So we have all bought new plants for spring (wait we dont have a real spring soooo for summer) I thought it would be fun to look back and think about the garden thugs we have planted before, and how we got them out or if we kept them and why!
For me the garden thug I have here is Tall Goldenrod - I started with one little plant and now I have well over 30 in just one year... but I will leave them (even when they are crowding out other plants) just will pulling the extras. Why? one they are a native and I need more natives to get my count up, two it came here from my first rescue mission to the field next to my home, and 3 they look stunning in bloom..... I grumbled when I had to move Iris this spring to make room but the color it gives is well worth it.... here at least...
So what is your garden thug? (and for this a thug is any plant that eats a lot of space)
Texans - What is the worst garden thug you have planted?
Mine are pink evening primrose, apple mint, and (dis)obedient plant. Each started with one small plant, and I had not researched to know what they are capable of. I am digging all the desirable plants out from a 12' by 40' bed so I can spray the primroses. Besides spreading underground, they have sent seeds all over the back yard, and I am beginning to see them in the front. Those that are mowed off in the lawn are back in bloom three days later!
I may have to abandon the herb garden to the apple mint. I pulled it out by the roots two years ago, and the bed is solid again (at least sixty square feet of apple mint). I stuck one little obedient plant in that bed too until I found a permanent location for it. Ha! It also has roots that shatter, and each little piece of root produces a plant. Only one large rosemary and a Jerusalem sage are holding their own. The primroses have spread to the edge of the herb garden, so it may be interesting to let the three thugs fight it out!
I have primerose - but I have it covering the ground that I want other plants in (kinda like a living mulch... might wish I had not... )
I didn't plant it, but it found my yard on its own. Straggler Daisy! It may be a native (I'm a real nut for natives but still don't want them all) and some people like it, but I don't! It's invasive here. Have to pull it up out of my veggie garden, paths, my raised beds, etc., etc. Wish I'd never seen it!
My worst plant that I intentionally planted is a dayflower, day flower - a type of Commelina. I don't know which species it is. I have been trying to get rid of it for over 25 years. The roots and stems break when you try to remove it and any parts that you do not remove spring back up. It is difficult to remove when it is growing next to "wanted" plants because one has to damage the "wanted" plants' roots to remove the day flower roots (if possible). It tends to smother the other plants. The blue blooms are beautiful, however.
http://davesgarden.com/pf/adv_search.php?searcher%5Bcommon%5D=&searcher%5Bfamily%5D=&searcher%5Bgenus%5D=Commelina&searcher%5Bspecies%5D=&searcher%5Bcultivar%5D=&searcher%5Bhybridizer%5D=&search_prefs%5Bsort_by%5D=genus&images_prefs=both&Search=Search
The false day flower (Commelinantia anomala) is easily removed and dies back when the temperatures become hot so I permit it to remain. It grows more erectly that the above mentioned plant and the flower color has more lavevder in them
http://davesgarden.com/pf/go/55644/index.html
The one that came into my yard in a batch of expensive garden soil and now has spread throughout my neighbors' yards is well is Yellow Nutsedge, Weedy Yellow Nutsedge, Earth Nut, Weedy Nutsedge, Weedy Nutgrass (Cyperus esculentus var. esculentus). I have fought it for years and I can't plant anything in many flowerbeds because of it.
http://davesgarden.com/pf/go/105965/index.html
LindaTX8, straggler daisy is one I have too that keeps me busy all of the time. Once it is in your lawn, it is a constant struggle to remove it. It wwill take over. My Mother finally gave up in some sections of her lawn and the straggler daisy is mowed rather than her St. Augustine grass.
patrob, I guess I had better keep the (dis)obedient plants I have in containers contained. I just planted some really bright yellow blooming Mexican evening primroses in a spot outside of a field that is across the side street from my yard. The first bllom is open today and it is magnificent. I sure hope that they stay there. I didn't plant them in my yard after researching them and I was too kind to throw them away. Maybe I should dig them up and plant them in a field somewhere way, way away from my yard. OR do you think removing the blooms so that they do not seed will keep them from invading my yard?
All kinds of petunia and salvia have come up everywhere this spring and I am thankful for them. However, so many have come up and in places I don't want them to be that I have spent days and days digging and potting them up, nurturing them and them giving them away. I am almost to the point of just pulling them up and throwing them away but I just can't bring nyself to do it. At least they are easily removed and are not really thugs.
Bay leaf...thought it would stay small and orderly like most normal herbs...its still sitting there. Anyone have a chain saw I can borrow? The neighbor, who's such a nice man, can hardly get in his gate. Will post pic tonight..server at work won't allow me to upload?!?
I am always complaining about mexican petunia aka ruellia brittonia, however, since I started the practice of whacking it every Feb. to about 3" from the ground, I seem to be able to control it relatively well. Plus the seedlings are easy to pull out--you just have to keep your eyes open 'cause you do get a lot of seedlings.
I have planted "thugs" before, but I have let "thugs" grow in my yard thinking they might be something neat, though I didn't plant them there. I would find out too late that they were impossible to get rid of. One I think is that nutsedge that htop mentioned. I had a rose bush that made itself a nuisance once. So, I, too, have learned the hardway on some things.
Most native plants that are from the prairies like the evening primrose and goldenrod have other plants that they compete with. So, in the prairie situation, they look pretty and keep their space. In a cultivated garden they have less competition and can do what they please.
