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Native plants suggestions after ivy removed #873663

Asked June 18, 2024, 4:19 PM EDT

Hi, I had a large amount of English Ivy and wild wineberry plants removed from this area today as it was spreading over my yard. I'm looking for recommendations for low maintenance native pollinator plants (flowering) or shrubs or other suggestions that would grow well here. This is at the top of a slope and gets full sun. Thank you!

Baltimore County Maryland

Expert Response

Good for you for getting non-native invasive plants like ivy and wineberry out of your landscape. (Since both are perennial, hopefully, the person you hired dug them out well and/or carefully used non-selective systemic herbicides to kill them back through the root system so they can't grow back. English Ivy for instance, can grow back from little pieces of vine left behind.
Here are our English Ivy and Wineberry pages which list how to best remove them: 
https://extension.umd.edu/resource/english-ivy/ 
https://extension.umd.edu/resource/wineberry/

As far as replacements, consider the options for sun on our Groundcovers page here: 
https://extension.umd.edu/resource/groundcovers/

Itea, Fringetree, Bottlebrush buckeye are possible shrubs, or you could do a mix of blooming perennial pollinator garden plants:
https://extension.umd.edu/resource/pollinator-gardens/
These will take time to come into their own and mature and there will be some upkeep and weeding in the first three years until the plants establish themselves.

Christine

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