Do you love your Mimosa tree?

It happens every summer.  One or two people will quietly confess to me “I love my mimosa tree.”

There is a lot to love about mimosa trees.  They are fast growing.  They have a nice vase shape form with beautiful smooth bark.  They flower start in late spring after most of our local flowering trees are done.  The flowers last well into summer.  The flowers have a colorful fluffy look and they put out an impressive amount of aroma.  Compound leaves with tiny leaflets give this tree a soft texture unlike any other tree in our area.

So why the guilt in loving this tree.  The biggest reason to not love mimosa trees is that they are an invasive plant.  They spread a lot of seeds, and if the conditions are right, you can end up with a lot of mimosa trees where they are not wanted.  This displaces other plants which are probably better for habitat.  Mimosa trees may be beautiful, but they can be problematic.

This makes the dilemma; should you try to hate the mimosa tree in your yard that you secretly love?  

While I would encourage everyone to consider removing invasive plants from their yard, and adding natives and non-invasives, I think there is room for a measured approach to taking this on.

Mimosa trees were introduced to the southeast in 1785.  They have been here for hundreds of years.  We will have an issue with mimosa trees as invasive species whether you keep and enjoy your tree or not.  There are a lot of steps that most of us could take to reduce invasives in our landscape and increase native plants.  You can put the mimosa on a “remove later” list of things to do, and look at putting some native plants in other parts of your yard.  Some invasive plants like wysteria and bamboo are very difficult to keep and enjoy without creating big problems for you and your neighbors.  Mimosa trees are a minor nuisance in comparison.

Your mimosa tree will probably be short lived.  Go ahead and enjoy it while it lasts, then find a native tree to replace it when it passes on.