The best way to avoid the headache of removing invasive plants is to not plant them in the first place.
Unfortunately, we don't always get to choose what's in our yard when we find a home. Removing an invasive plant that devours the surrounding landscape can be a huge pain.
But one homeowner was able to provide proper support to their neighbor who was removing a ton of English ivy. The original poster shared in the r/NativePlantGardening subreddit that their neighbor's yard "was full of the stuff."
"She honestly loved all the greenery, but after it finally demolished the fence I was able to get her to pull 99.9% of it," the OP added.
Their photos showed a "gigantic pile" of English that "shrank as it … sat outside in the sun." Encouraging this action was no small feat for the OP.
English ivy is invasive in many parts of the U.S., including the Pacific Northwest and California, per The Spruce. It's an aggressive plant that crowds out everything that grows around it. According to the ASPCA, its leaves are very toxic to pets and can cause severe abdominal issues.
If English ivy is crowding out a tree, don't cut the ivy on the tree. That can damage the tree. Instead, cut the ivy at the source in the soil.
The Spruce also recommends planting native vines such as Virginia creeper and golden ragwort, which are nontoxic alternatives.
As for the OP, they ended their post by saying: "I told her it was the best choice she could possibly make for the local environment and how awesome she is for making the investment. I never thought I would be able to convince her to remove it all, but just goes to show that there is always some hope."
The comments section was filled with people who praised this effort.
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Not enough time ⏳ "Awesome! Maybe a gift of some appropriate easy to manage native plants would be welcome!" said one person.
The OP replied that they shared native plant books with their neighbor and would take her to native plant sales before planting with her in the fall.
"What an impressive endeavor," another Redditor remarked. "Please tell your neighbor that a lot of gardeners on the internet are in awe of this hard work."
A third Reddit user said: "So cool! Amazing effort to convince her to … rip all of that out, that's an incredible amount of work."
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