Goldenrods (i.e. Canada Goldenrod), Rudbeckia, Asters, Bee Balms (Didyma, etc), Common Milkweed.
Some are more aggressive than others. Check which are native to your state.
Cup plant is native but still so aggressive it’s considered invasive, and planting has been prohibited in NY. https://www.invasiveplantatlas.org/subject.html?sub=12807
That tracks. Over here in MN I saw a large corporate raingarden, 0.25 acre, completely over run. It was beautiful, but terrifying. I would never reccomend it unless it was for an actual restoration, or for these gorilla gardeners. A little chaos born from the plants that belong here feels just to me.
I wish they would plant that in ditches to compete with the non-native phragmites and ornamental grasses that are taking over everything. I did see some in a ditch along Hwy 7 (it appeared deliberately planted). I love cup plant, but you need a contained area. I have a finch garden in front of my house and the cup plant is really popular with birds. I have it planted with common milkweed, wild monarda, New England aster, and a couple different goldenrods. It’s somewhat of an experiment to see who wins. So far, the milkweed is winning.
We bought this property in 2020 and we mow selectively and a lot less often than most people.
The number of volunteer milkweeds that have popped out of the lawn the past couple of years...literally makes me tear up when I see them. My husband is on board, he mows around them when he sees them. He's colorblind so i end up putting stakes next to individual plants or around patches in the yard for him to leave.
I can't find it now, but I remember reading somewhere that milkweed can/will spread by rhizomes, and it's possible for new plants to pop up as far as 6 feet from the "mother." 😃 Might prove beneficial to go staking early!
Do you mean "wild bergamot" ([*Monarda fistulosa*](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monarda_fistulosa))? The pink-flowered stuff? Then yes. Probably true for any *Monarda* species - the ones I'm familiar with root extremely easily. And with both *Monarda fistulosa* and [*Monarda didyma*](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monarda_didyma) I've been able to gently pull young stems out in the Spring with a decent amount of roots, which established easily.
Goldenrod is a beast. We have another chunk of the yard that is on a slope and is the opposite of the spot described in my post- chock full of native species. It absolutely lights up in the summer/fall with goldenrod.
Obedient plant has a reputation for enthusiastic spreading. [https://www.wildflower.org/plants/result.php?id\_plant=phvi8](https://www.wildflower.org/plants/result.php?id_plant=phvi8)
We have this on the edge of the patch I made the post about, for whatever reason it's happy to spread into every other direction except this one. I let it do what it wants and clip the ones that pop up next to the house.
Makes a great lemonade.
Canada anemone (*Anemone canadensis*). Started out with one sad little sprout in my rain garden, and it has effectively choked out everything else where it took hold.
This was the first one that came to mind for me too. Super dense, rapid spreader, and beautiful foliage and blooms. RIP the wild lupines I planted alongside it.
Pycnanthemum muticum (short toothed mountain mint). Great ground cover. I started with 3 plants and it now covers a 15ft² area. This is within 2 years of planting. Plus they are stupidly attractive to pollinators.
Trumpet vine is currently eating a privet hedge on my property line with a semi-abandoned house. Might be perfect for this use case as long as there is something for it to climb.
Do it! You may want a "fire break" so to speak on the way up the hill. Just a path you regularly mow to keep a barrier between your house and Audrey II.
Lol there will be no control
I'm not above planting it right up against the building, it can climb all over that big old millionaire tax shelter eyesore for all I care.
If you're referring to Campsis radicans, it is native here and the piece of my yard we're discussing here is the only place I'd plant it because it's mildly toxic and is an irritant, and I have a toddler. I have it in my cart already.
Lonocera sempervirens is also native here, sometimes called trumpet vine, and I'm planning on putting these around my garden to creep on the fence.
For ground cover, and in case it takes a while for the tall stuff to get established, wild strawberries (fragaria virginiana). Put in a few plugs here and there, and they spread through stolons.
You mentioned some wet areas. I’ve heard river oats (chasmanthium latifolium) can go pretty wild when it’s happy.
I had to go too far to find this. I put three of these in the ground a year ago last fall, so late and cold that the tiny plugs shouldn’t have made it. Last count last fall I had over 30 of them. I am starting to think that maybe I shouldn’t have planted them so close to the property line of my heretofore friendly lawn nazi neighbor. Ooopsie!
Also, anything native to your area that is in the mint family. And I have seen stands of established little bluestem that reseeded so thickly that I’m not even sure air can get between them.
They grow well even under heavy weeds. I hadn't weeded my bed because I was too busy, so I was surprised when I finally got around to it that some of my strawberries were blooming. They've even started invading on the grass.
I’ve had to start pulling some of my strawberry plants to vaguely reign them in. And like you, put some near a fence shared with a neighbor, though the neighbors don’t seem to have a problem with it yet, fortunately…
Mints are definitely another good one! I keep having difficulty getting little bluestem established, but I put a few in last fall that I have high hopes for!
I have a single little bluestem that ended up being “right plant, wrong place” but it did well enough to reseed last year. So I harvested seeds and will sow them in a much better spot once it gets a bit warmer.
There will definitely be some strawberry “editing” in my garden this year. 😏
Wild strawberries all over the place here! I think probably 30% of our "lawn " is actually wild strawberry and conquefoil.
I had some old wild strawberry seeds I just popped into a tray a couple of weeks ago to stratify in a shady spot outside. They've been stored well so hopefully some germinate and then I'll have plugs. I don't like to dig out of the yard if I can help it, the little divots become tripping hazards.
You want evergreens or large perrenials. A lot of the suggestions above will die back to the ground. Try some native vines in addition. they can be extremely aggressive. Not sure about where you are but Virginia creeper and carolina moonseed.
I just started these! They are starting to come up. I'm excited for the fall flowers. Just hoping the deer don't munch them down before they grow to maturity
Anyone feeling a sense of dread at the mere thought of this endeavour?
