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Rhododendron : invasive or not

dangermousiedangermousie Posts: 356
in Plants
Howdy! The woods by my house is being taken over by rhododendron. Surely this is bad, harmful to native species of flora and fauna etc. Why is it allowed to grow everywhere? Even sold en mass in garden centres? 
Thanks :)
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Posts

  • FairygirlFairygirl Posts: 55,117
    Do you mean ponticum?
    It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....



    I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
  • fidgetbonesfidgetbones Posts: 17,618
    Rhododendron ponticum  sets a lot of seed and is invasive.  The hybrids sold as garden plants in garden centres are not.
  • dangermousiedangermousie Posts: 356
    I do! So it's just one type and the garden centre ones are fine. One has appeared at the entrance to the woods, I'll have to cut it back or we won't be able to get through, but would it be acceptable to try and remove it altogether? 
  • dangermousiedangermousie Posts: 356
    From RHS: This plant is listed on Schedule 9 of the UK Wildlife and Countryside Act as an invasive, non-native species. While this does not prevent it from being sold in the UK, or from being grown in gardens, the RHS encourages those that do grow it to take great care with managing it and with disposing of unwanted material. The RHS also encourages gardeners to find alternative plants to grow to those listed on Schedule 9. For suggested alternative plants see the Plantlife/RHS guide: Gardening without harmful invasive plants. 


    Interesting!
  • FairygirlFairygirl Posts: 55,117
    As @fidgetbones says - the ones you'll see for buying are fine. They might get very big [many rhodos become huge in the right circumstances] but R. ponticum is highly invasive. It causes huge problems up here in our glens, and vast sums of money have to be spent containing and removing it. We have perfect conditions for rhodos in the west of Scotland.

    I'm not sure what you mean about cutting it back or removing it though. If the site doesn't belong to you, you can't do that. If you're concerned that it's ponticum, you can contact your council and they'll hopefully get someone to check it.
    It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....



    I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
  • dangermousiedangermousie Posts: 356
    Yep, will reach out to the council, it on the border of our estate and council land. Do you think they would do something? In your experience...
  • FairygirlFairygirl Posts: 55,117
    No idea. It would depend on whether they could ID it correctly, and whether they considered it a big enough problem to spend money on it.  :)
    It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....



    I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
  • catrina.alistairrE10E4slcatrina.alistairrE10E4sl Posts: 31
    Isn't it possible to simply cut it regularly? And the plant will remain, and there will be no seeds
  • FairygirlFairygirl Posts: 55,117
    If you don't own the ground a plant is growing on, you can't cut it back. 
    It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....



    I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
  • dangermousiedangermousie Posts: 356
    At this rate it'll be growing on my land by Friday 😂
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