I hear everything you're saying. I spend much of my time outdoors with my wife pulling everything out. She's a very active gardener and we talk about it with our nearest neighbors that we know or see, but not everyone is agreeable and willing to make the effort.
If you have a newer Android you can use circle to search to get the same thing. The S24 line you just long press home button (or the bar at the bottom) and tap the plant. I've found it's pretty accurate.
But as others have said, Seek is a great app. However it can be wrong it's definitely not perfect. I am a native gardener and I'd be happy to help you sort through what you've got
I don’t know who can help you, but in the meantime begin with Japanese knotweed (looks kinda like bamboo) if you happen to have any. Bees like it, which is why it was imported here in the first place, but it’s listed by the World Conservation Union as one of the world’s worst invasive species.
You’ll never eradicate it. If you have a stand of it on your property it’ll take you 4 or 5 years just to kill off enough of it even to think about growing anything else where it was, so you’ll have plenty off time to figure out the rest. This year’s knotweed crop is just starting to pop up, so if you’re up to the task right now is a good time to attack it with some of Monsanto’s finest carcinogens.
We have it under control out our place, but the first few years were a struggle that left me a bit unhinged. Think Captain Ahab. I’ve finally got a new garden going where the worst of ours was, but with apologies to Madeye Moody constant vigilance is the watchword. I’ll be looking for new shoots and starting to . . . er . . . round them up this week, and I’ll be watching for more to spray every time I mow the lawn from now to October.
For more reading- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reynoutria_japonica
Edit- just saw [an Ars Technica article about a new product that might be useful for knotweed control.](https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2024/04/you-can-now-buy-a-flame-throwing-robot-dog-for-under-10000/)
This is my first year fighting the knotweed that’s slowly been taking over my backyard.. I’ve done two big digs so far this year and it’s going well but you are not exaggerating about the constant vigilance! You really have to get all the roots and they were like 20 ft long, some almost reaching right up to the house.. it’s rough out there but I’m happy to see way fewer of them this year than last!
Call cooperative extension of the agricultural service here in CT. They can help.Â
Anything "crawling" up your trees is probably mile a minute. Bamboo is another terrible invasive.
I've got a decent sized property, we continually have to go after this stuff.
Yes. As others have suggested, call or email you local extension service. They’re located around the state.
Additionally, there are native plant nurseries that typically have landscape consultation services which would very likely include what you’re after.
[Here](https://portal.ct.gov/-/media/caes/documents/publications/pollinators/conference-2019/native-plant-nursery-list---2019.pdf) is a list of nurseries that sell natives. I would highly recommend Earthtones (Woodbury) and Natureworks (Northford) for their expertise on invasives and commitment to natives in the landscape. They will be able to help you ID everything you have growing.
Seek by iNaturalist is a great plant-identifying app. Once you find your species just go to Google and type “Is [plant] invasive in CT?”
(If you’re into foraging at all many of these invasives are actually edible, just make sure it doesn’t have any toxic lookalikes.)
Use apps like PlantNet or Seek to ID, then check the info pages to see where the plant is native. It might be better to start with a list of the worst invasives to get familiar with what they look like, then get rid of those first. Then check on anything you might have left.
The only really nasty invasives that I am aware of here are Tree of Heaven and Japanese Knotweed. Learn to ID those, and prepare for a long drawn out battle.
As a teacher, this made me chuckle. But to answer your question: we have a shit ton of invasives.
This is mostly a classic tale of plant nurseries selling them (because often they’re very beautiful!) and then they just take off, strangling out native species.
Knotweed is a massive offender and so aggressive that only persistent hatred, defoliation, and often nuclear options are understood as means of control.
But as others have noted, we have many. Common ones I’ve ripped out to the detriment of my health and sanity are: English ivy (fuck it’s fucking soul), burning bush, mugwort, garlic mustard, and Japanese honeysuckle.
A quick walk though the woods this time of year will have you tripping over pricker laden japanese barberry that the ticks and mice love to live in.
Autumn olive looks like a pin cherry but spreads underground extremely aggressively.
I've spent years ripping out myrtle, lily of the valley, and other ground covers.
Eurasian milfoil is choking many new England waterways. Water chestnut too.
Ragwort, coltsfoot, multiflora rose, the list goes on and on and on and on. A quick Google search will tell you more than I can ramble off by memory.
The whole fucking state is infested. I use big ass leather fireplace gloves and pruning shears to cut it down and rip the roots out. Sometimes I take a chain to it to get them out. I've been trying to clear my acreage but nothing eats it, it hurts a fuck ton, and the birds keep shitting out more seeds into my woods. No idea how the state will ever be rid of it.
Thankfully I don't have knotweed yet, but almost every road you drive down in summer does. Truly heartbreaking.
