Some plants look great but come with a hidden “high-maintenance” warning label I wish I’d seen sooner. I’ve had my share of battles with sneaky growers that spread like wildfires or demand constant pruning.
They might charm you at first, but soon they turn your peaceful garden into a full-time job. The trick is knowing which ones to avoid before they take over.
Here’s a list of plants that seriously up the workload when all you wanted was a beautiful, easy garden.
1. Bamboo
Ever planted bamboo thinking it would create a lovely privacy screen? Fast forward a few months, and you’re battling an underground invasion! Running bamboo varieties send out underground rhizomes that pop up everywhere, including your neighbor’s yard.
Containing bamboo requires installing deep barriers or choosing clumping varieties instead. Even then, regular maintenance is necessary to keep it from becoming the neighborhood nuisance. The worst part? Removing established bamboo can require multiple seasons of persistent effort.
2. English Ivy
The romantic look of ivy-covered walls comes with a hefty maintenance price tag. This clingy vine attaches to surfaces with tiny aerial rootlets that damage mortar, siding, and even tree bark as it climbs relentlessly upward and outward.
Left unchecked, English ivy forms dense mats that smother native plants and provide habitat for pests. Removing established ivy requires careful cutting, pulling, and persistent follow-up to prevent regrowth. Many regions now classify it as an invasive species due to its ability to escape gardens and damage natural areas.
3. Mint
The refreshing scent and culinary uses make mint tempting for any garden. Unfortunately, those underground runners don’t respect boundaries! Mint spreads aggressively, popping up yards away from the original plant and infiltrating nearby beds.
Containing mint requires planting in buried containers or dedicated raised beds. Even then, it often escapes through drainage holes or over the top. What started as a small herb patch can quickly become a full-blown mint invasion that competes with your other plants for resources.
4. Wisteria
Those cascading purple blooms may look magical in spring, but wisteria hides a darker side. This woody vine grows with astonishing speed and strength, capable of lifting shingles, collapsing arbors, and strangling trees with its twining stems.
Controlling wisteria demands vigilant pruning multiple times yearly. The extensive root system produces suckers that emerge far from the parent plant. Many gardeners eventually regret planting this beauty when they discover the constant battle required to keep it from taking over the entire landscape.
5. Bradford Pear
Once a suburban landscape staple, the Bradford pear has fallen from grace for good reason. These trees feature weak branch structures that split and break during storms, creating dangerous falling limbs and costly cleanup.
Beyond structural problems, Bradford pears have escaped cultivation to become invasive in many regions. Their brief spring beauty comes with a notoriously unpleasant smell often compared to rotting fish. Add in thorny root sprouts and susceptibility to diseases, and you’ve got a maintenance headache that keeps on giving.
6. Trumpet Vine
Hummingbirds love trumpet vine’s vibrant orange-red flowers, but gardeners often come to hate its relentless growth habit. This aggressive climber spreads through underground runners and seeds, popping up dozens of feet away from the original plant.
Keeping trumpet vine in check requires ruthless pruning and immediate removal of any unwanted shoots. The extensive root system makes complete removal nearly impossible once established. Many gardeners find themselves in a years-long battle against this persistent beauty that refuses to stay put.
7. Morning Glory
The cheerful blue flowers opening at dawn might seem worth the trouble at first. But morning glory’s rapid growth and self-seeding habit quickly transform it from garden darling to persistent pest. A single plant can produce thousands of seeds that remain viable for decades.
Morning glory vines twine around everything in their path, climbing 10+ feet in a single season. They’ll happily smother your prized perennials while their seeds ensure you’ll be pulling seedlings for years to come. In warmer climates, they can even become perennial, returning with even more vigor each year.
8. Bermuda Grass
Prized for lawns due to its durability, Bermuda grass becomes a landscaping nightmare when it invades garden beds. Its aggressive spreading occurs through both underground rhizomes and above-ground stolons that root wherever they touch soil.
Removing Bermuda grass from gardens requires meticulous attention to every fragment. Leave behind even a tiny piece of rhizome, and it regenerates into a new plant. Its deep root system makes complete removal challenging, and it readily grows through landscape fabric and mulch, creating endless weeding sessions throughout the growing season.
9. Privet
The dense growth and quick establishment make privet a popular hedge choice, but this convenience comes at a cost. Birds spread privet seeds far beyond your property line, creating seedlings that pop up throughout the landscape and natural areas.
Maintaining privet hedges requires frequent shearing to keep them looking tidy. Unattended plants grow large and rangy while producing thousands of berries. In many regions, privet is classified as invasive due to its ability to form dense thickets that crowd out native vegetation in forests and natural areas.
10. Creeping Charlie
This low-growing perennial weed with scalloped leaves and tiny purple flowers might look charming at first glance. Don’t be fooled! Creeping Charlie (ground ivy) forms dense mats that choke out lawn grass and garden plants while spreading rapidly through both seeds and creeping stems.