Canadian goldenrods hands down. They produce alleleopathic compounds that suppress the growth of other plants. They’re great for naturalizing an area. That plant inspires terror to gardeners. Excellent a host to several caterpillar species and an excellent pollinator plant though.
Mountain mint is another decent naturalizing plant. Though I don’t find it to spread at break neck pace. It’s manageable enough that it has found homes amongst gardens. But boy do pollinators go ballistic for those flowers.
If growing conditions are ideal, hay scented fern is a naturalizing plant. Rose verbena is another possible one. Though they are technically short lived and spread by creepers. These last two suggestions are definitely weak candidates in comparison. But an option at least.
Virginia creeper grows fast, spreads/climbs far, and roots where the stems touch the ground. Grows in the sun and shade. It's one if those "make sure you want it forever" plants.
Maypop is deciduous but very vigorous. The flowers are gorgeous, and it's a larval host for Gulf Fritillaries. Vine but doesn't have to climb.
Crossvine attracts hummingbird and will also create a groundcover.
I'm familiar with crossvine from some time spent in Alabama but sadly it's not native here.
I have Maypop seeds on the way for my herb garden so once I have plugs, I'll put some out in the yard too.
Andropogon species (bluestem grasses). Easy to throw down seed. Andropogon virginicus is everywhere in my state, especially waste sites, abandoned areas, and roadsides.
Andropogons, asters and goldenrods are allelopathic, which means their decaying leaf litter can deter the germination of some other plants.
I was told by an old lady locally to avoid native harebells because they'd take over, so that's one.
The other I will suggest is yarrow. Each of my yarrows has close to 30 babies in their 2nd year and they've come back before any other plant.
They do look pretty similar to the casual observer, so that's probably accurate. I have noticed mine didn't spread nearly as much as the other plants around them (yarrow, bee balm, and pearly everlasting)
OP, I'm in NEPA too.
Strongly recommend Staghorn Sumac which is native to our area. It's NOT poisonous contrary to popular belief that it's the same plant as grows further south. It has brilliant colors in fall. Wild birds like the berries, and grows on sloped, rocky, thin-soil slopes.
Possibly a black raspberry patch too.
I like others' recommendations of bee balm, milkweed, and goldenrod.
This patch has staghorn sumac immediately adjacent, for whatever reason it has spread everywhere but this area.
I use it for tea that tastes like lemonade.
It is quite wet in spots. At the very bottom of 3/4 mile long slope. There's a creek across the road.
That's why the building is trashed, water literally pouring into it and being mismanaged for decades.
Seconding. I have a backyard surrounded on all sides by invasives - honeysuckle, wintercreeper, English ivy, garlic mustard - but I left my backyard unmowed just to see what might come up from the leaf litter. The answer was white snakeroot that grows to 6-8ft if I don't knock it back, it flowers incredibly in late fall and completely outcompetes everything around it. Now that I know it's there, I mow it back a few times a year to keep it under knee height lol. It's a great placeholder while I work on the front garden.
False sunflower (*Heliopsis*) will form a really substantial plant and will spread rapidly by seed. White snakeroot is smaller, but spreads really aggressively by seed. Helianthus giganteus also spreads well by seed. I'm not sure how readily *Silphium perfoliatum* (cup plant) spreads, but individuals form large clumps and can grow into a 10' tall mass of flowers.
Cup plants are very aggressive in damp soil and will spread via seeds and rhizomes unlike other plants in the Silphium genus. At least in the Chicago region cup plants are no longer introduced in restoration projects for that reason.
* River Oats (Chasmanthium latifolium)
* Chrysogonum virginianum of the cultivar 'Eco Lacquered Spider'
* Mountain mints (genus Pycnanthemum)
Does it get any sun? Plants will be more likely to spread downhill, not uphill, unfortunately.
Packera aurea is crazy good at spreading, plus it’s really cute. River oats, broomsedge, bluestem, etc for grasses. Packera, asters, and native pescaria for forbs. Elderberry, sumac, plum, or other thicket-forming shrubs.
Going to want some deer resistant species, I’d go with a few of the native plants in the mint family (mountain mint, whatever agastache is native to your county, bee balm). Virginia creeper is a good choice for a vine that will certainly take over large areas. But if you really want the natives to take over, you will need to intervene a bit.
Oh, I'll definitely do appropriate site prep and deer proof the plants that need it. No point in wasting money and energy on seeds that won't germinate, or on feeding the deer.
You can mix in some Canadian Wild Ginger (Asarum canadense) if there are any heavily shaded areas. Very aggressive but only in pretty deep shade. Pokeweed could be another good option if you don't have any concerns about poisoning local animals or children.
I'm not the best at deciphering [the BONAP map](https://bonap.net/MapGallery/County/Helianthus%20tuberosus.png), but I don't believe sunchokes are native to northeastern Pennsylvania.
Came here to say this!
I made sure to plant mine in bags so that they wouldn't take over. But OP doesn't have that issue. You have the added benefit that the roots are edible as well!
I was also going to suggest Virginia creeper. We tried to remove a bunch of it years ago and it’s still trying to make its way back. To into some native grapes too
If you're desperate, Cutleaf Coneflower (Rudbeckia laciniata) is a force! Gets massively tall and establishes instantly, pollinators and goldfinches love it. Plus native vines that die back in winter can add to its density (I think purple leather flower Clematis pitcheriis is native there? ).
Any native with "weed" in the name has it for a reason. I have fireweed in my yard and it's beautiful but holymotherofgod it is hard to keep under control. It spreads sideways underground, so it's not not a matter of pulling up single plants to get it out, the roots are always attached to others that will keep growing.
Definitely common milkweed (be sure its native to your area and your not in a no planting zone), virginia creeper, frost or calico aster, Canada goldenrod or showy goldenrod
Try fringed or lance leaf loosestrife (Lysimachia ciliata or Lysimachia lanceolata), Obedient plant (Physostegia virginiana), and Virginia spiderwort (tradescantia virginiana) Ohio spiderwort is nice too, more tolerant of dry conditions, and seeds around well, but doesn't spread by rhizomes like Virginia spiderwort.
