Gardening Question of the Week: What’s the Definition of an Invasive Plant?

Invasive, Aggressive, Enthusiastic? We hear the terms used interchangeably these days, but they mean different things. The major difference between invasive and aggressive seems to be the plant’s ability to establish itself in the wild and disrupt the native ecosystem. To make matters worse, plants that are aggressive or even invasive in one area are well-behaved in another. And some plants get a bad rap just because they were planted in the wrong spot, then neglected and allowed to take over. So just what makes a plant deserve to be called invasive?

Photo of Kudzu Provided by Eleanor Rigby / stock.xchng.