The warm soils and seasonal rainfall make early fall an ideal window to add trees, shrubs, and perennials to spruce up a garden. However, garden centers, nurseries, and online retailers can sell potentially troublesome plants that will leave you with gardener’s remorse.

Accidentally adding invasive plants to your garden can cause problems for many years to come, as they aggressively spread and overpower other plants in your yard. They can also cause damage to buildings and even escape from your garden, disrupting local ecosystems.

This list of invasive plants to avoid in fall reveals some of the worst contenders you may see for sale – and the expert-recommended alternatives to put in your shopping trolley instead. It even includes popular plants that are invasive; ones that many gardeners enjoy but don’t realize are troublesome.

6 Invasive Plants to Avoid in Fall

The first step to avoiding regret is to check what is invasive in your area. The labels in nurseries or garden centers won’t always contain this information. You can check the USDA invasive species list, consult your own state's list, or contact your local Extension office to find out what is invasive or noxious in your area.

There are two types of bamboo to grow. Clump-forming bamboos, as the name suggests, grow in tightly-packed clumps – these are less risky. Running bamboos, however, produce strong, long underground rhizomes that quickly spread. These take over the garden and can even cause structural damage to buildings.

David McCary, owner at Seattle Sustainable Landscapes, says that many people add bamboo to their yards ‘because it looks good’. He adds: ‘But it spreads quickly and is very hard to get rid of and most of the time ends up coming back.’

You can dig barriers into the ground to stop bamboo from spreading, but this is not always 100% reliable. ‘No matter how carefully you contain it, it always seems to find its way outside of your intended boundaries,’ warns Jose Lopez, the owner and founder of Williams Landscaping in Chicago.

Bamboo can be very versatile, as a screening plant for privacy or as part of a Japanese garden. But it is imperative to pick the right bamboo to prevent issues

A beautiful alternative to bamboo is Calamagrostis (reed grass). The popular ‘Karl Foerster' variety adds vertical drama as it sways in the breeze and won’t flop in winds or heavy rain. You can get a live ‘Karl Foerster’ feather reed grass at Nature Hills.

Nandina, or heavenly bamboo, is often a popular choice for homeowners as it is a low-maintenance shrub with lovely foliage and vivid red berries in the fall. Its stems resemble bamboo (hence the name), but it is not a true bamboo; rather, it is part of the barberry family.

Despite its name also claiming it is heavenly, it is far from angelic. Instead, it is classed as an invasive plant across the southeastern United States.

As Stephen Janacek, founder of Pollinator Patch, explains: ‘Nandina domestica is common in foundation plantings across the South. The Florida Invasive Species Council lists it in Category I, and Florida's Natural Areas Inventory notes it spreads by wildlife-dispersed seeds and vegetatively through rhizomes and suckers.’

The risks from adding heavenly bamboo to your backyard are two-fold. It both suckers and spreads in your yard, and also escapes into the local habitat to inhibit native plants. It is better to opt for a native alternative that is also low-maintenance and produces vivid fall berries.

The American beautyberry (Callicarpa americana) is a perfect alternative, with its stunning purple berries that really stand out during the colder months. You can get a live American beautyberry plant on Amazon.

Japanese barberry (Berberis thunbergii) has been widely used in landscaping for many years. It is tolerant of many soil types and low-maintenance – two factors that homeowners look for when planting shrubs or adding hedges to a property.

However, it is an invasive shrub that grows into a large mass, which can hide a nasty surprise.

‘They are common in nurseries due to the color offerings, but these thorny bushes can also become a headache for a new gardener,’ warns Sara Gottlieb, Founder and CEO of Liminal Gardens.

‘Ticks, known to spread Lyme disease, love to hide and live in this shrub along with small rodents like mice.

‘Barberry has also been known to spread fungal disease, Black Stem Rust, to wheat, oat, barley and rye populations in your area. Though sold as an easy-to-grow and maintain shrub, I would stay away from them in my home garden.’

If you plant Japanese barberry, it all-too-easily spreads outside the confines of a garden and forms thick groves that crowd out native plants.

Its invasive nature has led many states to ban or restrict its sale and planting. For example, Lindsay Chastain, homesteader and founder of Waddle & Cluck, says: ‘Japanese Barberry can't be sold or cultivated in Pennsylvania because of how it disrupts natural ecosystems.’