Removing Creeping Charlie requires persistence as it readily regrows from tiny stem fragments left behind. Its ability to thrive in shade and poor soil means it often conquers areas where grass struggles. Many gardeners wage multi-year battles against this tenacious invader that seems to reappear no matter what.
11. Russian Olive
The silvery foliage might catch your eye, but Russian olive trees quickly become a maintenance burden. Their fast growth produces a messy, multi-stemmed form requiring regular pruning, while sharp thorns make this task particularly unpleasant.
Birds spread the abundant olive-like fruits widely, creating seedlings that pop up throughout your property. Russian olive has been declared invasive in many regions due to its ability to crowd out native vegetation along waterways. The extensive root system makes established trees difficult to remove completely.
12. Raspberries
Fresh berries straight from the garden sound wonderful until you’re battling raspberry canes popping up throughout your yard. These tasty plants spread aggressively through underground runners, sending up new shoots far from the original planting.
Containing raspberries requires installing deep barriers around beds or dedicating a section of yard solely to berry production. The thorny canes require annual pruning to maintain productivity and prevent an impenetrable thicket. Even with diligent maintenance, escaped plants will likely become a regular weeding chore throughout your landscape.
13. Grapevines
The romance of homegrown grapes fades quickly when you realize the maintenance involved. Grapevines grow with remarkable vigor, requiring sturdy support structures and extensive seasonal pruning to remain productive and prevent them from swallowing nearby plants.
Without proper training, grapevines become a tangled mess that produces little fruit while creating dense shade. The vigorous root system sends up suckers throughout the growing area. Birds spread seeds widely, creating volunteer vines that pop up in inconvenient locations and climb whatever vertical surface they encounter.
14. Purple Loosestrife
Those tall purple flower spikes create a stunning display, but purple loosestrife comes with serious ecological baggage. A single plant produces millions of seeds annually, quickly forming dense stands that crowd out everything else in wet areas.
Many regions have banned purple loosestrife sales due to its aggressive invasive nature in wetlands. Garden escapees have caused massive damage to natural ecosystems. Even in contained garden settings, the prolific seed production means constant vigilance to prevent it from spreading beyond your property.
15. Mulberry Trees
The idea of free berries might sound appealing until you’re dealing with purple-stained sidewalks, cars, and anything else beneath a mulberry tree. These fast-growing trees produce massive quantities of berries that attract birds, who then spread seeds everywhere.
Mulberry seedlings pop up throughout the landscape, requiring constant removal. The trees themselves grow quickly with brittle wood prone to breakage. Male trees produce allergenic pollen, while females create the messy fruits. Either way, you’re signing up for significant maintenance challenges.
16. Lily of the Valley
Those fragrant white bells hide a spreading habit that can quickly take over garden spaces. Lily of the valley forms dense colonies through underground rhizomes, choking out less aggressive plants and becoming nearly impossible to remove completely once established.
Containing lily of the valley requires deep barriers or accepting its spread. Every tiny fragment of rhizome left behind during removal attempts can regenerate into a new plant. As an added complication, all parts of this plant are highly toxic, making it problematic in gardens where children or pets play.
17. Cottonwood Trees
The stately height of mature cottonwoods comes with a litany of maintenance headaches. Female trees release millions of fluffy seeds that float through the air like summer snow, clogging air conditioners, pool filters, and covering everything in sight.
Cottonwoods feature weak wood prone to breakage, creating hazardous falling limbs and constant cleanup. Their aggressive root systems seek water, potentially damaging foundations, pipes, and septic systems. The massive leaf drop in fall creates yet another major cleanup task for the unfortunate homeowner.
18. Honeysuckle
The sweet fragrance and tubular flowers might seem worth the trouble initially. However, many honeysuckle varieties grow with astonishing speed and vigor, quickly overtaking nearby plants and structures while requiring constant pruning to keep in bounds.
Birds spread honeysuckle berries widely, creating new plants throughout the landscape. Some varieties, particularly Japanese honeysuckle, are classified as invasive species in many regions due to their ability to form dense mats that smother native vegetation. Removing established vines requires persistence to eliminate all root fragments.
19. Barberry
The colorful foliage and deer-resistant nature make barberry shrubs initially appealing to many gardeners. However, their maintenance challenges quickly become apparent when you encounter the vicious thorns that make pruning and working around these plants genuinely painful.
Beyond the physical hazards, many barberry varieties produce abundant berries that birds spread throughout the landscape. Research has linked dense barberry plantings to increased tick populations and Lyme disease risk. Several states have restricted sales of certain varieties due to their invasive tendencies in natural areas.
20. Willow Trees
The graceful, weeping form creates undeniable visual drama in the landscape. Unfortunately, willows grow at an astonishing rate with shallow, aggressive roots that seek water at all costs, potentially damaging foundations, pipes, and septic systems.
Willow branches are notoriously brittle, creating constant cleanup after storms. The thirsty roots make growing other plants nearby nearly impossible. Some varieties readily root from fallen branches, creating unwanted new trees. The maintenance demands of these water-loving giants make them questionable choices for most home landscapes.