Would you use an invasive species?

both Colorado, and Wyoming sold RO for wind breaks and tree planting for many many years as in many areas they do not spread and are one of the few trees that will survive in the wind and dry conditions,
I have some RO in one wind break that was planted via the state and wild life (they chose or OKed the trees), now since it is not native they say no more,

I my self do not see the problem as long it is not on a water way, (I under stand there they can take over),

but because it is against the law currently, If you were to accidently have some seed blow in to your tree rows, I would not make it an internet post,

I would think a form of the thee SSS would apply here, shoot ,shovel, and shut up,

I under stand your dilemma, when I did some more tree planting I used rocky mountain juniper, they have done me well here in the NE of Colorado, and we have had a lot of dry years, plant using the land scape fabric IMO is the key to survival in the planting, (in 2002 I did a CRP tree planting, (at least 4 miles of trees) planted them using the fabric, and had less than a one percent failure, trees were only watered one time,

I had a few trees and planted with OUT the fabric and a drip line 95% of them died,

the other and it was the driest that had been in 600 years according to the tree ring data, that year,

The problem with that though is what happens if you can't keep your land for whatever reason? You have planted something that could spread and become a real headache for others. And it's easy to think you will manage it but you have no control over wind, birds or wildlife that could spread the seeds.

Black locust is another nasty one you would not want to have around animals. We have had to fight it here and you should try digging those thorns out of a cow's hoof. Not fun!

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"You can never get a cup of tea large enough or a book long enough to suit me." C S Lewis

I would consider autumn olive or goumi (other Eleagnus species) before planting russian olive. Much tastier fruit and less invasive issues in the western US.

Caragana (siberian pea shrub) is another option that is invasive elsewhere, but does not seem to be an issue in our area.

"Invasives" are relative to particular climates/regions. Just like all "weeds".

I don't plant anything invasive, as I feel it would be irresponsible as invasive species can be spread to other properties, whose owners will NOT appreciate it. I would be very angry if I worked very hard to be responsible and some neighbor foolishly planted invasive species that spread onto our property.

As for our own property, I still wouldn't plant invasive species I could contain. Why? Who is getting younger? Not us! As we age, we want LESS work, not more...

DH greatly appreciates that I design permaculture areas requiring little maintenance

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Christie Acres
www.SequimForLife.com
http://www.irealtyvirtualbrokers.com...lori-christie/
http://luxurywaterviewhomes.com/
SequimLiving@gmail.com

The concept of permaculture is to keep a permanent agricultural status in the area by starting a long-standing ecosystem. It's not for someone who likes to hop from one location to the other every few years like many people do.

Permaculture is about working with nature, but also with the realization that many places have been disturbed to the point certain steps need to be taken. If there is a spot in nature where some trees require large amounts of unnatural(human) care, then other species should be selected.

How well I remember mowing under the Multiflora Roses that Mom & Dad planted along the driveway and road. They planted them at the advice of the extension service and they did their job of keeping the cows in and attracting all sorts of birds in the wintertime, BUT, it wasn't too long before we grubbed them all out and forever after fought them in the pastures and woods. The birds! Birds don't respect property lines.......

Today, here in Michigan, it's the Autumn Olives. They take over in any bare land or wooded areas. The birds! Birds don't respect property lines.

People who deliberately plant any invasive species don't respect other people.

geo

Hmm I was going to try to find a pic of my tree line but it must be on the other computer. Anyway, our tree line is 6 deep. First is forsythia, then 4 rows of pines, then lilacs. We have some sporadic lines of other bushes and aspen and oak planted in various locations but the main line is pine. I'm not sure how old the tree line is. We've lived in the house for 6 years now. Some of the pines are much much taller than I am. 12 feet maybe. Some of the aspen and oak are too. Of course then there are the dead ones. I spent days cutting down all the dead trees. Big ones, small ones, various species. I'm just having a hard time of it. Part of it is probably the oil drilling. It's pushed ground animals towards the houses. I've had trees with the roots completely eaten off of them. Then there is the wind howling about. This last winter I noticed we lost 6 forsythia bushes. They were quite large bushes and we lost them in just one winter. It was cold and snowy and the wind, hell that wind. Even established plant life has a big problem with it. I can't water them in the winter really. Even if there isn't any snow or moisture it's cold here and the hoses freeze. Anyway, so I think it's a combination of wind and ground animal infestation. My pine trees have a pretty good amount of wind burn on the side that takes the wind. The smaller ones died but the larger ones are fighting it. I've bought hundreds of tree starts from the arbor day foundation and not a one of them has made it. Of course the year I planted them we had a bad winter and they were completely consumed by the wildlife.

Anyway, trees can grow here but it takes a lot of effort and we lose a lot. So if I can limit the loss and get something hardy I'd like to do that.

P.S. When driving through this place if you see lines of trees it's probably the willows following the creek. Creek doesn't come close to our property though.

Well the people I see that have them are the people on the corner. They have 3 RO and they seem to be growing quite well. These are very old folks living there and the trees are large enough to indicate they've been there for some time. I do not see RO on any other property so I just don't believe it's going to spread like wildfire here.

I'm in SC. It would be interesting in this thread if I knew where some of the posters are, since there has been a wide range of conditions reported.

Some species act invasively in certain areas and others do not. The classic invasive species here is Kudzu, but I think I could deal with it easier than privet hedge. Birds spread the hedge and it is terrible to get rid of. Black locust has always been here AFIK and the only problem it cause me is thorns in tires, but I should be able to avoid that more than I do. Locust makes wonderful fence posts. Honey locust looks similar but is a much weaker tree and does not make fence posts, has lots of thorns, and makes pretty lumber.

