By Eileen Ellsworth
January is a daunting, cold month for sure. But winter dormancy is for plants, not humans, and January can be the perfect time to plan additions to your native plant garden. It is also a great time to remove some invasive non-native species.
First, planning the spring garden. Native plants can be expensive, especially if you’re looking to cover a large area. Starting plants from seed has probably occurred to you, but it won’t happen without some advanced planning. It isn’t easy to grow native plants by sowing seeds directly in the ground, as explained more fully on the Plant NOVA Natives website. Growing them first in pots may be advisable. Also, many seeds require cold-stratification, or exposure to cooler temperatures for a specific period, before they can germinate. A popular alternative is to buy flats of small landscape plugs, which are easy to handle and cost-efficient.
Supplies are high and demand is low for both seeds and plugs at the moment. Here is a handy list of local and somewhat-local sellers. Not all of them accept orders in January, but their websites provide contact information for direct inquiries.
Plug Sellers
· Nature by Design
· Watermark Woods
Seed Sellers
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You can also order seeds and plugs from mail-order sellers.
Next, removing invasives. If you were determined to remove some invasives this fall but never got to it, there is good reason to do it now when there are no leaves, no ticks, cooler temperatures, and less poison ivy. The Plant NOVA Natives website can help you prioritize your efforts. Here are a few examples of invasive species that are found in many people’s yards.
· Amur Honeysuckle: This woody, non-native invasive degrades native environments by rapidly forming dense thickets that shade and choke out native plants. Here is a link to a YouTube video on how to identify it in winter. Smaller specimens are easy to dig or pull up at the root, but larger ones require a more heavy-duty tool, like a weed wrench, to pry them out.
· Burning Bush: Once a darling of local landscapers, this shrub is now considered a high threat invasive in Virginia. It tolerates deep shade and adapts to many soil and light conditions. Small specimens come up easily with a shovel or fork, and larger ones with a weed wrench. If it’s too big to pry out at the root, cut the stem near the ground and immediately apply a concentrated herbicide such as triclopyr or glyphosate, ideally within 15 minutes to ensure absorption. Tips on herbicide use can be found on the Fairfax Tree Rescuers PRISM website.
· Autumn Olive: This ubiquitous woody invasive shades out native plants while changing the chemistry of the soil around it with nitrogen-fixing root nodules. This adaptation gives it a big advantage, allowing it to thrive in poor soil while aggressively invading new ground. Once established, it prolifically produces seeds that birds eat and spread widely. The removal advice provided above for burning bush also applies here. Cut stumps of Autumn olive can vigorously resprout, which can be avoided by using the cut-stump method described above.
· English Ivy: Conveniently this tree-killing vine stays green in the winter and so is easy to spot. Cut the vines at the base of trees (using loppers or a saw to cut the thicker vines), then create a bare ring around the tree by cutting the vines again further up, which severs the root connections. The vine above will simply die and dry out over time. Never try and remove the upper portion of the severed vines, as pulling them down can damage the tree.
· Oriental Bittersweet: This highly invasive vine is often found tightly twined around trees, shrubs, and fences. Females in winter have distinctive berries that look like bright yellow capsules that split to show the red berries within. Smaller specimens can be pulled or dug up at the root, which has a distinctive orange hue. You can cut larger specimens near the ground and treat them with herbicides as described above.
No need to waste a cold winter day if biodiversity is calling! Order some plugs of native flowering perennials. Remove an invasive shrub or vine. It all adds up to a splendid, bee-buzzier, bird-happier native space.
