The Year I Shall Win the Pachysandra War
Anybody who has heard me talk about gardening knows that I have an uneasy relationship with Japanese pachysandra (Pachysandra terminalis) which is easily the Number 1 planted shade groundcover in New England gardens. Oh sure, it spreads quickly to form a solid green mat in the shade under trees, and its evergreen foliage stays green all winter. You can find this plant at every garden club plant sale and divisions of it have been passed from gardener to gardener for at least a generation. There is probably not a single neighborhood in Massachusetts that doesn't have an acre or two of of what horticulture guru William Cullina calls "the vinyl siding of landscaping" (an expression that makes me giggle every time)...
But this plant has a darker side, through no fault of its own other than the fact that it's a foreign import into a landscape where it has no natural controls. Unfortunately, when Japanese pachysandra is planted near moist woodlands in New England, it can quickly spread into the woods through its underground roots, choking out anything else that happens to be growing there and threatening unique and fragile woodland plant communities. There are few (if any) native herbivores (insects or other leaf eaters) that can digest the foliage of this alien plant, or co-evolved pests that control its growth in any way. And once Japanese pachysandra is established in an area to its liking, good luck removing it. Ever!
In the photo above, this lush border of pachysandra needs to be rigorously "pushed back" with a sharp spade twice a year, to keep it from becoming an entire backyard of pachysandra....
When we moved onto our small farm six years ago, we were delighted to find a beautiful stream flowing through it, and even more thrilled to discover unique native plants such as trilliums, jack-in-the-pulpit, Christmas and sensitive ferns, and winterberry holly growing in the rich, moist soil along its banks. I did find some Japanese pachysandra also growing along with Japanese barberry (another invasive planted by a previous well-meaning gardener), but I targetted those for removal in hopes of expanding the populations of the native plants. I spent a few hot summer days standing in the cool water of the stream pulling the roots out by hand (it was not a very large area), and thought my work was done.
Fast forward a year or two, when I noticed that not only was the pachysandra still holding on along the streamside, but that it had literally jumped the garden gate, and had spread at least 10' into the woods:
I began beating back the pachysandra again - trying carefully not to damage tree roots and the now-tattered jack-in-the-pulpits. I do not use the weed killer Roundup (or its cousin Rodeo) because of its negative impacts on amphibians, not to mention the fact that this heavily-used neuro-toxic herbicide is being increasingly linked with fetal cell death in humans, along with other alarming impacts to people and wildlife. So armed with only a small garden fork and my hands, I have opted for hand-to-hand pachysandra combat. This spring, I declared 2011 "The Year I Shall Remove the Pachysandra Regime", and each day I've resolved to pull out pachysandra roots for 15 minutes until the pachysandra is completely GONE. Wish me luck! I hope to report back in a few years on the newly restored native plant populations that should be making a comeback!
Jack-in-the-Pulpit (Arisaema triphyllum) is one of the cool New England bog plants that I'm trying to save from a thickening mat of Japanese pachysandra in our "wet woods":
Photo of jack-in-the-pulpit copyright Trudy Walther
A note about hand-weeding: Pulling weeds by
hand might seem like a lot of work, but its slow and steady pace is great for teaching you about the makeup of your soil and how certain plants impact their surroundings. I've noticed that where my pachysandra roots form a tangled mass of stolons (runners), they seem to suck up all the soil moisture from an otherwise boggy area, and the resulting soil becomes dry and lifeless. In my pachysandra monoculture, I find no other plants, no tiny decomposing insects or butterfly caterpillars looking for leaves they can eat, no salamanders or frogs, nothing at all except the thick white pachysandra roots. It's clear to me that the pachysandra has, in a few short years, impoverished my rich woodland soil, and nearby plants (and their associated wildlife) are all suffering from these rapid changes to their environment.
If you're also battling pachysandra, please share your control stories from the trenches!
Posted by Ellen Sousa at 3/29/2011 8:14 AM 
Categories: New England native plants, native new england plants
Tags: Japanese pachysandra jack in the pulpit Arisaema triphyllum bog plants New England
Categories: New England native plants, native new england plants
Tags: Japanese pachysandra jack in the pulpit Arisaema triphyllum bog plants New England
Ellen, I have seen, planted, transplanted and tried to remove more Pachysandra years ago, than I care to talk about. I now live with the guilt of perpetuating this plant's (as well as other invasives) survival, in several of my gardens before I knew better. I hate it! Boring, boring, boring, as well as invasive. Not sure (other than it's easy to grow) what the deal is with its popularity. Best of luck with your project, and if it gets too daunting, throw a pulling party, I'll bring the beer!
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That's a great idea Scott, a "pulling party" would probably bring in the crowds and the beer might even keep 'em!! As I did my 15 minutes of root pulling today, I was wondering if goats eat pachysandra? My horses won't touch them but I do have a friend with goats and I keep thinking about how they LOVE to eat poison ivy and can be an effective control tool!
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I love the comparison of pachysandra to landscaping's vinyl siding! Very apt. I have none here, but remember it well from yards everywhere when I was growing up. I know exactly what you mean about the zen of hand weeding and the intimate knowledge of the soil it brings. I spend a lot of time on hands and knees in the meadowy wild area behind me, weeding by hand and communing with the soil inch by inch. Good luck with your eradication!