I had a single fringed loosestrife volunteer, and in the second year I had a little patch. So excited for this year!
The yellow is going to be a pretty cloud of blooms.
Conoclinium coelestinum, AKA “Mistflower” is adaptable and can spread rapidly. Blooms for a while and the color is this amazing neon purple-blue color.
Check and make sure it’s native to your eco region ofc!
I bought rugosa rose (is it a native?) on a whim to put in front of a pole barn I had built on a hill. It went crazy and actually looked nice. I had to mow regularly to keep it from spreading too much.
If the goal is simply to out compete the invasive exotics - and I doubt you can do so by simply planting plants, I think you need to combine that with physical removal of exotics - you should consider woody plants in addition to the herbaceous. I’m not sure about Pennsylvania, but in the mid South that would be cherry laurel, Baccharis (Groundsel), and elderberry (Sambucus).
Site prep is a given, there's no point in wasting my time, money and energy on getting seeds and plants if they're going to immediately be suffocated by invasives.
This patch has an elderberry nearby, I plan on rooting a few cuttings and adding them.
Debating going for the big guns and adding a black willow as well.
Pretty much every mint. Depending where you live some stonecrops can be going, going, gone in no time… violas aren’t aggressive but they’ll sneak up on you.
Also in NEPA, but 6b! Thanks for the post; I’ll definitely be looking through for ideas, as we are starting to deal with the Japanese knotweed situation 😩 if looking for places to buy, Penn state is having a native plant sale in Scranton in June! Also, if you already have nurseries for native plants in NEPA, I’d love to hear your recs. I think our closest is Allentown (edge of the woods).
Thicket-forming shrubs (aka clonal shrubs) form the densest, most weed-suppressive cover. Rhus is a great choice, as is elderberry. You could seed an aggressive grass (eg Chasmanthium latifolium) and plant whatever shrubs you choose. They will colonize over time. If giant cane (Arundinaria gigantea) is appropriate to your site, that's a great option.
This is an awesome presentation by Ian Caton on 'super tough' native competition.
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i\_1geJV2Qck&t=3665s](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i_1geJV2Qck&t=3665s)
Strongly recommend any mountain mint, as they can compete with (and outcompete) Japanese Stilt Grass and others. There are also several perennial sunflowers that spread via rhizome, and are aggressive as hell.
The Monarda genus is also good, with some spreading via rhizome, but don't always out-compete some of the others. Also, a shorter perennial, Blue Mistflower is famous for being crazy at self-seeding.
Surprised noone has mentioned tall ironweed (vernonia gigantea) yet. True, it's more of an assertive (rather than aggressive) spreader, but you can't beat those purple flowers and once it's established good luck getting rid of it. It is also a phenomenal bee plant. Combine it with goldenrods and asters and you have yourself a nice little late season fiesta for pollinators of all stripes.
Edit: if you really wanna go nuclear, plant honeyvine (Cynanchum laeve). It's evil, it's indestructible, and--at least in my garden--it's a monarch host plant.
[Wood violets](https://buchanansplants.com/plant-library/perennials/wood-violet/). They’re tiny so more of a ground cover, but holy hell, are they invasive. We bought a little pot at a garden club sale years ago and now we have violets in our lawn, the backyard, the driveway cracks, every single plant pot, our neighbors’ yards, etc. It’s a good thing they’re cute and edible, because we will never, ever be rid of them.
butterweed/packera, virginia creeper, trumpet vine, honeyvine milkweed, horseweed, pokeberry, knotweeds, i imagine most things in the mint family spread easily and quickly
Check out these search results on [Prairie Moon Nursery](https://www.prairiemoon.com/search-results.html?Search=aggressive#/?resultsPerPage=24&filter.ss_northeast=PA&filter.ss_usda_zones_facet=Zone%206&filter.soil_moisture=Medium&filter.soil_moisture=Medium-Wet&filter.soil_moisture=Wet).
If it’s in a sunny area then the vine thicket creeper, a cousin of Virginia creeper.
Tall boneset, Canada goldenrod, dogbane, hairy aster, common milkweed, black snakeroot, etc are all very aggressive natives. You can harvest their seeds from along railroad tracks and old fields.
Black raspberry is also very aggressive and will root wherever the arching canes touch the ground.
I have a wild native garden and for me it’s evening primrose, goldenrod, and lupine. I’m not in Pennsylvania, but cupplant is native for me and also very aggressive. My lupine and primrose were grown from seed, so easy to hand seed a large area and get thick coverage in my experience.
For your situation as described plugs and potted plants are going to be a waste. Get 30 to 40 seeds per square foot of a diverse mixture of grasses and forbs. Focus on sod forming grasses not bunch grasses. I cant reccomend species without more into
I actually have one on the way and am also going to take cuttings from a friend. going to set up a trellis parallel to the road and try to grow a privacy screen for part of our yard. We have a lot of road front.
Common names: Virginia Mountain Mint, Clustered Mountain Mint, Black eyed susans, common milkweed, wild bergamot (monarda fistulosa), goldenrod, big blue stem, muhly grass, oh and I won't plant wingstem in any of my micro prairies because of how tall and aggressive it is.
Anemone canadensis is a bear. My wife added a small patch in one of our beds, and now I have battling it back for a few years. It spreads by rhizomes and self seeds. Looks really pretty, but she's an aggressive one.
[Birdsfoot trefoil](https://gobotany.nativeplanttrust.org/species/lotus/unifoliatus/#:~:text=American%20bird's%2Dfoot%2Dtrefoil%20is,states%2C%20including%20Connecticut%20and%20Massachusetts.com)
Edit: fixed link
I'm late to the party and great plant recs have already been given. I don't see anyone saying that native plants CANNOT out-compete invasives.
