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I purchased a home in Utah with an existing Xeriscaped landscaping area, and discovered later that some of the "native" plants were, in fact, Myrtle Spurge, a ground cover that's considered a noxious weed in at least Colorado and Oregon, but other states are quickly becoming wary of the plant.

It tends to grow quickly and spread, and I find that I am removing the new plants each year.

I'm thinking of eradicating all of it, but it does have some aesthetic qualities. I don't mind replacing it with another succulent plant, but I wonder if the noxious weed status is fully warranted?

Should I remove all trace of this plant from my xeriscape?

winwaed
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JYelton
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  • Pull and wear gloves while you do. It is known to be both invasive and irritating to the skin. – Susan Jun 02 '18 at 15:25

2 Answers2

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Looks pleasant enough, But I see you are in Utah - so if OR and CO have such a take-no-prisoners attitude to it, I think eradication is probably the only option.

The link you posted even said that cultivation is banned in CO - an unusual status even for an invasive plant.

On the other hand, the OR list (linked from the Wikipedia article) lists Mesquite on the OR noxious/invasive list. Here in Texas there's definitely a love/hate relationship with Mesquite but I wouldn't call it noxious and definitely not invasive. So what I'm trying to say is that climate matters. Does your climate resemble the Colorado and Oregon areas that have a problem with this weed? If so, eradicate with extreme prejudice!

winwaed
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Most if not all spurges or Euphorbia have toxic sap. This includes Poinsettias and a bunch of other common house or yard plants. The sap can be particularly dangerous if you get it in your eye.

Be very careful with this. I don't grow any Euphorbia now, but with a reasonable amount of caution I wouldn't be worried about it, personally. Plus I don't have small children.

Tim Nevins
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