{"id":1045,"date":"2026-04-04T12:30:58","date_gmt":"2026-04-04T09:30:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.tadoley.com\/?p=1045"},"modified":"2026-04-04T12:30:58","modified_gmt":"2026-04-04T09:30:58","slug":"gardener-beware-6-nightmare-invasive-plants-that-i-always-avoid-by-expert-jane-moore","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.tadoley.com\/?p=1045","title":{"rendered":"Gardener beware! 6 ‘nightmare’ invasive plants that I always avoid \u2013 by expert Jane Moore"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Acanthus<\/p>\n

6: Bear\u2019s breeches<\/h3>\n

With its big, bold and architectural foliage, topped with tall spires of flowers in summer, bear\u2019s breeches, Acanthus mollis<\/em>, has a lot to offer the garden border, especially if you give it some room to clump up en masse. But it just won\u2019t stay put where you plant it. Instead, it pops up in other places, not too far from the parent plant, but these new roots are too deep to dig out completely, and, before you know it, up it pops again, choking and smothering smaller plants and generally taking over its section of the border.<\/p>\n

What makes it a nightmare?\u00a0<\/strong>It just won\u2019t stay where you plant it and regrows from the smallest piece of root.<\/p>\n

Invasion rating: <\/strong>7\/10<\/p>\n

Plant type: <\/strong>Perennial<\/p>\n

Containment potential:\u00a0<\/strong>Possible, with determination.<\/p>\n

Why grow it?\u00a0<\/strong>It\u2019s a drama, and bees love it; just plant it somewhere it can take over.<\/p>\n

\n

\"Macleaya<\/p>\n

5: Plume poppy<\/h3>\n

Macleaya cordata<\/em>, plume poppy, looks just great in the garden, with its broad, lobed, blue-green leaves catching the raindrops and standing 2m tall, topped in summer with pink plumes of soft flowers. But it\u2019s a spreader, sending rhizomes off through the soil that have shoots popping up all over the garden in no time at all.<\/p>\n

What makes it a nightmare?\u00a0<\/strong>Let it run unchecked, and it will take over, smothering other plants.<\/p>\n

Invasion rating: <\/strong>8\/10<\/p>\n

Plant type: <\/strong>Perennial<\/p>\n

Containment potential:\u00a0<\/strong>Chop it back with a spade each season to keep it in a defined area.\u00a0Regularly weed out new shoots as they appear.<\/p>\n

Why grow it?\u00a0<\/strong>It looks great.\u00a0The flowers are good for bees and other pollinators.<\/p>\n

\n

\"Hedera<\/p>\n

4: Ivy<\/h3>\n

Ivy in all its forms has its uses. It grows quickly, covering the ground as well as vertical surfaces like fences and walls, clinging brilliantly without the need for wires or frames. With its glossy green leaves and dense growth, the common form, Hedera helix,<\/em> and the larger-leaved forms, like Irish ivy, Hedera colchica<\/em>, can run riot, rooting into the ground and even house walls as they grow, making them hard to manage and potentially damaging to stonework.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

What makes it a nightmare?\u00a0<\/strong>Let it run unchecked, and it will take over, so don\u2019t plant it and forget it. Ivy is harmful to pets and people if eaten and can cause skin irritation and allergic reactions.<\/p>\n

Invasion rating: <\/strong>8\/10<\/p>\n

Plant type: <\/strong>Evergreen climber<\/p>\n

Containment potential:\u00a0<\/strong>Cut it back to a defined area regularly and plant it on its own – avoid mixing it with other plants. The variegated forms are easier to control as they grow more slowly.<\/p>\n

Why grow it?\u00a0<\/strong>Ivy looks great climbing over an old stump, and it makes excellent ground cover where it can be left to itself. It\u2019s also a brilliant wildlife plant for birds, bees and butterflies, especially the holly blue butterfly.<\/p>\n