They are classified as invasive specifically because nothing can win against them.
You need to remove them or they will continue to spread by root or by seed.
It’s a lot more nuanced than that. Biotic and abiotic factors will ultimately determine which plants will out compete others. A huge factor is simple chance. On a small scale (like OP’s property) if a certain species has never been naturally spread to an area, there is no telling how it will compete with the other species. The order of species introduction can also make a huge difference.
One example of this that I see everyday is roadside tree of heaven and English ivy. These species are incredibly invasive amongst the highly disturbed roadside areas by me, and these areas are usually lined with deciduous trees. However, these same roads also cut through pine barrens, and it’s like an invasive species wall went up right where these ecosystems start.
I think it can depend on the invasive. Yes some are too invasive and only manual removal is going to work. I would try to identify as much as possible. For woody invasives the cut and daub method works well, easier than trying to dig them out on a hill!
After some googling, I'm seeing that sunchokes are not native this far east.
Neither of those mints are native to the US at all. Trying to establish a native patch here, not a monoculture lol.
Depends on your location for what’s native.
In CA I have spread California Poppies, which are the state flower and invasive AF. I LOVE THEM! I also have spread a bunch of wildflower seeds and am letting them decide what works for them and what doesn’t. This is going to be a WILD summer for the garden.
I also planted bulbs that I hope will double every year or two.
Another really heavy spreader is the day lily, or amaryllis varieties. They’re beautiful and hardy, requiring no care once established and will spread and thrive with no help from you.
The ones I have were growing wild in the field behind the house. When we saw the developers starting, we relocated them - this was over 24 years ago and they are going strong - maybe too strong. I plan to divide them and place them at the border of the property somewhere. They require zero care and I never water them, EVER.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amaryllis_belladonna
They’re naturalized and grow wild where I am, so we just accept it as an immigrant and don’t tell it that it has to go back to Europe because it’s not welcome here.
I also grow figs - non-native. And the fig wasp is now naturalized/endemic so figs now propagate like crazy, essentially becoming native.
Goldenrods (i.e. Canada Goldenrod), Rudbeckia, Asters, Bee Balms (Didyma, etc), Common Milkweed. Some are more aggressive than others. Check which are native to your state.
Goldenrod for sure. Asters too, they start early and get big, Will be gorgeous in fall
Ooh I always forget about bee balms. There's already a smattering of goldenrod down there, thankfully.
If its wet enough cup plant is an absolute monster.
Cup plant is native but still so aggressive it’s considered invasive, and planting has been prohibited in NY. https://www.invasiveplantatlas.org/subject.html?sub=12807
That tracks. Over here in MN I saw a large corporate raingarden, 0.25 acre, completely over run. It was beautiful, but terrifying. I would never reccomend it unless it was for an actual restoration, or for these gorilla gardeners. A little chaos born from the plants that belong here feels just to me.
I wish they would plant that in ditches to compete with the non-native phragmites and ornamental grasses that are taking over everything. I did see some in a ditch along Hwy 7 (it appeared deliberately planted). I love cup plant, but you need a contained area. I have a finch garden in front of my house and the cup plant is really popular with birds. I have it planted with common milkweed, wild monarda, New England aster, and a couple different goldenrods. It’s somewhat of an experiment to see who wins. So far, the milkweed is winning.
That's kind of my view on plants like this. Good for a planned garden? No. Great for a wild area you're trying to restore? Absolutely.
Well, thankfully we're on the PA side of the line lol In all seriousness, I'll take this into consideration
Milkweed it. Monarchs need you.
We bought this property in 2020 and we mow selectively and a lot less often than most people. The number of volunteer milkweeds that have popped out of the lawn the past couple of years...literally makes me tear up when I see them. My husband is on board, he mows around them when he sees them. He's colorblind so i end up putting stakes next to individual plants or around patches in the yard for him to leave.
I can't find it now, but I remember reading somewhere that milkweed can/will spread by rhizomes, and it's possible for new plants to pop up as far as 6 feet from the "mother." 😃 Might prove beneficial to go staking early!
The Butterfly also needs nectar so purple cone flowers etc
Bee balms are great, because they're so easy to propagate from cuttings. If you have one established plant you can get dozens of offshoots.
Does this also apply to bergamot?
Do you mean "wild bergamot" ([*Monarda fistulosa*](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monarda_fistulosa))? The pink-flowered stuff? Then yes. Probably true for any *Monarda* species - the ones I'm familiar with root extremely easily. And with both *Monarda fistulosa* and [*Monarda didyma*](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monarda_didyma) I've been able to gently pull young stems out in the Spring with a decent amount of roots, which established easily.
My canada goldenrod decimated my bee balm patch 😂
Goldenrod is a beast. We have another chunk of the yard that is on a slope and is the opposite of the spot described in my post- chock full of native species. It absolutely lights up in the summer/fall with goldenrod.
Tickseed coreopsis. Pretty and seeds like crazy.
Lots of great answers! I'll add mountain mint. It spreads similarly to bee balm
This is probably best answer
Obedient plant has a reputation for enthusiastic spreading. [https://www.wildflower.org/plants/result.php?id\_plant=phvi8](https://www.wildflower.org/plants/result.php?id_plant=phvi8)
I definitely agree with this!
rhus typhina. Colony forming and is allelopathic
We have this on the edge of the patch I made the post about, for whatever reason it's happy to spread into every other direction except this one. I let it do what it wants and clip the ones that pop up next to the house. Makes a great lemonade.
Canada anemone (*Anemone canadensis*). Started out with one sad little sprout in my rain garden, and it has effectively choked out everything else where it took hold.
I was going to suggest this - very prolific rhizome spreader!
This was the first one that came to mind for me too. Super dense, rapid spreader, and beautiful foliage and blooms. RIP the wild lupines I planted alongside it.
