Wednesday, September 6, 2017

More Garden Trouble

The three plants I shared yesterday are a problem in a garden because they self-seed so readily.  The plants below don't spread by seeds as much as by their roots, they just relentlessly expand the patch they occupy, overwhelming other plants, and taking over more and more of the garden.

Ligularia is a beautiful plant, providing a bright splash of colour at the end of the summer, and in the shade no less...

But it's big heavy leaves and stems cover other plants, spread steadily, and are very hard to dig out.  We've lost several hosta plants underneath this!

The False Sunflowers are another bright splash of colour, though about a month or six weeks ago.  They have anchored the garden after the day lilies are finished, and usually last a long time.

But here you get an idea of how they spread.  All of those yellow flowers are False Sunflowers.  they used to be a nice patch on the left.

Here they've invaded a Crocosmia, providing a really bright colour combination, but eventually they would take over.  On the other hand, you can control these by pulling them out as they spread, so with this one control becomes a little easier.

Obedient Plant is another mild spreader, though a very pretty plant at this time of year.

Those bright green leaves in the foreground are a young Obedient Plant, also invading the linear leaves of a Crocosmia.  But they are also easy to pull out and thereby keep under control.

Sweet Peas are a wonderful mid-summer flower.  I see them growing in ditches along a few rural roads.  You can easily stop and gather seeds, and establish them in your own garden, or even in your own roadside ditch.

But they do spread in a garden.  Those winged, slightly bluish-green vines grow a long distance, and then root.  I've kept them under control by pulling, but I fear they could take over.

This last one, the dreaded Goutweed, is not my photo, nor is it in our garden, but Patsy mentioned in in yesterday's comments.  It is one of the worst garden pests, spreading among all the other plants and hard to get rid of.  Avoid it at all costs!

Don't get me wrong, I love our garden, but I feel guilty all the time, because these plants spread more than I can control them.  It's not a matter of totally avoiding them, but if you choose to include them, know that you will have to control them.  These few plants are a very small part of our garden, which has more hostas and day lilies than anything else.  And there are lots of varieties of clematis that are not invasive like the yellow clematis I mentioned yesterday.  We have 3 others ourselves, which cause no problems.

There, that's the end of my undergardener rant!

15 comments:

  1. Wow, I had no idea about some of these invasive plants. I'll keep an eye out for them in other gardens, because I don't have enough flowers to worry about. I enjoyed learning about all this from you, so thank you. :-)

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  2. I think your gardens are so pretty. I kind of like a more wild garden like that than a nice neat one. Yours has character.

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  3. I recognized some of these plants as being in our gardens as well. At least now I know the names of the invaders.

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  4. I like to enjoy other peoples gardens, as I have had very bad allergic reactions a few times when I attempted to make gardens years ago.

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  5. Hello, I think your garden is beautiful. Pretty flowers. Have a happy day!

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  6. Thank you for including a picture of the goutweed, FG. I see a few still in my garden when i returned from my walk this morning so will take care of that when I clean up the garden.
    Love the Obedient plant although it isn't very obedient then, is it? ha ha Never heard of that one but it is pretty.

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  7. They may be invasive and spread quickly but the flowers are pretty.

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  8. Despite the fact that the flowers spread and cause some despair, you have to admit they are very beautiful! Late summer and fall bring out some great colour and variety. Perhaps keeping everything in check is something you won't miss so much when you move?

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  9. I completely understand your dilemma, but have to admit, I think their colorful blooms, are stunning.
    What a spectacular cottage garden you have !
    ~Jo

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  10. I understand too. We love the beauty but when those beauties become to tenacious we stand back and say--"wait a minute---off with their heads. I love them all though. Certain one I pull up as soon as they appear and yet oops there they are way over there---grrr.....
    MB

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  11. some great information, we often learn the hard way. still your garden is gorgeous!!

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