Nandina Nuisance?

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birder17 Jackson, MO(Zone 6b) Feb 28, 2016

I've read lately the Nadina bushes have been classified as nuisance shrubs because they are taking over native habitat. The birds supposedly are spreading the seeds.
I don't see birds ever eating the Nandina berries. I do enjoy the colorful red berries all winter and their evergreen habit. I do get re-seeders at the feet of the Nandinas.

So, what have you heard? What is your opinion?
Although I read this forum often, I don't follow it. The language is too technical for me. I hope this isn't a redundant topic.

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DonnaMack Elgin, IL(Zone 5a) Feb 28, 2016

Birder do you mean nandina? Sacred bamboo. I just researched it. It is lovely. The terrific Missouri site discusses its virtues:

http://www.missouribotanicalgarden.org/PlantFinder/PlantFinderDetails.aspx?kempercode=c772

From my further research I find that it is potentially invasive in the south. It can be a problem in Florida. Further north it seems, in some places, to struggle to stay alive.

In my humble opinion ,you can relax and enjoy!

This message was edited Feb 28, 2016 6:08 PM

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birder17 Jackson, MO(Zone 6b) Feb 28, 2016

Oh wow. I knew how to spell that shrub, Nandina! Sorry. And, there's a big discussion on another thread about misspellings. Bad me.
Anyway, thanks, Donna, for the research. I do enjoy my Nandinas in the winter time. Our neighbor has some lovely ones.

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DonnaMack Elgin, IL(Zone 5a) Feb 28, 2016

It's like burning bush. I inherited three four years ago. There have been three, apparently, for many years. And wow, the birds love them. A couple of weeks ago a male and female cardinal were eating the berries. And a limb from a tree fell on one and it bent down for about a week and then recovered. That's when it occurred to me that if they were invasive here I'd have 20 of them.

Donna

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back40bean Decatur, GA(Zone 7b) Mar 05, 2016

Here's a view from further south. Like Donna said it can be aggressive. I'm in the Atlanta area and I've pulled a lot of Nandina up here although I still keep one patch of it. It seeds itself around and I swear that a piece of root left in the ground can put up a shoot after a couple of years. A nearby wetland area is filled, in places, mostly with privet and English Ivy but also with fair numbers of both Nandina and Mahonia. And I also still have a patch of Mahonia I let stay here. I've used both Nandina and Mahonia in my 'landscape plan' for some adjacent apartments to use in areas from which I have dug out lots of Kudzu.

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