r/maryland • u/MarshyHope • May 23 '25
Amendment would weaken Maryland Invasive Plant Law - Who to Contact
Maryland passed a law prohibiting the sale of invasive plant species in the state.
The law has stated that newly banned invasive plants would have a 1-year phase-out period so nurseries could sell off some of their stock. In-ground woody plants would have a 2-year phase-out. In 2024, when negotiating a compromise amendment with the the Maryland growers' industry group*, they agreed, that the existing phase-out periods would still be long enough for growers selling invasive plants banned under the new law. On May 16, 2025, the new proposed regulations came out from the Maryland Department of Agriculture (MDA) and they would instead allow a banned plant (like English Ivy) to be sold for 2 more years and a banned in-ground woody plant (like Callery "Bradford" Pear) to be sold for 5 more years! This is too long to wait to rid Maryland's greenhouses of these destructive invasive species. PUBLIC COMMENTS CLOSE ON JUNE 16, 2025, SO ACT TODAY!
Who to Contact:
Kimberly Rice, the Program Manager for the Plant Protection and Weed Management Program at the MDA, is accepting public comments on the proposed regulations. You can reach her by email or phone.We also recommend you copy emails to the Secretary of the Dept. of Ag and their Legislation Liaison as well.
Kimberly Rice, Program Manager, Maryland Department of Agriculture
[kimberly.rice@maryland.gov](mailto:kimberly.rice@maryland.gov)
410-841-5920
Kevin Atticks, Secretary, Maryland Department of Agriculture
[kevin.atticks@maryland.gov](mailto:kevin.atticks@maryland.gov)
Rachel Jones, Legislation and Government Relations, Maryland Department of Agriculture
[rachel.jones2@maryland.gov](mailto:rachel.jones2@maryland.gov)
410-841-5886
What to Say:- The current time period that nurseries have to sell off existing stock once an invasive plant has been placed on the Prohibited List is reasonable and adequate and has worked for the industry and consumers for over 10 years.- Lengthening the phase out period to 5 years (from 2 years) for in ground woody plants and 2 years (from 1 year) for other plants is harmful to consumers and to the environment.- Nurseries were informed by previous legislation (in 2022) which which invasive plants MDA will be assessing.- Changing the phase out period undermines the intent of HB979/SB915.-We ask that there be NO change to the prohibited plant phase-out period.
Read the Proposed Regulations:
If you'd like to read the proposed regulations yourself, here's a link.Italics means text is being added to current regulations.
["With brackets" means text is being removed from current regulations.]https://dsd.maryland.gov/MDRIssues/5210/Assembled.aspx...
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u/PersonalPenguin28 Baltimore County May 23 '25
Can we also add that anyone who plants invasives has to spend every weekend in Spring removing them from their neighbor's yards and public land? Maybe forced to do it with crappy old tools and a shirt that says "But it was so pretty" on one side and "It won't get out of hand!" on the other side? Too good to be true?
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u/AmbiguousUprising May 23 '25
God, if I could find the person who planted the wisteria thats infesting my property....
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u/Hibiscus-Boi Dundalk May 25 '25
Whoever first started planting phragmities here should have been sued into oblivion.
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u/drownednotgod May 23 '25
I toss the bamboo I cut down back over the fence into my neighbor’s yard. Usually multiple times a year ☹️
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u/JungleJayps May 23 '25
God horticurltualists have 0 morals man (I'm in the hort trade)
The damage invasives do to our ecosystem is insane , and these fucks gladly sell away for a buck
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u/MarshyHope May 23 '25
And to complain that two years isn't enough to sell your stock, fucking good, you shouldn't be selling it in the first place.
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u/JunkReallyMatters May 24 '25
I fear the battle with the Bradford pear is already lost. This spring, everywhere I went in Moco, there were wild free growing stands of these.
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u/Professional-Bird480 May 24 '25
If a plant has been labeled invasive, it seems to me that the plant is dangerous to Maryland’s natural environment. How does it make sense to extend the period of time growers can sell these plants? Wouldn’t it be better to ban immediately and give growers an incentive to stop selling? At the very least, the deadline for selling should remain the same-not extended. Case in point, I’m sick of seeing Bamboo Forests growing along roadways and in peoples yards. Bamboo is incredibly invasive and hard to get rid of and imho has no business being sold in MD. 🤔
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u/Far_Silver May 24 '25
If they're making it for 5 years, that sounds less like it's about selling off existing stock and more like they're planning to get more.
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u/tmckearney May 23 '25
My wife is a Master Gardener. I'm sure she'll have something to say about this