Moncton Forum

Exotic plants can actually harm the environment

Andrew Mcgilligan
Telegraph-Journal

2007 04 26

Anthony Davis is examining a piece of a Japanese honeysuckle, a vine type of plant growing on a trellis in the public gardens in Saint John. The former resident of the city, now a professor at the University of Idaho in the forestry resources department, describes the plant as beautiful when it's in bloom.

"It grows out very thick, has beautiful lush green foliage and flowers in the summer," he said.

As nice as it is, Davis would rather not be holding it in his hands in his hometown. Each year, new plants and flowers get introduced into the environment and, like the Japanese honeysuckle, aren't exactly compatible with the region.

"We want the newest flowers and plants for our gardens because they look beautiful and have certain characteristics we like," he said. "We often don't take the time to think of the history of the plant and the potential impact it can have on our area."

In the rush to have a beautiful garden, Davis said we can inadvertently be hurting the environment. Over the past 200 years, an large amount of exotic plants from Europe and Asia have been brought into North America. Some of these plants have escaped into forests and native wild lands and out-competed and replaced naturally occurring plants to the region.

These exotic plants produce a chain reaction in the environment. Take for instance the honeysuckle, many of the ones bought and planted in this area are from Asia.

"People like the ones from Asia because they have the bright red berries, but those berries don't have anywhere near the nutritional requirements native ones do," he said.

The birds that feed on them don't get the same sort of nutritional value they need for migration. This means the birds are not able to complete their migrations as often.

"It's hard to say long-term what kind of an effect that can have."

The chain reaction resulting from certain types of plants that he describes as, "invasive exotic species," is a problem and one that can be solved through gardeners taking the time to educate themselves on the subject.

One way is to look up the name of a plant through an Internet search. Davis said the most reliable sources of information are contained on government websites.

"If it's listed as an exotic, invasive species, then try to avoid planting it," he said.

Another way people can get this type of information is through the Master Gardener program. This is a course which allows gardeners to take a series of classes and workshops on gardening from trained professionals and become certified master gardeners. Once they've completed the course, the volunteers then go out into the community and share their expertise. Davis said the program is all across the United States and parts of Canada.

"It's a great way to make sure we have educated volunteers in the community sharing accurate information with others," he said.

Davis, who's home for a vacation, shared his knowledge with a local group called the Fundy Gardeners.

Karen Thompson, a member of the group, said the talk was an eye-opener, especially the talk on invasive species.

"I had just purchased two of the plants he mentioned and had no idea about the effects it could have," she said.

As for growing a garden without exotic plants, Davis said many plants in the area are just as beautiful and under used.

"We haven't used our native plants nearly as much," he said. "There's so many beautiful plants that occur naturally here that you could have a stellar garden just using native plants."

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