Weeding out Invasive Plants in California 

We’re proud of California’s iconic landscapes and natural beauty, but our wild lands face serious challenges on many fronts, and one of the most serious can start small – invasive plants. They spread quickly to crowd out native plants and animals, cause flood and fire hazards and cost California millions of dollars each year to try to eradicate. Nearly 50% of invasive plants in California were introduced for ornamental purposes. PlantRight works with the nursery industry to stop the introduction of invasive plants at the source, saving California time and money while protecting our beautiful natural lands for years to come.

The Problem

Invasive plants continue to damage our wild lands, leading to loss of habitat and pushing imperiled species to the brink.

The Potential

Beautiful landscapes in which native plants and wildlife can thrive, keeping California vibrant.

Press Partners
As the second greatest threat to biodiversity after human development, invasive plants like pampas grass (pictured) pose an enormous risk to California’s native plants, wildlife, waterways and communities. Managing invasive plants costs California more than $80 million a year. Photo: Greg Richardson.

Planting Right to Protect California’s Wildlife and Communities

California is known for the diverse array of native plants and animals that flourish across our beautiful state – many found nowhere else on earth.

Unfortunately, when people introduce invasive plants, they can quickly alter landscapes by degrading habitat and waterways, as well as increasing the risk of fire and flooding. Various organizations work hard across the state to manage and remove these plants once they’ve taken root, but these efforts cost California more than $80 million each year and don’t address the problem at its source.

To keep our landscapes beautiful and our wildlife thriving, we need to keep invasive plants off store shelves before they become a problem, and stop the further sale of plants that are already causing problems in California.

PlantRight, a Sustainable Conservation-led campaign, partners with leaders in California’s nursery industry to find cost-effective ways to prevent new introductions and stop the sale of known and emerging invasive plants. We’re working in partnership with retail nurseries like the Home Depot and Lowe’s, landscape professionals and horticultural growers to voluntarily remove known invasive plants from their store inventories and promote non-invasive alternatives.

We helped developed PRE (Plant Risk Evaluator), the first weed-risk-assessment tool designed specifically for the horticultural industry that is 95% accurate in predicting if a plant will be invasive or non-invasive in a specific region. To keep our list of invasive plants relevant, track our progress, and guide our strategy, we survey hundreds of garden centers around the state each year for invasive plants in partnership with the UC Master Gardener Program.

When we work with the nursery industry to prevent invasive plants from being sold in the first place, we support our thriving native habitats and landscapes. Visit the official PlantRight website to find out how you can help protect California.

Landscape photo courtesy of faroutflora.