Finding the perfect plants for your front garden and backyard can be tricky, especially when you’ve got budget and maintenance to consider. While there are popular plants that are easily spotted in many suburban homes, like clivias and murraya, some of these plants can cause damage to your garden in the long run.
Expert landscaper Zach Barnett from Boronia Landscapes has given us some great insight into common plants that can invade the garden.
3 plants that cause damage in the garden
Zach explains that while these plants look great in many backyards, especially if they’re well maintained, they can still cause more havoc than they’re worth.
He often gets called in for jobs that involves removal of plants, and these three tend to stick out as damaging. Let’s take a deep dive into them.
Yucca plants (Yucca)
Yucca plants are fabulous for adding in texture and visual interest in the garden. Their spiky balls of foliage and the long palm-like trunks on some varieties can give an otherworldly look to any yard.
However, if not planted in a pot or secure container, a yucca plant root system can be a destructive force. Zach explains that this kind of plant has ‘running roots’, meaning they grow sideways in the soil, rather than downwards.
This means that yucca multiply and grow new plants straight from the root, and can easily overtake whole garden beds and outdoor areas if left unattended.
Zach describes Yucca as a great plant aesthetically, but “one that many people don’t realise takes over your garden, and grows quite tall as well.”
He recommends keeping them in pots or completely contained garden beds to ensure they don’t take over.
Running bamboo (Bambusa)
Running bamboo is another one of those plants that spreads quickly throughout a garden. Like yucca, their roots run across the ground rather than down.
Running bamboo can cause quite a few problems in overtaking other plants, lifting up pavers or growing through fences. However, one of the main issues comes down to its removal.
If bamboo is not your style anymore, and you want something new in the garden, then removing these roots takes an immense amount of effort and time.
Zach explains that it is very difficult to remove the large root centre of running bamboo, along with the branched out root system. In addition to that, if even one small run of root is left in the ground after removal, the plant will continue to grow in your garden.
Zach says that he is “completely against all running bamboo varieties because of the damage they cause” and will always advise to go with a clumping variety instead. The best thing to do is consult with the garden centre or nursery before buying bamboo.
Agapanthus (Agapanthus praecox)
Surprisingly, agapanthus has made the list of damaging plants. Although Zach himself has agapanthus planted in his front garden, he warns of its seed dispersal and quick reproduction.
Many of the older varieties of agapanthus seed very easily, which makes them spread in clumps quite quickly throughout a garden. Agapanthus have also been known to accidentally show up on the wrong side of the fence due to easy seeding.
The flowers from the agapanthus are beautiful but Zach suggests that if you do have these plants in your garden, the best way to ensure they don’t spread is by cutting them back.
Once the flowers drop from the head of the plant, it is best to simply chop it off or ‘deadhead’ it so seeds don’t spread.
Another option is to consider native plants similar to agapanthus, such as the blue flax lily (Dianella caerulea) or Lord Howe Island wedding lily (Dietes robinsoniana).
As for Zach favourite substitute? If a client is interested in planting agapanthus in their garden, he will always recommend using crinums or spider lily, a native plant that mimics the beautiful flower heads and aesthetic of an agapanthus.
Other invasive plants to avoid
While not as popular for personal gardens, Zach cautions us to watch out for the following plants:
- Lantana (Lantana camara)
- Asparagus fern (Asparagus setaceus)
- Camphor laurel tree (Camphora officinarum)
- Rubber vine (Cryptostegia grandiflora)
These plants have become very invasive throughout the nation, and have caused havoc in overtaking or destroying native areas in national parks and public spaces.
A final shout out goes to Leightons Green conifers (Cupressocyparis leylandii), that tend to grow very quickly and very, very tall, which can be quite hard to handle in a smaller garden space.
If you’ve already got some of these damaging plants in your backyard, the best thing to do is to keep a very close eye on them.
Consider native alternatives
Instead of using these common plants in your garden, Zach recommends you consider native plants instead. This is especially the case for endemic plants, or plants that have originated from the specific region where you live.
Australian native plants are easy to grow and have little to no maintenance needs. This means that your time and effort in the garden are easily reduced. Better yet, native plants promote biodiversity within your outdoor space and will bring native wildlife back to suburban areas.
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