\n

\"Willow<\/p>\n

3: Willow<\/h3>\n

Who doesn\u2019t love a majestic weeping willow by a pond? Or maybe a little pussy willow with those adorable furry catkins, which is a great choice if you\u2019re tight on space, right? Wrong! Willows just love water, which means they\u2019ll home in on your drains in no time at all, blocking them up with their extensive root systems. That\u2019s no surprise for the big trees, but you even need to watch out for the dwarf varieties close to buildings and drain systems. There are so many other lovely trees out there \u2013 just pick something else, like a birch or a Japanese maple \u2013 they\u2019re a lot less hassle.<\/p>\n

What makes it a nightmare?\u00a0<\/strong>Their roots seek out watercourses and drainage systems, blocking them up and causing \u00a3s worth of damage.<\/p>\n

Invasion rating: <\/strong>8\/10<\/p>\n

Plant type: <\/strong>Tree<\/p>\n

Containment potential:\u00a0<\/strong>None. Plant something else, or, if you must have one, make sure you plant it well away from your house \u2013 and your neighbour\u2019s!<\/p>\n

Why grow it?\u00a0<\/strong>Willows are very attractive and provide good habitats for wildlife.<\/p>\n

\n

\"Black<\/p>\n

2: Bamboo<\/h3>\n

Pick the right variety of bamboo, and you have a highly attractive plant with coloured stems and a tropical, jungle look. But some bamboos are highly invasive, growing aggressively and expanding way beyond their allotted space, sending tough shoots up from far beneath the ground, metres away from the parent plant.<\/p>\n

What makes it a nightmare?\u00a0<\/strong>Some types will produce shoots popping up all over the place, which are almost impossible to weed out, as they\u2019re so deep.<\/p>\n

Invasion rating: <\/strong>9\/10<\/p>\n

Plant type: <\/strong>Evergreen perennial giant grass<\/p>\n

Containment potential:\u00a0<\/strong>Make sure you pick a non-running variety, such as Fargesia<\/em>.\u00a0Plant coloured stem Phyllostachys<\/em> on poorer soil to contain their vigour.\u00a0Use a root barrier when planting spreading varieties.<\/p>\n

Why grow it?\u00a0<\/strong>Bamboos are brilliant for giving a tropical or Japanese look to the garden.\u00a0The taller forms make attractive screening for hiding fences and sheds.<\/p>\n

\n

\"Flowers<\/p>\n

1: Russian vine<\/h3>\n

There\u2019s a good reason that Russian vine, Fallopia baldschuanica<\/em>, is also called ‘mile-a-minute plant’, and that\u2019s because it\u2019s such a vigorous climber, quickly hiding tumbledown sheds, old tree stumps and anything else you want to screen from view. With its pretty white and pink flowers festooning the twining stems in summer, it\u2019s the prettiest thug you\u2019ll ever see. But be warned – it is a thug, so take care where you plant it, as it grows about 4m each year and will swamp anything within a wide radius.<\/p>\n

What makes it a nightmare?\u00a0<\/strong>With a growth rate of 4m per year, this could easily take over your garden, house and indeed life if you plant it unwisely.<\/p>\n

Invasion rating: <\/strong>10\/10<\/p>\n

Plant type: <\/strong>Climber<\/p>\n

Containment potential:\u00a0<\/strong>Almost impossible unless severely hacked back every year.<\/p>\n

Why grow it?\u00a0<\/strong>It\u2019s very quick-growing and very pretty \u2013 there\u2019s nothing like it if you need to hide something quickly.\u00a0Bees and other pollinators enjoy the masses of flowers.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

6: Bear\u2019s breeches With its big, bold and architectural foliage, topped with tall spires of flowers in summer, bear\u2019s breeches, Acanthus mollis, has a lot to offer the garden border, especially if you give it some room to clump up…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1046,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1045","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-1"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tadoley.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1045"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tadoley.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tadoley.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tadoley.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tadoley.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1045"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.tadoley.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1045\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tadoley.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1046"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tadoley.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1045"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tadoley.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1045"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tadoley.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1045"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}