Stephen Janacek recommends growing ninebark (Physocarpus opulifolius) as an alternative to Japanese barberry. You can get a live ‘Summer Wine’ black ninebark at Nature Hills to plant for a pollinator-friendly shrub with deep burgundy foliage.

, also known as monbretia, is a hybrid variety of crocosmia that has gotten itself a troublesome reputation for escaping from gardens and crowding out native plants in wild areas.

‘Montbretia has striking orange (or red) flowers but spreads fast underground. Left unchecked, it can dominate garden beds and creep into wild areas,’ warns Jennifer Holmes at Environment Control.

‘Digging out corms before flowering can help, though large infestations may require chemical treatment by a qualified contractor.’

Crocosmia spreads in two ways, through underground corms and by seeds. After planting, it drifts and spreads across flower beds, dominating more delicate plants. Once it escapes the garden, it starts forming dense patches and outmuscling native plants.

In the US, it is classed as an invasive plant in North Carolina and across the West Coast.

You can plant crocosmia to enjoy their bold flowers and distinctive foliage, but choose the types wisely. Container-grown plants are often available in fall in nurseries or online. Crocosmia ‘Lucifer’ is a popular variety with scarlet flowers and is better-behaved than monbretia.

English ivy (Hedera helix), or common ivy, is a popular evergreen climber, though it is sometimes sold as an easy ground cover plant too. It is fast-growing and unfussy, capable of growing in any conditions from sun to deep shade. The versatility and ease of growing English ivy have made it a popular plant for many years, but it does not come without serious potential issues.

‘English ivy is a pretty popular plant that I would not add to your garden this fall,’ claims Lindsey Chastain.

This sentiment is echoed by Sara Gottlieb. She says: ‘It can be a picturesque, fast-growing addition to your garden, but the rapid growth can come at tremendous cost to a gardener. It is a strong species that easily out-competes surrounding species; it also loves to climb and choke other plant life to gain supremacy.’

Ivy spreads rapidly as an invasive ground cover, swamping other plants and creating a perfect hiding place for rats, mice, and other pests. As a climber, it has developed a reputation for damaging fences and buildings, with its aerial roots capable of boring into bricks and mortar.

The plant also escapes gardens and grows aggressively, including dominating and shading trees. Ivy’s bad behaviour has made it a destructive invasive species in the UK. Stephen Janacek adds: ‘Washington's Noxious Weed Control Board lists it as a Class C noxious weed.’

Stephen recommends kinnikinnick (Arctostaphylos uva-ursi), also known as bearberry, as an alternative native evergreen ground cover plant. You can get a live Massachusetts Hybrid kinnikinnick plant at Plant Addicts that will grow no taller than 18 inches but spread up to six feet. The foliage changes from deep green to red-purple in fall, the pink blooms are adored by bees, and the red fall berries are popular with wildlife.

Three-cornered leek (Allium triquetrum) is part of the allium family and, once it gets into your yard, you’ll struggle to get rid of it. Foragers adore these plants as a sweeter alternative to wild garlic, but they’re an invasive bulb you won’t want in your garden because they spread ferociously.

‘Three-cornered leek spreads quickly via bulbs,’ says Jennifer Holmes. ‘It can overrun garden borders and escape into woodlands, displacing native flora. Pulling up bulbs before flowering and careful disposal is essential. Persistent infestations may require repeated removal or herbicide treatment.’

It is hard to eliminate the plant as they grow from small bulblets. Any tiny bit left in the soil sees it resprout, ensuring a long battle to remove three-cornered leek if you have it in the garden.

Instead, grow an allium that isn’t as problematic, and there are many to choose from. Such as the native one-leaf onion (Allium unifolium). It is an ornamental allium with pinky-purple summer flowers in late spring. You can get Allium unifolium bulbs at White Flower Farm.

What to Shop

Renovating flower beds is a great task for any fall gardening checklist. For inspiration, our guide to the best perennials to plant in fall includes 10 great options you can plant in September or October, including the likes of hostas, coreopsis, phlox, coral bells, and more to fill any beds or borders with color and texture for seasons to come.

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