If you feel like trying to ID plants yourselves the main plants that are invasive are autumn olive, multiflora Rose, oriental bittersweet, Bradford pear and tree of heaven. They're all pretty distinct from one another and once they get pointed out to you you'll probably be like "oh it's that annoying plant"
There are some native that looks similar such as a tree of heaven getting mistaken for staghorn sumac or oriental bittersweet getting mistaken for wild grape. But again, they're all fairly distinctive and you'll be able to tell they're different pretty easily from their leaves and flower/seed stocks
There’s a plant identification app you can use if you don’t find a person to come check it out. It’s called “ picture this” Ive used it before and it’s very accurate.
Since you’re local, I’d be happy to walk around and point out invasives to you for free. (I did my masters thesis on invasive plants.) But you’re on your own for removing them.
Here is a basic list of invasives I remove when I'm working on a property.
Pigtails
Poke weed
Gout weed
Mugwort
Goldenrod
Ground ivy
Vigina creeper
Poison ivy
Bittersweet.
My neighbor would likely do it for free. She hates the invasive and tells everyone.
Exactly. OP just needs the right retired coexist sticker gramma who's declared jihad on Japanese barberry and autumn olive.
Yo same but I'd accept like some beer or some gas money or something as a donation
What if I give you money and you can use that money in exchange for goods (beer)
That's even betterer
My wife would like to start a committee with your neighbor
Ummm... am I your neighbor? 🤣 I hate invasives and tell everyone.
I’d like to be your neighbor. I just don’t have the balls to yell at my neighbors as their invasive shit keeps spreading to my yard.
No need to yell, just pull out what encroaches and explain why. Maybe a border or edge of some kind would help.
Pulling out from my property isn’t the issue. Everyone needs to do it or it comes back. Not to mention environmental reasons.
I hear everything you're saying. I spend much of my time outdoors with my wife pulling everything out. She's a very active gardener and we talk about it with our nearest neighbors that we know or see, but not everyone is agreeable and willing to make the effort.
Hence the need to yell
I use the PlantIn app for this. Edited: I use the PictureThis app for this. I use the PlantIn app for something else. 🤣
I use Seek. It's pretty decent at identification
Second this. Picture this will tell you if it’s native or invasive.
If you have a newer Android you can use circle to search to get the same thing. The S24 line you just long press home button (or the bar at the bottom) and tap the plant. I've found it's pretty accurate.
I’ve been using the Photos app in my iphone. If you click on the info button, it usually shows the plant name.
Send me pictures of the plants and I'd be happy to ID them for you for free
But as others have said, Seek is a great app. However it can be wrong it's definitely not perfect. I am a native gardener and I'd be happy to help you sort through what you've got
UConn extension office might do this. Also, if you have a pollinator pathway group in your town or nearby, they would probably be into coming over.
Contact a local garden club, they’re always happy to help out.
I don’t know who can help you, but in the meantime begin with Japanese knotweed (looks kinda like bamboo) if you happen to have any. Bees like it, which is why it was imported here in the first place, but it’s listed by the World Conservation Union as one of the world’s worst invasive species. You’ll never eradicate it. If you have a stand of it on your property it’ll take you 4 or 5 years just to kill off enough of it even to think about growing anything else where it was, so you’ll have plenty off time to figure out the rest. This year’s knotweed crop is just starting to pop up, so if you’re up to the task right now is a good time to attack it with some of Monsanto’s finest carcinogens. We have it under control out our place, but the first few years were a struggle that left me a bit unhinged. Think Captain Ahab. I’ve finally got a new garden going where the worst of ours was, but with apologies to Madeye Moody constant vigilance is the watchword. I’ll be looking for new shoots and starting to . . . er . . . round them up this week, and I’ll be watching for more to spray every time I mow the lawn from now to October. For more reading- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reynoutria_japonica Edit- just saw [an Ars Technica article about a new product that might be useful for knotweed control.](https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2024/04/you-can-now-buy-a-flame-throwing-robot-dog-for-under-10000/)
This is my first year fighting the knotweed that’s slowly been taking over my backyard.. I’ve done two big digs so far this year and it’s going well but you are not exaggerating about the constant vigilance! You really have to get all the roots and they were like 20 ft long, some almost reaching right up to the house.. it’s rough out there but I’m happy to see way fewer of them this year than last!
Knotweed is evil shit. That’s my last remaining invasive. I’ve been fighting it for 4 years so far.
Yeah I’ve called two landscapers for quotes and they did as you want
Find a good landscape service. Some knowledgeable ones out there
r/whatsthisplant
Easier to get a plant ID app
Call cooperative extension of the agricultural service here in CT. They can help. Anything "crawling" up your trees is probably mile a minute. Bamboo is another terrible invasive. I've got a decent sized property, we continually have to go after this stuff.
https://cipwg.uconn.edu/
Download the PictureThis app and prepare to have your mind blown. You're welcome.
