|
The first question that I would ask to fill your request for an alternative to Buckthorn would be how are you using it. It is rare to see where I am. When I do see it, it is in a crappy looking hedge.
The picture posted above shows it being used as a foundation/AC screening plant. It seems to me to be a poor choice for that regardless of health or invasiveness. In that case, the need to replace it with a similar form seems pointless.
Form follows function, or so it should be. The question should be "what plant can I use to_____________?". Create a hedge, a border planting, add a vertical element to a foundation planting, ... The function is going to stear the response in varying directions. In many of those cases Buckthorn may not have been high on the list to begin with.
Here we have other plants on the invasive (not yet illegal) list. Barberry, European Bittersweet, Autumn Olive, English Ivy, several Honeysuckle, Privet, Rose of Sharon, Burning Bush, Norway Maple, to name a few. Of these, I have noticed some tendencies toward reseeding or spreading. The only ones that I notice as a big problem are Bittersweet, English Ivy, and Honeysuckle.
No matter what you have to stop using, there is usually something that can replace its function, if not its form.
|