SAN FRANCISCO – PlantRight, a statewide campaign that partners with California plant growers and retailers to voluntarily phase out invasive plants in the state’s $11 billion horticultural industry, announced that it has secured key corporate commitments in promoting safe, non-invasive plants to benefit the state’s environment and people. Topping the list of industry partners are more than 200 The Home Depot stores in California. Once PlantRight determines a plant is invasive, The Home Depot will begin the process of phasing that plant out of its product mix.
“PlantRight’s collaboration with nursery retailers has been gaining slow yet steady momentum among garden centers large and small,” said Ashley Boren, Executive Director of Sustainable Conservation, which leads the PlantRight campaign. “Garnering the support of The Home Depot California represents a positive breakthrough for the industry in helping to curb the spread of invasive ornamental plants.”
Invasive plants reproduce quickly, blanket natural areas, and outcompete native plants and animals. Once they take hold, they are expensive to remove and control. Collectively, invasive species are the second greatest threat to biodiversity after human development. Invasive plants also threaten people by clogging waterways, increasing flooding risk and escalating fire danger.
“Partnering with PlantRight in California is the right thing to do for our communities,” says Brian Parker, Senior Merchant Live Goods with The Home Depot. “We’re committed to providing the best plant options for California, including drought tolerant and non-invasive varieties. Our growers are solid partners in these efforts, as we all are committed to protecting California’s landscape, wildlife and communities."
Across California, for example, invasive broom plants have taken over entire landscapes of public and private land –including protected areas like state parks. Not all brooms are problematic, yet those that are cause significant damage. Some brooms alter soil composition in ways that are toxic to native flora, and each plant can produce up to 12,000 seeds–making it difficult to control once established. They form dense stands that can completely take over and eliminate native habitats. These invasive brooms are so resilient that they often regrow after fire and grazing are used to eradicate them.
Scotch broom was introduced to California as an ornamental garden plant in the 1850s, and was also widely used for roadside erosion control in the early 1900s. It was not recognized as a problem until the 1930s. Today, Scotch broom infestations cover more than 700,000 acres of open space, roughly the size of Yosemite National Park. In Marin County near San Francisco, the municipal water district reports that French broom has taken over 1,400 acres within the watershed, and is spreading at a rate of about 50 acres per year despite tens of thousands of volunteer hours to remove it.
Giant reed (Arundo donax) has invaded streams and riverbeds throughout southwest California and in the Central Valley, damaging ecosystems and increasing fire danger and flood risk. At least 10 protected animal species in California, including the endangered bird the Least Bell’s vireo, suffer habitat loss due to invading giant reed. In wetter regions of the state, periwinkle (Vinca major) is blanketing forest floors, crowding out native plants and wildlife in the undergrowth, while playing host to such bacterial threats as Pierce’s disease, which threatens crops like wine grapes. In California, the estimated cost to manage invasive plants tops $82 million each year. Nationally, the annual cost runs into the billions. That doesn’t include financial losses from reduced crop yields, land values and recreational activities. “Half of all known invasive plants in California were introduced through horticultural channels –though not intentionally,” said Boren. “Considering that approximately 70 percent of plant sales are made at big-box stores, The Home Depot’s partnership with PlantRight will be transformative in making the industry a key problem-solver. This collaboration also shows that a healthy environment and a healthy bottom line can go hand in hand.”
Conservation groups, like the California Invasive Plant Council, agree that it’s more than just an environmental opportunity. “Preventing the spread of invasive plants, or the next Scotch broom invasion, saves untold millions in mitigation costs for our state and taxpayers, in addition to protecting California’s natural landscapes and native species,” says Doug Johnson, Executive Director of the California Invasive Plant Council, which complements PlantRight’s efforts by pursuing invasive-plant research and policy, leading restoration projects and educating the public about invasive issues.
Click here to read more.