Most of the lists of plants that I review here are full of pretty pictures and are intended to inspire you to try growing them yourself. Not so this time. Some are harmful in that they are poisonous if eaten or cause a rash if touched. Others are a nuisance and require constant attention and then prove almost impossible to remove once established. According to David Beaulieu whose article I found on The Spruce website these are ten of the worst plants you can invite into your landscape.
What gives me the right to single out ten plants as the worst plants to grow in your yard? Isn’t that a subjective judgment? Well, just as with our picks for the best ones, that is, of course, partly true. But our selections are not purely arbitrary – we’ve applied the NUTS rule in making our picks.
What is the NUTS rule? The acronym breaks down as follows:?Noxious,?Unstable,?Troublesome, ?Spreading.
By “noxious” we mean that the plant in question can have an adverse impact on one’s health. Some plants cause rashes, others are toxic if ingested, while still others are the bane of allergy sufferers.
The plants that we’re calling out for being “unstable” are those that at first seem robust enough to the newbie but then prove themselves to be surprisingly susceptible to storm damage. This category is primarily reserved for trees and shrubs.
Plants subject to the charge of being “troublesome” cause us an undue amount of work. For example, they may be messy or they may demand constant landscape maintenance.
Finally, there are the plants guilty of “spreading.” Not that spreading is always a bad thing: sometimes, we really do want to have a plant spread. But the plants in this final category are those that spread against our wishes.
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Ajuga Plants
Image source: David Beaulieu
Ajuga reptans spreads so vigorously as to disqualify it completely from landscape use. Commonly known as “bugleweed,” this flowering ground cover may have a legitimate use somewhere, under some circumstances, but generally speaking, it spreads far too aggressively and is often incredibly difficult to eradicate.
Go to the next page to see more of these problem plants that you will not want in your garden.
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I am a keen gardener and so created Garden Pics and Tips for people who love gardens and enjoy great pictures of plants and gardens. Also covered are practical tips on all aspects of gardening.