Trees of most any kind grow here profusely. All can be a problem in fields and in yards, but most are useful for something, including pallets.

The wildlife people get all kinds of ideas about planting something for wildlife. It's not necessary here IMO. There is plenty of native vegetation that wildlife feeds on. Ok, we do feed hummingbirds and put out seed for birds. Birds that eat insects shouldn't have a shortage of food here.

Yard plants are my pet peeve. A lot of them become invasive. The previously mentioned hedges are one, but there are others. The lowly Primrose is one that spreads by seed and will spread vigrously if allowed. There is something called hummingbired vine, I think, that SOMEBODY in the family planted in the yard a few years ago which grew and climbed all over and spread seed. I have been fighting it ever since, fortunately it's in a small area. The ryegrass which make such pretty winter lawns is terrible for grain producers. It will take over small grain crops. It will make nice hay if cut at the right time, but there is a very small window of opportunity to do it and it does not have any benefit over other grain.

I'm not familar with Russian olive or the other olive, but from what I see on here I will try to avoid it.

COWS

they add nitrogen to the soil and they are invasive only if there is soil desperatly needing nitrogen...they are trying to replace the mess made of the soil by whatever has been done to it..overfarming..etc.

it is a GOOD plant..people plant it to provide nitrogen for their fruit and nut trees and then when the trees are well established if you want you can cut it down..

birds love the berries and will poop them out along telephone / elec lines ..so that is why they show up everywhere..but they are feeding a lot of birds..

the berries are also edible by humans..if you make them into some cooked dish..some are better than others..and there is a type called Goumi that is more edible than others..

they also are great for bees and insects..

people gotta respect WHY they are there and WHAT have we done to ruin the land that would give them a space??

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Brenda Groth
http://restfultrailsfoodforestgarden.blogspot.com/

I am not experienced with Russian Olive, but, by all means don't let somone talk you into "autumn" olive. Unless you maybe have a herd of voracious goats to kill it out.

http://na.fs.fed.us/spfo/invasivepla...sian-olive.pdf

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Moving to that big black hole in the night satellite photo. (also the hole in cell phone coverage )

Here in eastern PA the forests are being taken over by invasive plants. People like to plant all this ornamental crap in their yard, and since it doesn't spread all over the lawn they don't think it's invasive. The problem is that birds come to your yard to eat off your shrubs and then return to the trees and leave their droppings in forest edges and fencerows. Multiflora rose is probably the worst here, but I also have the invasive bush honeysuckles, burning bush, barberry, Russian/autumn olive, oriental bittersweet, tree of heaven, and many others. Many of them leaf out early in spring and grow fast, choking out the slower native plants and preventing regeneration of trees. There are parts of my property that are not accessible because the multiflora rose is so thick. It's really sad that the quickest way to identify an unknown plant is often by looking at the list of non-native invasives.

There are tons of things you can plant that put nitrogen back in the soil that are not invasive. Any sort of legume works.

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"You can never get a cup of tea large enough or a book long enough to suit me." C S Lewis

please don't get those olives growing . they are trouble ; the super brains planted them on reclaimed stripmines in this part of the world and they are spreading like crazy like the roses they choke out good grass and pasture i'm sure you can plant something else how about ground cherrys or apples blueberrys blackberrys apples heck even grass .

You can justify it any way you like, but listing a bunch of good qualities does not change the fact that it is invasive and damaging in many settings. Without human interaction it displaces native species and destroys natural ecosystems. It's great that it's working out for you, but your comments are misleading. I will not go into more detail as it may be taken as a personal attack against you.

The OP says it's listed as noxious in OP's state, that's a whole other level above invasive, and plants don't make that list by accident. In PA it is not only illegal to sell plants from that list, it is also illegal to propagate or transport them.

I would also check what your weed board can do about a noxious weed. Here they can make you mow and kill it, or they will and add the cost to your tax bill. There are plenty of good reasons for not planting a noxious plant, another is it could be expensive to remove and it would be a shame to put time and money into it and then have it destroyed.

Would I use an invasive species? Probably not. It's the critters I really struggle with though. Starlings have run off every native bird on my place. The noxious weed plants around here are all tasty to goats, conveniently enough, so I'm almost pleased when they pop up in the field. However, dealing with starlings has made me leery of ever introducing anything aggressive and non-native. Is there a local extension office you can check with for advice?

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"I am not absentminded. It is the presence of mind that makes me unaware of everything else."
- G. K. Chesterton

Wyoming is the 10th largest state in the U.S. so I try to keep that in mind when thinking about my state. We have mountains and prairie and desert. We're pretty darn diverse! So yes, the State as a whole has said not to plant them any more. Of course originally the State was selling them and encouraging people to plant them. The State is an idiot. I take the State's opinion with a grain of salt.

RO's spread fairly well from what I've read. What I've seen is different. Our neighbor growing up had one in his back yard. I never saw another one. Someone in our area we drive past every day has 3 and I've never seen them spread. I see them now and then while driving. Not something I'd consider invasive myself.

I'm not sure I'm going to plant any. I'm going to try to be rather diverse in my plantings but so far I'm planting what I have and what is free. That's been forsythia bushes and oak. But I could easily acquire RO seeds, free, so they appeal to me. If they grow well they appeal to me even more. Thorns aren't too appealing though.

It's illegal to plant where you live - why is this even a question?

If you want to grow an illegal plant might I suggest cannabis?

Illegal to sell. I'm not selling.