marsh, the Shade Garden on Whisperwood and many other *corner* gardens.
  • Commit to participating in the frequent *confidential* review of landscape requests;
  • Care for your own garden in the Limited Common Area around your home;
  • Join in the Saturday workdays as you are able;
  • Help with the Garden Tour; and
  • Attend two meetings annually convened to choose responsibility for the Common Area garden spots and discuss common nature related topics.

This is a can-do group of people, and the best part is that the group is made up of gardeners who know and share their knowledge helping us all to be better stewards of Mother Earth. If you are interested in joining the committee, please contact HOA Liaison, Beverly Watkins at b9watkins@gmail.com.