If you\u2019re looking to attract more birds and pollinators to your yard this summer, Connecticut experts say to grow more native plants and eliminate invasive species. This is though sometimes it can be tricky to know what is considered an invasive plant.<\/p>\n
\u201cEach state has different definitions on what constitutes an invasive plant, but the big picture is they are damaging to the environment, they are costly to control, and can easily escape cultivation,\u201d said Lauren Kurtz, an invasive plant expert with the University of Connecticut. \u201cMany plants from your local nursery are non-native but don\u2019t meet the criteria to be considered invasive.\u201d<\/p>\n
According to the Connecticut Invasive Plant Working Group<\/a>, a plant is deemed invasive if it is non-indigenous, naturalized or has the potential to be, and causes or is likely to cause environmental, economic or human health harm. Key criteria include rapid spread, high reproduction and the ability to outcompete native species. Those criteria must be met for a plant to get listed as invasive.<\/p>\n The CIPWG maintains an active invasive plant list<\/a> that continues to be added to over the years. As of 2026, the state officially recognizes over 100 invasive plant species that cause environmental, economic or health damage. The most recent additions include the Japanese angelica tree, Japanese wisteria, Quackgrass and Chinese wisteria, which were all added to the list in 2024.<\/p>\n \u201cIf attracting pollinators and providing habitat for native wildlife is the goal, people should buy native plants. Nurseries will often even market them as native plants. I always tell people to just double check the state invasive plant list if you plan on buying non-native plants. Just make sure nothing you buy is on the list. There are a handful of plants on the list that are still sold in the state.\u201d<\/p>\n Japanese barberry, burning bush and Chinese silver grass, which are all sold in Connecticut, are plants to avoid, Kurtz said.<\/p>\n These plants are known to be highly invasive and can easily kill native plant species and take over landscapes. She said that while these plants may look appealing, they can cause harm to the environment.<\/p>\n \u201cIf you need to purchase them and in a really hard spot or nothing else seems to grow in your landscape, those plants are really tough and can survive a lot of conditions,\u201d Kurtz said. \u201cSo if you really need to buy those plants, go for the sterile cultivars. Sterile cultivars are cultivated plant varieties bred or engineered to produce no viable seeds or pollen, preventing them from spreading, she said. But while they limit the spread, Kurtz said they have been shown to be capable to produce seeds and spread.<\/p>\n How to spot invasive plants<\/p>\n While spotting an invasive plant species at the local nursery can be relatively easy, it is much harder to identify plants already in the garden.<\/p>\n \u201cI think some people have a lot of success with apps, so those can be a helpful starting point,\u201d Kurtz said. \u201cBut you do have to go a little further than that.\u201d<\/p>\n Kurtz said she uses plant identifying apps like Picture This and Google Lens. She said she also recommends the website Go Botany<\/a>, which is run by The Native Plant Trust<\/a>. The site allows users help in identifying thousands of plant species throughout New England. Users can get help with plant identification, collaborate on field surveys, submit photos and develop checklists of plants for particular sites.<\/p>\n Oriental bittersweet, Japanese barberry, burning bush and Japanese knotweed are among the most common in yards, she said.<\/p>\n \u201cThese are the ones we most often find in backyards. They are very common across the state,\u201d Kurtz said. \u201cWe recommend that people look up some of these more common invasive plant species and see if they have any in their yard. If they do, we generally recommend to remove them and replace them with better alternatives.\u201d<\/p>\n Removing invasive plants<\/p>\n Without human intervention to remove invasive plant species, they will continue to grow and spread, Kurtz said.<\/p>\n Many invasive plants are highly destructive and can event prevent native plants from growing in a chemical process called allelopathy. This process is a natural phenomenon where plants release chemical compounds to inhibit or stimulate the growth of neighboring plants. Many times, invasive plant species use allelopathy to thwart native plant growth, she said.<\/p>\n Effective methods to remove invasive plants include hand-pulling, digging, cutting, covering and targeted herbicide application. But roots can be deep and seeds can spread easily, making eradicating invasive plants difficult.<\/p>\n One method of getting rid of a patch of invasive plants is through covering the infested area with heavy-duty plastic tarps or landscape fabric for at least one full growing season to kill plants by heat and light deprivation, she said. Covering, as the method is called, means blocking the invasive plants from receiving sunlight and not being able to conduct photosynthesis.<\/p>\n The opposite approach is called solarization, which entails digging up an invasive plant species and then leaving out in the sun for weeks to complete dry out before disposing of it. Invasive plant species that are pulled from the ground and thrown into the woods often can remain viable and continue to spread. Kurtz said it\u2019s important to properly dispose of the invasive plant by completely drying it out.<\/p>\n Banning invasive plants<\/p>\n Many invasive plant species are banned for sale in Connecticut, according to Kurtz.<\/p>\n