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Interesting - I didn't realize that pachysandra was an invasive plant. I had a lot of it in my old garden. I can testify that there is at least one native plant that can successfully grow in the middle of a mat of pachysandra. The bad news is that this plant is poison ivy.
I actually kind of like the look of pachysandra. It's true, though, that it's not the plant to grow if you want a diversity of plants in the garden bed.
It doesn't exactly "play well with others".
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Pachysandra is not currently on the MA invasives list, probably because its aggressive growth in moist woodlands is via its spreading roots only...it doesn't spread by reseeding the way most of the worst invasives do. It's only really ecologically invasive when it's able to invade woodland plant communities...
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I have the same problem. I have been ignoring it because I have many other things to do in my landscape. I now realize what a mistake that was. I just checked and it is definitely invading my woodland. Thank you, you have inspired me to take action. I can give it 15 minutes a day,and I will begin today!
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On a vaguely spring-like day like today, 15 minutes didn't seem so bad! I think I did 20
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Dig, dig, dig, pull, pull, pull.
Pachysandra shall not win.
(I'm lending you my mantra.)
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Thank you for the mantra. All tools welcomed
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Your pachysandra problem sounds really wicked. Especially the fact that it drains the surrounding area of water and tolerates no competition at all. But YOU have the brain and I'm sure you'll win in the end!
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Brains over brawn! I'm winning - probably 60% done. Thanks for the cheering from the sidelines Barbara!
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Ellen, This is such a cautionary tale for those who don't understand why they shouldn't plant invasive plants. One of my Earth Day resolutions this year is to walk the acre of woodland on my property once a month so that I can know quickly if I'm having a problem with any of the known invasives. Good luck with your weeding.
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Jean - I am completely with you on that - eternal vigilance is the only way to stay on top of the invasives if you own woodlands or natural areas....but I do consider that a good thing - any time spent wandering around in nature is sooo therapeutic and the more you notice about your surroundings, the more fascinated you become with the world growing literally under your feet!
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Your battle with the pachysandra sounds familiar, and you raise some great points. Why use a generic, invasive species when there are great native ground covers available to help with erosion instead? I'm "rooting" for ya!
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Hi Ellen,
I declared war on the European Campanula in our yard a couple of years ago and nearly have it licked, so hang in there.
Btw - there is a native Pachysandra, Pachysandra procumbens which is nice although is not native to New England.
Heather
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Heather - thanks for the input - I agree that the southern native Pachysandra procumbens makes a nice groundcover for a moist, shaded area. I planted several of them bare-root about 5 yrs ago and they have slowly spread into a lovely mat on and around an old tree stump..
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I'm actually looking at getting some Pachysandra or Ajuga for a shady area in my yard. I'll gladly come and dig yours up!
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Tony, thanks for the offer but my Pachysandra patch is now gone. Something tells me it wouldn't have been worth your effort - I would have driven you crazy asking you to remove "every bit" of root from the soil
I'm sure you can find it at any of the many garden club plant sales going on in MA this spring..but I hope you'll consider using the native Foamflower (Tiarella cordifolia) which is a really pretty white flowering spring native groundcover...or Heather's excellent suggestion of the Pachysandra procumbens which in my opinion is much more interesting, and better behaved, than the import...
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As I finish reading your pachysandra post, I look out my home office window at a massive stand of this foreign ground cover. For months I've been wondering what to replace it with. Now I know; Doesn't matter, start getting rid of it. There are plenty of natives that'll be happy to take the spot. Thanks.
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Hal, go for it! The removal is kind of satisfying if you devote a bit of schedule time to it. And watching to see what will show up is the best part of all! I checked my ex-patch earlier this week and the jack in the pulpits are berrying, the jewelweed and white wood asters have also turned up. Both of them are the usual suspects in terms of what usually seeds itself here, but they are both welcome. The migrating hummingbirds especially appreciate the jewelweed flowers
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Was thinking of importing to North Texas since I had transplanted some in Northern NY. Don't see any here because of the heat and clay soil in my area. Sounds alot like bamboo, once in, in forever. Will rethink although don't believe it has a chance in this heat.
Thanks for article.
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Ellen, Your war with Pachysandra post came to my attention about the same time as some other Pachysandra stories surfaced. It made my pachy replacement become more urgent. Today I tackled it with about 4 hours of work. The most important thing I noticed was how DEAD the micro environment around these plants was. In all that pulling I didn't find a single spider, ant, caterpillar, or other insect. I'm now about 2/3 done and astounded by how far the roots have spread. In spite of my diligence I'm sure I'll be pull pachysandra from here for years. Now on with some native replacements. I can't wait to see this come alive. Thanks for the inspiration.
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Hal, your post reminded me to get back to the Pachy area again for one last pull this season. All the rain we've had makes the roots pull easily from the soil so it's a good time to do it...it's still hanging on for dear life but I pulled quite a few more stragglers out. As you said, it's a long-term commitment. I saw slightly more micro-life in the soil than when I first tackled it - a few millipedes and an earthworm or two - but as you said, the life of the soil is still going to take a while to rebound..good luck
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Ellen, you'll get a kick out of my efforts with the nasty P plant described in tonight's post to my blog. Thought about you as I wrote it. I'm thinking they could make a good B horror flick about the Pachysandara that swallowed Cleveland.
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