You've just finished a long day of gardening, taking great care to meticulously prune the trees and shrubs, painstakingly weeding the lawn and all the flower beds. But before you sit back and congratulate yourself on a job well-done, you may want to take a closer look at some of the varieties of plants growing in your yard. Some of the very plants you lovingly care for and toil over each weekend may actually be harmful to the environment.

It's summer again. People will be spending more time outdoors strolling through city parks, gardening in their yards or vacationing at any one of our country’s beautiful national preserves. However, what they may not realize as they take in the breathtaking natural landscapes is that these picturesque areas actually are in peril from a group of insidious predators—otherwise known as invasive weeds.