a thread about restoration! I live in VA. My property is the poster child for invasive species! You name it! Anything that will grow in zone 6 and is invasive has taken hold! We have stiltgrass, Asian bittersweet, trees of heaven, paulownias, some kind of Asian honeysuckle, Aralia elata and on and on. Funny thing is that I used to think, well, these things are growing and taking space but they're not used by native species (insects, birds, mammals) but then I noticed that they did indeed host some insects...guess which ones? Marmorated stink beetles (Asian imports), Asian lady beetles and non native (probably also Asian) praying mantids! Interesting, a home away from home!
On top of invasives, in my area, there is an out of control deer population. This causes some species to disappear altogether leaving hardier species. Paw paws are abundant! Paw paws are wonderful trees BUT if they establish large patches due to lack of competition taken out by marauding deer, nothing else will grow around or under them because mature patches of paw paws take all the light and are very fast growing. It really does change the ecology/landscape.
I wish there was a forum for this topic and for different regions because we all seem to have different situations. When I first moved here I immediately added a bunch of native plants in areas nothing was growing. None of the plants survived the deer. I have since then learned to use the huge stands of goldenrod (I was thinking of removing some of this early on), mountain mints and dogbane to hide anything I plant. I agree with Linda....wish I could see how these mountains were 100 yrs ago!