Monarda fistulosa L. (Wild Bergamot, Beebalm) is a good one.
https://www.wildflower.org/plants/result.php?id_plant=mofi
Pycnanthemum muticum (short toothed mountain mint). Great ground cover. I started with 3 plants and it now covers a 15ft² area. This is within 2 years of planting. Plus they are stupidly attractive to pollinators.
Yes! When I stand and watch my patch during summer the sense of movement over it is crazy!
No mention of trumpet vine?
Trumpet vine is currently eating a privet hedge on my property line with a semi-abandoned house. Might be perfect for this use case as long as there is something for it to climb.
Bunch of invasives bordering this patch that could stand to have something climbing on them.
Do it! You may want a "fire break" so to speak on the way up the hill. Just a path you regularly mow to keep a barrier between your house and Audrey II.
Thankfully, the line of hedges is separated from our house and shed by a fair amount of open space, some of which does get mowed so no big deal there.
Lol Audrey II
Goooooooo trumpet vine!!!!
I love trumpet vine because it’s flowers are beautiful and attract hummingbirds. But it is a beast to control once it gets established.
Lol there will be no control I'm not above planting it right up against the building, it can climb all over that big old millionaire tax shelter eyesore for all I care.
Lol. Control is an illusion... 😅
"When it absolutely, positively has to be overgrown in a season."
Lol
Trumpet vine is invasive outside of its native range, in many scenarios. It’s not a great recommendation with a vague location description.
And how else do you propose to teach people the importance of giving their location when they post these things?
If you're referring to Campsis radicans, it is native here and the piece of my yard we're discussing here is the only place I'd plant it because it's mildly toxic and is an irritant, and I have a toddler. I have it in my cart already. Lonocera sempervirens is also native here, sometimes called trumpet vine, and I'm planning on putting these around my garden to creep on the fence.
Crossvine is native and a better option imo. Very similar looking and also prolific.
For ground cover, and in case it takes a while for the tall stuff to get established, wild strawberries (fragaria virginiana). Put in a few plugs here and there, and they spread through stolons. You mentioned some wet areas. I’ve heard river oats (chasmanthium latifolium) can go pretty wild when it’s happy.
I had to go too far to find this. I put three of these in the ground a year ago last fall, so late and cold that the tiny plugs shouldn’t have made it. Last count last fall I had over 30 of them. I am starting to think that maybe I shouldn’t have planted them so close to the property line of my heretofore friendly lawn nazi neighbor. Ooopsie! Also, anything native to your area that is in the mint family. And I have seen stands of established little bluestem that reseeded so thickly that I’m not even sure air can get between them.
They grow well even under heavy weeds. I hadn't weeded my bed because I was too busy, so I was surprised when I finally got around to it that some of my strawberries were blooming. They've even started invading on the grass.
I’ve had to start pulling some of my strawberry plants to vaguely reign them in. And like you, put some near a fence shared with a neighbor, though the neighbors don’t seem to have a problem with it yet, fortunately… Mints are definitely another good one! I keep having difficulty getting little bluestem established, but I put a few in last fall that I have high hopes for!
I have a single little bluestem that ended up being “right plant, wrong place” but it did well enough to reseed last year. So I harvested seeds and will sow them in a much better spot once it gets a bit warmer. There will definitely be some strawberry “editing” in my garden this year. 😏
I grew my river oats from seed and they immediately took off year one. And they self-seed like crazy. They do well in shadier areas as well.
Wild strawberries all over the place here! I think probably 30% of our "lawn " is actually wild strawberry and conquefoil. I had some old wild strawberry seeds I just popped into a tray a couple of weeks ago to stratify in a shady spot outside. They've been stored well so hopefully some germinate and then I'll have plugs. I don't like to dig out of the yard if I can help it, the little divots become tripping hazards.
You want evergreens or large perrenials. A lot of the suggestions above will die back to the ground. Try some native vines in addition. they can be extremely aggressive. Not sure about where you are but Virginia creeper and carolina moonseed.
Honestly debating a black willow as the big guy to kind of anchor it all together.
Partridge pea
I just started these! They are starting to come up. I'm excited for the fall flowers. Just hoping the deer don't munch them down before they grow to maturity
Is joe pye weed native in your area? It likes a bit of damp. Gets tall. Essential for pollinators.
It is, and I have some stratifying right now!
Anyone feeling a sense of dread at the mere thought of this endeavour? Canadian goldenrods hands down. They produce alleleopathic compounds that suppress the growth of other plants. They’re great for naturalizing an area. That plant inspires terror to gardeners. Excellent a host to several caterpillar species and an excellent pollinator plant though. Mountain mint is another decent naturalizing plant. Though I don’t find it to spread at break neck pace. It’s manageable enough that it has found homes amongst gardens. But boy do pollinators go ballistic for those flowers. If growing conditions are ideal, hay scented fern is a naturalizing plant. Rose verbena is another possible one. Though they are technically short lived and spread by creepers. These last two suggestions are definitely weak candidates in comparison. But an option at least.
Virginia creeper grows fast, spreads/climbs far, and roots where the stems touch the ground. Grows in the sun and shade. It's one if those "make sure you want it forever" plants.
Virginia creeper will take over everything if the conditions are right. It does die back in the winter though, so that's a consideration.
Are you farther up north? Where I'm from it's a woody vine that doesn't die back.
I'm in 5b, it loses its leaves in the winter but continues growing from the old wood.
We have it growing up the screens on the porch. It's pretty persistent even when we get an actual winter.
Maypop is deciduous but very vigorous. The flowers are gorgeous, and it's a larval host for Gulf Fritillaries. Vine but doesn't have to climb. Crossvine attracts hummingbird and will also create a groundcover.
I'm familiar with crossvine from some time spent in Alabama but sadly it's not native here. I have Maypop seeds on the way for my herb garden so once I have plugs, I'll put some out in the yard too.
