Every time I take a walk through my garden in February I’m on the lookout for tiny Chinese privet seedlings that appear in my natural areas. More than likely these invasive shrubs are in your neighborhood and can easily muscle out more desirable plantings if you’re not careful.
Look HERE at a comprehensive post from Mississippi State on controlling this noxious invasive and resolve to keep it out of your landscape!
Unfortunately, privet is just one of the invasive plants that lurk just beyond my property line. We’ve learned to spot the tiny seedlings in the late winter and early spring, before they get large, and pull them then to keep it in check since we can’t completely get rid of them from the surrounding areas. Birds eat the seeds and drop them indiscriminately, so it’s a never ending battle.
Running bamboo, kudzu (That scourge of the south!), and Chinese wisteria, Wisteria sinensis, are also all along the edge of my property, and we monitor them religiously since they’ll take advantage of any little opening. I can tell you from long experience that running bamboo’s worst month here in Birmingham is May, when shoots appear daily, and are cut down just as quickly.
Of course, knowledge is power. You know now not to let privet gain a foothold; so monitor your landscape like I do mine, and let all your beautiful and desirable plantings take center stage instead!
By Kris Blevons