Alternatives to Invasive Landscape Plants in Arizona
Keeping the Arizona landscape beautiful and unique is a responsibility we all share. One way you can help is to make sure your landscape does not contain invasive plants that crowd out native plants, disrupt ecological processes, and fuel fires. Here are some common invasive landscape plants and some excellent alternatives:
Invasive: Green Fountain Grass prolifically seeds and is an extreme fire hazard. Alternatives are:
- Desert Spoon: a symmetrical and graceful plant with slender tooth leaves and flowers on creamy white stalks that are 10-12 feet tall.
- Arizona Cotton Top: 3-foot tall bunch grass with striking flower stalks and delicate white cottony seeds.
- Bull Grass: clumping perennial grass growing up to 5 feet with pink flowering plumes all summer long.
Invasive: Bermuda Grass competes with native plants and forms dense mats up to 1 feet deep that are difficult to remove. Alternatives:
- Blue Grama: low-growing, blue-green bunch grass which is heat and drought tolerant and can be an attractive turf.
- Curly Mesquite: native sod-forming grass that has runners and is very hardy.
Invasive: Vinca or Periwinkle: although beautiful, this aggressive groundcover can regrow from stem fragments that allow it to easily spread and smother natives.
- Desert Verbena: a lavender flowering plant which grows fast, constantly reseeds itself and attracts many butterfly species.
- Summer Snow: sprawling shrub with delicate white flowers during the spring and summer and deep reddish-purple leaves in fall and winter.
How can you make sure your landscape uses noninvasive plants? Choose a professional landscaper that is knowledgeable about native Phoenix species to design and maintain your commercial or residential outdoor spaces. At Victor’s Landscaping, Inc., we specialize in using alternatives to invasive landscape plants.
For more examples of invasive plants, check out these publications from the City of Scottsdale [PDF] and the Arizona Native Plant Society [PDF].