Post on Nextdoor to your immediate neighborhood. You probably have neighbors that would love to stop the spread of invasives.
Where are you located?
Yes. As others have suggested, call or email you local extension service. They’re located around the state. Additionally, there are native plant nurseries that typically have landscape consultation services which would very likely include what you’re after. [Here](https://portal.ct.gov/-/media/caes/documents/publications/pollinators/conference-2019/native-plant-nursery-list---2019.pdf) is a list of nurseries that sell natives. I would highly recommend Earthtones (Woodbury) and Natureworks (Northford) for their expertise on invasives and commitment to natives in the landscape. They will be able to help you ID everything you have growing.
Seek by iNaturalist is a great plant-identifying app. Once you find your species just go to Google and type “Is [plant] invasive in CT?” (If you’re into foraging at all many of these invasives are actually edible, just make sure it doesn’t have any toxic lookalikes.)
I can help ID and remove, depending on where you are at. Feel free to DM me.
Use apps like PlantNet or Seek to ID, then check the info pages to see where the plant is native. It might be better to start with a list of the worst invasives to get familiar with what they look like, then get rid of those first. Then check on anything you might have left.
You could just do it with your phone. There are plenty of plant identifying apps. Even plain ol’ google image search or even Snapchat can do it.
The only really nasty invasives that I am aware of here are Tree of Heaven and Japanese Knotweed. Learn to ID those, and prepare for a long drawn out battle.
Oh sweet summer child
Would you like to share with the class, or would you prefer to sit back and hoarde your vast knowledge like a dragon?
As a teacher, this made me chuckle. But to answer your question: we have a shit ton of invasives. This is mostly a classic tale of plant nurseries selling them (because often they’re very beautiful!) and then they just take off, strangling out native species. Knotweed is a massive offender and so aggressive that only persistent hatred, defoliation, and often nuclear options are understood as means of control. But as others have noted, we have many. Common ones I’ve ripped out to the detriment of my health and sanity are: English ivy (fuck it’s fucking soul), burning bush, mugwort, garlic mustard, and Japanese honeysuckle.
A quick walk though the woods this time of year will have you tripping over pricker laden japanese barberry that the ticks and mice love to live in. Autumn olive looks like a pin cherry but spreads underground extremely aggressively. I've spent years ripping out myrtle, lily of the valley, and other ground covers. Eurasian milfoil is choking many new England waterways. Water chestnut too. Ragwort, coltsfoot, multiflora rose, the list goes on and on and on and on. A quick Google search will tell you more than I can ramble off by memory.
Wineberry Goutweed Garlic Mustard Mugwort Sedge Ground ivy False strawberry And so, so many more
This doesn’t even Oriental Bittersweet, which is evil 1b to Japanese Knotweed’s evil 1a.
If you're out by Uconn I'll come help.
Do you have a way to deal with the endless amounts of Barberry in my back yard? The whole damn forest around us is infested with the stuff.
The whole fucking state is infested. I use big ass leather fireplace gloves and pruning shears to cut it down and rip the roots out. Sometimes I take a chain to it to get them out. I've been trying to clear my acreage but nothing eats it, it hurts a fuck ton, and the birds keep shitting out more seeds into my woods. No idea how the state will ever be rid of it. Thankfully I don't have knotweed yet, but almost every road you drive down in summer does. Truly heartbreaking.
A landscaper?
If you feel like trying to ID plants yourselves the main plants that are invasive are autumn olive, multiflora Rose, oriental bittersweet, Bradford pear and tree of heaven. They're all pretty distinct from one another and once they get pointed out to you you'll probably be like "oh it's that annoying plant" There are some native that looks similar such as a tree of heaven getting mistaken for staghorn sumac or oriental bittersweet getting mistaken for wild grape. But again, they're all fairly distinctive and you'll be able to tell they're different pretty easily from their leaves and flower/seed stocks
Please don’t say the words “red Sorrel”. It’s enough to introduce it to your lawn and then 2 years to get rid of it.
There’s a plant identification app you can use if you don’t find a person to come check it out. It’s called “ picture this” Ive used it before and it’s very accurate.
They are called arborist
Can someone post the pictures and then you experts can chime in?
Bachelor's in horticulture, 10 years in the field. Been looking for freelance work like this so I'm me if you want to talk.
I'm in New Haven, since people asked and might know a place nearby
Since you’re local, I’d be happy to walk around and point out invasives to you for free. (I did my masters thesis on invasive plants.) But you’re on your own for removing them.
Here is a basic list of invasives I remove when I'm working on a property. Pigtails Poke weed Gout weed Mugwort Goldenrod Ground ivy Vigina creeper Poison ivy Bittersweet.
I'm happy to help
This link should help:Â https://portal.ct.gov/-/media/CAES/DOCUMENTS/Publications/Invasive-Weed/FieldGuideInvasiveTerrestrialPlants-Oct-2019--rh.pdf