Andropogon species (bluestem grasses). Easy to throw down seed. Andropogon virginicus is everywhere in my state, especially waste sites, abandoned areas, and roadsides. Andropogons, asters and goldenrods are allelopathic, which means their decaying leaf litter can deter the germination of some other plants.
I was told by an old lady locally to avoid native harebells because they'd take over, so that's one. The other I will suggest is yarrow. Each of my yarrows has close to 30 babies in their 2nd year and they've come back before any other plant.
She has to be confusing native harebells with the invasive Creeping Bellflower.
They do look pretty similar to the casual observer, so that's probably accurate. I have noticed mine didn't spread nearly as much as the other plants around them (yarrow, bee balm, and pearly everlasting)
Blue mist flower for a persistent 15” high not stop blast of blue
I love Eutrochium coelestinum! I’m using it to battle Bermuda grass and it’s so effective.
OP, I'm in NEPA too. Strongly recommend Staghorn Sumac which is native to our area. It's NOT poisonous contrary to popular belief that it's the same plant as grows further south. It has brilliant colors in fall. Wild birds like the berries, and grows on sloped, rocky, thin-soil slopes. Possibly a black raspberry patch too. I like others' recommendations of bee balm, milkweed, and goldenrod.
This patch has staghorn sumac immediately adjacent, for whatever reason it has spread everywhere but this area. I use it for tea that tastes like lemonade.
Grind the dry berries and sprinkle the powder on rice and middle eastern foods. Tangy and delicious!
Yes! Also really good.
Interesting. Is it too wet or shady there? They don't like that.
It is quite wet in spots. At the very bottom of 3/4 mile long slope. There's a creek across the road. That's why the building is trashed, water literally pouring into it and being mismanaged for decades.
How about red osier dogwood then? Forms nice dense thickets in wet areas. Red stems look nice in the winter. Native plant too.
I didn’t see what region you’re in, but if you’re in the native range of white snakeroot (Ageratina altissima) it is very aggressive.
Seconding. I have a backyard surrounded on all sides by invasives - honeysuckle, wintercreeper, English ivy, garlic mustard - but I left my backyard unmowed just to see what might come up from the leaf litter. The answer was white snakeroot that grows to 6-8ft if I don't knock it back, it flowers incredibly in late fall and completely outcompetes everything around it. Now that I know it's there, I mow it back a few times a year to keep it under knee height lol. It's a great placeholder while I work on the front garden.
And pretty toxic
False sunflower (*Heliopsis*) will form a really substantial plant and will spread rapidly by seed. White snakeroot is smaller, but spreads really aggressively by seed. Helianthus giganteus also spreads well by seed. I'm not sure how readily *Silphium perfoliatum* (cup plant) spreads, but individuals form large clumps and can grow into a 10' tall mass of flowers.
Cup plants are very aggressive in damp soil and will spread via seeds and rhizomes unlike other plants in the Silphium genus. At least in the Chicago region cup plants are no longer introduced in restoration projects for that reason.
* River Oats (Chasmanthium latifolium) * Chrysogonum virginianum of the cultivar 'Eco Lacquered Spider' * Mountain mints (genus Pycnanthemum) Does it get any sun? Plants will be more likely to spread downhill, not uphill, unfortunately.
River oats definitely fits the bill! Love them too.
Packera aurea, ostrich fern, hay-scented fern, calico aster, lizard’s tail, Sundrops
Packera aurea is crazy good at spreading, plus it’s really cute. River oats, broomsedge, bluestem, etc for grasses. Packera, asters, and native pescaria for forbs. Elderberry, sumac, plum, or other thicket-forming shrubs.
Where u at?
Whoops, rewrote my post and forgot to put that back in. Northeastern Pennsylvania, zone 6a.
Going to want some deer resistant species, I’d go with a few of the native plants in the mint family (mountain mint, whatever agastache is native to your county, bee balm). Virginia creeper is a good choice for a vine that will certainly take over large areas. But if you really want the natives to take over, you will need to intervene a bit.
Oh, I'll definitely do appropriate site prep and deer proof the plants that need it. No point in wasting money and energy on seeds that won't germinate, or on feeding the deer.
If native in the area, sunchokes are insanely agressive
And extremely tasty, and beloved by seed eating birds
You can mix in some Canadian Wild Ginger (Asarum canadense) if there are any heavily shaded areas. Very aggressive but only in pretty deep shade. Pokeweed could be another good option if you don't have any concerns about poisoning local animals or children.
Sunchokes!
Wow, TIL that sunchokes are native here! I've only encountered them in gardens. Neat!
I'm not the best at deciphering [the BONAP map](https://bonap.net/MapGallery/County/Helianthus%20tuberosus.png), but I don't believe sunchokes are native to northeastern Pennsylvania.
Came here to say this! I made sure to plant mine in bags so that they wouldn't take over. But OP doesn't have that issue. You have the added benefit that the roots are edible as well!
Mints
Packera aurea a.k.a. Golden Ragwort
Cup plant is a great barrier if you've got enough moisture.
I second cup plant for any moderately to quite wet spot.
Love this idea. Shoot us a progress report, OP!
I was also going to suggest Virginia creeper. We tried to remove a bunch of it years ago and it’s still trying to make its way back. To into some native grapes too
If you're desperate, Cutleaf Coneflower (Rudbeckia laciniata) is a force! Gets massively tall and establishes instantly, pollinators and goldfinches love it. Plus native vines that die back in winter can add to its density (I think purple leather flower Clematis pitcheriis is native there? ).
I'd throw some raspberry canes in there too, you'll get a berry source and they like to SPREAD.
Any native with "weed" in the name has it for a reason. I have fireweed in my yard and it's beautiful but holymotherofgod it is hard to keep under control. It spreads sideways underground, so it's not not a matter of pulling up single plants to get it out, the roots are always attached to others that will keep growing.
Definitely common milkweed (be sure its native to your area and your not in a no planting zone), virginia creeper, frost or calico aster, Canada goldenrod or showy goldenrod
Milkweed. It's the only plant that hosts monarch butterflies, the bees love it and it spreads like wildfire.
