permaculture

["Lawrence F. London, Jr." <lflj@bellsouth.net>]

I am including parts of my replies to posts about eleagnus umbellata:
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They are not on _my_ list (of invasive plants), nor is kudzu or sericea 
lespedeza. I think you'll find that much of this "invasive plant" 
propaganda may well be spawned by the herbicide industry and nurtured by 
lazy gardeners and landscapers. Herbicide use is a creeping scourge.

The worst invasives, across the globe, are GMO crops.

There's a use for them (plants with edible fruits). Instead of 
destroying them, harvest and eat them. Allow wildlife to use them.

It is certainly erroneous to be concerned about significant spread of 
eleagnus in the Piedmont Bioregion. It is too dry and for the most part 
has poor soil. As they spread by seed stands are slow to develop though 
birds and deer can help with this. They just grow too slow and have too 
much competition from other plants to really become invasive. Apex 
Nurseries sold the eleagnus varieties fruitlandi and angustifolia to 
landscapers. They are welcome additions to any yard, placed properly, 
especially if you are one who likes traditional english cottage gardens 
and it is ideal as part of an element in a permaculture system, aka 
landscape.

It is hysterical to recommend massive removal in areas where they are 
not a problem, which seems to be happening. I also challenge, rightfully 
so, claims of "invasives" _causing problems_; i.e. unwarranted trumped 
up charges against a plant. Often, follow the money trail to see the 
root cause of this. I grant no special consideration for conventional 
agriculture, i.e. broadacre monocrop farming; everything other than the 
cash crop is invasive. They need to practice natural farming. The third 
world will not starve w/o conventional, chemical-based or gmo 
agriculture, a ploy to gain control of a nation's food supply, 
destroying traditional farming infrastructure in the process. Again, I 
challenge the "causing problems" rationale to justify eradication of 
certain plants. To tell homeowners that they need to go out and cut down 
and dig up eleagnus wherever it is found is ludicrous and ridiculous. 
Look at the lists of invasive plants and think about how many have 
positive attributes and can easily be controlled with careful planning 
and manual labor. Less TV and more hand weeding.