The Georgia Forestry Commission publishes a “Dirty Dozen” list of the non-native invasive plants doing the most damage to Georgia’s forests and landscapes. Here’s the 2021 list, plus how we handle each one in metro Atlanta.

Vines and groundcovers: goats’ favorites

• English ivy: evergreen vine that carpets the ground and climbs trees. Goats clear it year-round.

• Kudzu: fast-growing vine with large three-part leaves that buries everything in summer. A goat favorite, May–October.

• Wisteria: woody vine with purple spring flowers that strangles trees. Our goats don’t like it, so it isn’t a good fit for goat clearing.

• Japanese climbing fern: delicate climbing fern that smothers shrubs. Ask us about your site.

Shrubs

• Non-native privet: the dense evergreen shrub filling Atlanta’s woods and creek banks. Goats strip the leaves and open up the understory; repeat visits keep it from coming back.

• Non-native olive (silverthorn and autumn olive): silvery-backed leaves and thorny branches. Ask us about your site.

• Non-native lespedeza: shrubby legume that spreads along roadsides and fields. Ask us about your site.

Grasses

• Nepalese browntop (Japanese stiltgrass): thin, bamboo-like annual grass that carpets shady ground. Goats graze it as part of a mixed clearing.

Trees

• Chinaberry, Chinese tallowtree, mimosa and Callery (Bradford) pear: invasive trees. Goats browse low leaves and seedlings, but trunks need to be cut. Our landscapers can help.

Also common in Atlanta yards

• Japanese honeysuckle twining vine on fences and young trees.

• Blackberry and briars thorny thickets goats love.

• Poison ivy native, but a pain. Goats eat it.

• Running bamboo goats plus hand crews.

Before you clear

Some ornamental plants are toxic to goats. Read our plants toxic to goats guide, then send us photos for a free remote estimate. For more on identification, see the UGA Extension DeKalb invasive plant catalog.

More ways we help: chemical-free weed control · invasive species removal · English ivy · privet · kudzu · retention ponds · all land clearing services