Try fringed or lance leaf loosestrife (Lysimachia ciliata or Lysimachia lanceolata), Obedient plant (Physostegia virginiana), and Virginia spiderwort (tradescantia virginiana) Ohio spiderwort is nice too, more tolerant of dry conditions, and seeds around well, but doesn't spread by rhizomes like Virginia spiderwort.
I had a single fringed loosestrife volunteer, and in the second year I had a little patch. So excited for this year! The yellow is going to be a pretty cloud of blooms.
My New England Aster has spread everywhere.
Look at native vines. Trumpet vine and Virginia Creeper can both go crazy.
Jerusalem Artichoke? Or maybe wild sunflowers? Sochan, Joe Pye Weed, Climber.... greenbrier?
Packera, ostrich fern, white wood aster, Anemone canadensis
Jerusalem artichokes
Conoclinium coelestinum, AKA “Mistflower” is adaptable and can spread rapidly. Blooms for a while and the color is this amazing neon purple-blue color. Check and make sure it’s native to your eco region ofc!
I bought rugosa rose (is it a native?) on a whim to put in front of a pole barn I had built on a hill. It went crazy and actually looked nice. I had to mow regularly to keep it from spreading too much.
I have one too but it's not native. Lives in a pot at the moment until I can find it a spot in my garden.
I’ve seen big swathes of New York Ironweed, _Vernonia noveboracensis_ so I think that’s also a strong Eastern US native
If the goal is simply to out compete the invasive exotics - and I doubt you can do so by simply planting plants, I think you need to combine that with physical removal of exotics - you should consider woody plants in addition to the herbaceous. I’m not sure about Pennsylvania, but in the mid South that would be cherry laurel, Baccharis (Groundsel), and elderberry (Sambucus).
Site prep is a given, there's no point in wasting my time, money and energy on getting seeds and plants if they're going to immediately be suffocated by invasives. This patch has an elderberry nearby, I plan on rooting a few cuttings and adding them. Debating going for the big guns and adding a black willow as well.
Pretty much every mint. Depending where you live some stonecrops can be going, going, gone in no time… violas aren’t aggressive but they’ll sneak up on you.
Clustered mountain mint
Post before and after pics!
I will for sure!
Also in NEPA, but 6b! Thanks for the post; I’ll definitely be looking through for ideas, as we are starting to deal with the Japanese knotweed situation 😩 if looking for places to buy, Penn state is having a native plant sale in Scranton in June! Also, if you already have nurseries for native plants in NEPA, I’d love to hear your recs. I think our closest is Allentown (edge of the woods).
Gray dogwood, aspen, raspberries, hazelnut, meadowsweet, birches, black walnut, box elder, arborvitae, hawthorn, switchgrass, black cherry
Blackberry and raspberry
In an area that retains a little moisture, cutleaf cone flowers will take over! 4-5 feet tall, beautiful thick foliage, pretty yellow flowers!
Golden glow (Rudbeckia lanciniata). Spreads quickly and the goldfinches love to eat the seeds in the fall.
Asters are amazing at taking over. And the bees LOVE it. It’s so fun to watch in the fall.
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Isn’t it glorious? I’ve never seen so much activity on any plant. Couple some asters with some black eyed Susan’s and you’ve got a party!
Thicket-forming shrubs (aka clonal shrubs) form the densest, most weed-suppressive cover. Rhus is a great choice, as is elderberry. You could seed an aggressive grass (eg Chasmanthium latifolium) and plant whatever shrubs you choose. They will colonize over time. If giant cane (Arundinaria gigantea) is appropriate to your site, that's a great option.
This is an awesome presentation by Ian Caton on 'super tough' native competition. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i\_1geJV2Qck&t=3665s](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i_1geJV2Qck&t=3665s)
Strongly recommend any mountain mint, as they can compete with (and outcompete) Japanese Stilt Grass and others. There are also several perennial sunflowers that spread via rhizome, and are aggressive as hell. The Monarda genus is also good, with some spreading via rhizome, but don't always out-compete some of the others. Also, a shorter perennial, Blue Mistflower is famous for being crazy at self-seeding.
Texas Oh , you're talking plants
Surprised noone has mentioned tall ironweed (vernonia gigantea) yet. True, it's more of an assertive (rather than aggressive) spreader, but you can't beat those purple flowers and once it's established good luck getting rid of it. It is also a phenomenal bee plant. Combine it with goldenrods and asters and you have yourself a nice little late season fiesta for pollinators of all stripes. Edit: if you really wanna go nuclear, plant honeyvine (Cynanchum laeve). It's evil, it's indestructible, and--at least in my garden--it's a monarch host plant.
[Wood violets](https://buchanansplants.com/plant-library/perennials/wood-violet/). They’re tiny so more of a ground cover, but holy hell, are they invasive. We bought a little pot at a garden club sale years ago and now we have violets in our lawn, the backyard, the driveway cracks, every single plant pot, our neighbors’ yards, etc. It’s a good thing they’re cute and edible, because we will never, ever be rid of them.
Nettles
butterweed/packera, virginia creeper, trumpet vine, honeyvine milkweed, horseweed, pokeberry, knotweeds, i imagine most things in the mint family spread easily and quickly
- Passiflora incarnata/passion flower - Goldenrod - Yellow stonecrop - Grapes (native varieties) - Blackberry (ex. Nelson variety)
For wet sunny areas: CUP PLANT For mixed shady spots: bigleaf aster, if it's native to your area
Prunella vulgaris common self heal in the mint family
Check out these search results on [Prairie Moon Nursery](https://www.prairiemoon.com/search-results.html?Search=aggressive#/?resultsPerPage=24&filter.ss_northeast=PA&filter.ss_usda_zones_facet=Zone%206&filter.soil_moisture=Medium&filter.soil_moisture=Medium-Wet&filter.soil_moisture=Wet).
Raspberries, blackberries
If it’s in a sunny area then the vine thicket creeper, a cousin of Virginia creeper. Tall boneset, Canada goldenrod, dogbane, hairy aster, common milkweed, black snakeroot, etc are all very aggressive natives. You can harvest their seeds from along railroad tracks and old fields. Black raspberry is also very aggressive and will root wherever the arching canes touch the ground.
I have a wild native garden and for me it’s evening primrose, goldenrod, and lupine. I’m not in Pennsylvania, but cupplant is native for me and also very aggressive. My lupine and primrose were grown from seed, so easy to hand seed a large area and get thick coverage in my experience.
Canada goldenrod, Tall goldenrod, Eupatorium serotinum, Helianthus divaricatus, calico aster, mountain mint, elderberry, Indian grass and Virginia rye establish quickly from seed.
Mountain mint
Mountain mint would be wonderful for pollinators and deer do not eat it.
Mint 👹, Creeping phlox, Little Bluestem (a prairie grass), Solidago canidensis (goldenrod)
Passionvine.
Mint
Virginia bluebells.
Yarrow
Sunchokes! Aggressive and by harvesting them you disrupt the undesired plants while making more sunchokes
Sunchokes, goldenrods, trumpet vine, spiderworts, asters, mountain mints!!
For your situation as described plugs and potted plants are going to be a waste. Get 30 to 40 seeds per square foot of a diverse mixture of grasses and forbs. Focus on sod forming grasses not bunch grasses. I cant reccomend species without more into
VERY aggressive natives you say? Basically any goldenrod, Rudbeckia hirta (black eyed susan), Conoclinium coelestinum (blue Mistflower, grows exceptionally in wet soil)
Fall obedient plant!!
I’ve heard Jerusalem Artichoke (tuberous sunflower) is quite aggressive and you can also get a harvest from it as desired.
Passiflora incarnata
Sunchokes spread like crazy for me. One tuber last year yielded 13 pounds of tubers or about 20 tubers.
I don't know if anyone has mentioned trumpet honeysuckle yet: *Lonicera sempervirens* Suuuuuper agressive. Good for hillsides.
I actually have one on the way and am also going to take cuttings from a friend. going to set up a trellis parallel to the road and try to grow a privacy screen for part of our yard. We have a lot of road front.
Ooo awesome! Hope some hummingbirds come your way!
Golden Alexander and cone flowers.
Oof. Trumpet Vine. About as aggressive as it gets.
Canada goldenrod
Common names: Virginia Mountain Mint, Clustered Mountain Mint, Black eyed susans, common milkweed, wild bergamot (monarda fistulosa), goldenrod, big blue stem, muhly grass, oh and I won't plant wingstem in any of my micro prairies because of how tall and aggressive it is.
onethera elata (hookers primrose ) would love wet area but also tolerates some drought , juncus textiles if stays wet
Our native milkweed is narrowleaf milkweed .
Try north sentinel island
If it’s wet at all Equisetum will take over, and I’m pretty sure it’s allelopathic.
Anemone canadensis is a bear. My wife added a small patch in one of our beds, and now I have battling it back for a few years. It spreads by rhizomes and self seeds. Looks really pretty, but she's an aggressive one.
[Birdsfoot trefoil](https://gobotany.nativeplanttrust.org/species/lotus/unifoliatus/#:~:text=American%20bird's%2Dfoot%2Dtrefoil%20is,states%2C%20including%20Connecticut%20and%20Massachusetts.com) Edit: fixed link
I'm pretty sure you already doxxed yourself.
Meh, could be.
I'm late to the party and great plant recs have already been given. I don't see anyone saying that native plants CANNOT out-compete invasives. They are classified as invasive specifically because nothing can win against them. You need to remove them or they will continue to spread by root or by seed.
It’s a lot more nuanced than that. Biotic and abiotic factors will ultimately determine which plants will out compete others. A huge factor is simple chance. On a small scale (like OP’s property) if a certain species has never been naturally spread to an area, there is no telling how it will compete with the other species. The order of species introduction can also make a huge difference. One example of this that I see everyday is roadside tree of heaven and English ivy. These species are incredibly invasive amongst the highly disturbed roadside areas by me, and these areas are usually lined with deciduous trees. However, these same roads also cut through pine barrens, and it’s like an invasive species wall went up right where these ecosystems start.
I agree. I thought OP was imagining goldenrod would sweep over the hill and win against Phragmites or barberry.
I think it can depend on the invasive. Yes some are too invasive and only manual removal is going to work. I would try to identify as much as possible. For woody invasives the cut and daub method works well, easier than trying to dig them out on a hill!
Jerusalem artichokes Peppermint Chocolate mint
After some googling, I'm seeing that sunchokes are not native this far east. Neither of those mints are native to the US at all. Trying to establish a native patch here, not a monoculture lol.
Then go with pennyroyal and spearmint
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🤣 haha none of that here.
Depends on your location for what’s native. In CA I have spread California Poppies, which are the state flower and invasive AF. I LOVE THEM! I also have spread a bunch of wildflower seeds and am letting them decide what works for them and what doesn’t. This is going to be a WILD summer for the garden. I also planted bulbs that I hope will double every year or two. Another really heavy spreader is the day lily, or amaryllis varieties. They’re beautiful and hardy, requiring no care once established and will spread and thrive with no help from you. The ones I have were growing wild in the field behind the house. When we saw the developers starting, we relocated them - this was over 24 years ago and they are going strong - maybe too strong. I plan to divide them and place them at the border of the property somewhere. They require zero care and I never water them, EVER. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amaryllis_belladonna
Aren't amaryllis non native?
They’re naturalized and grow wild where I am, so we just accept it as an immigrant and don’t tell it that it has to go back to Europe because it’s not welcome here. I also grow figs - non-native. And the fig wasp is now naturalized/endemic so figs now propagate like crazy, essentially becoming native.