Also, native plants need less water than most cultivated ones. If placed in a garden where they are watered and cared for, they will often outgrow their neighbors. I read in a book about someone who planted a weedy native, but gave it absolutely no care and it stayed put and she enjoyed it for several years. Of course, soil, micro-climate and other variables could come into play here, too. If given a situation mostlike its native situation, it could be the plant you wanted and thought it to be.
Isn't gardening great? I love the science experiments!
OOPS, I forgot about tall nandina which sends out runners and comes up all over the place from seed (have to cut the pretty berries off), the tall Mexican petunia (like vossner mentioned) which if you don't pull up before it sets its roots deeply is rather difficult in my dirt to remove (especially between patio pavers - my yard last year looked like a Mexican petunia jungle) and native morning glories.
I have many plants that get out of hand, but I love them all, and don't mind going after them once in a while, they give me lots of fresh material for the compost pile.
Many of them I pot and give away, and fortunately most of them are flowering plants, not like the nut grass that Hazel has been (blessed) with. I sympathize with you Hazel.
The way I look at it, I am lucky to have plants grow in abundance.
Josephine.
The ruellia I deal with by mowing when it gets out of bounds. I moved some from our previous home, but I did not put them in a bed with other plants. I am slowly learning not to repeat the same mistakes. lol
My mistake with the primrose was not knowing how it would spread. The first year I was excited that it was growing so well. By the seond year it was everywhere. Literally. I don't know if the yellow behaves the same way. I'm afraid to find out! If I had put the primrose in the wildflower area, opposite end of the property, it would have been growing in unimproved soil with much less water. It could have been a happier situation. If some eventually migrates over there, I will leave it.
Oh dear, I'm going to names some things that other people just dearly love. Sorry....
Jewels of Opar, Obedient Plant, 4 O'clocks, Salvia uliginosa, Ruellia brittonia. All started out as wanted plants, but then I turned around and they had taken over the yard. I moved to a different house, brought some of my "can't do without" plants with me, and they showed up all over again. 12 years later, I still find 4 O'clocks and Ruellia, even though I have relandscaped twice and brought in tons of new soil. I could go outside today and find some. I don't have a lot of space to give over to these kinds of things, so they are particularly annoying to me. If I let just one grow, I will have started the whole thing all over again. Can't take that chance!!
CJ--can't say as I blame you with that list. I'm still pulling up Cypress vine seedlings from 12 years ago....a real "heirloom" plant; it means your heirs will still be yanking them out.
Today I think the worst is the Obedient Plant. I heard tales of how this plant spread but it is so pretty and was very well contained that I ignored those warnings. Last year I decided I needed to move it which created a nightmare! It's spread further out from the original spot now. If it reseeded that could be some of the problem but I SWEAR that any tiny little bit of root that came out with the original clump and fell to the ground rooted and spread. The worst part is that I transplanted the original plant in about 4 different spots!! I'm afraid to dig them out! I need to post a big NEGATIVE and explain why in the PlantFiles for those who actually read the reviews.
I also planted Evening Primroses on purpose. The white ones that I dug out of someone's yard are somewhat under control now since they never got to bloom a second time before I yanked them out. The pink ones are about 10 times the size of the wild ones! They are pretty and doing exactly what I wanted them to do which is choke out some Bermuda and make me a "wildflower slope" like Frostweed BUT they go and go and go and I'm not sure HOW to keep them from spreading all over the neighbor's yard now. Oh my....
I also planted the tall Goldenrod on purpose because I've always loved it. So far it is spreading but not venturing too far from the original spot. I think I am going to have to go out tho and pull some out and maybe cut the runners and see what that will do.
Lemonbalm is becoming a real nuisance too. I thought my plant was growing really big this year only to find out it was a million smaller plants under it! It has reseeded all over the place too. It smells good when you pull it out tho.
...and this pic was over a month ago
White ruellia is a real thug for me. I didn't want to get it at all, because I knew it would be a problem, but DH wanted it. He never complains about what I spend, weed-eats, mows, and helps me dig if I ask. So I have it. In the winter of every year, I dig out lots of it, but not all, since DH would notice if I got rid of it all. By the next winter, it's occupying a space 4X4. Those roots are difficult to get out, too.
I have obedient plant and bog sage (S. uliginosa) and swamp sunflower together in a bed, along with Texas star hibiscus, that gets standing water when it rains a lot, mostly in the winter. They duke it out. Some tall, water-loving wild aster has volunteered in there too. It's fun to watch each year to see what wins. It varies, with how much rain we get. Poison ivy tries real hard to win in wet years, but I pull it out. Otherwise it would probably win.
Things I didn't plant that are thugs: bermuda grass, nutgrass, wild ruellia, evening primrose, bindweed, wild cucumber vine, catbriar, a wild mallow, maybe copper globe mallow, peppervine, wild grape vines, poison ivy. They keep me busy.
Wow, look how many hits this thread has gotten since it started already!!! Must not be good gardening weather for most just yet.
My gardening thug was 4 Bradford Pear trees, 45 gal reduced sale at HD from 280 a tree to 79 bucks. Bought 4 and drove 1 hour each way to the store that had them. Put them in and then found Dave's Garden. Was STRONGLY advised about the short life and brittleness of these babies and pushed them over and plucked them out. The first one was so weak it snapped off at the truck!!?!?!?! HAHA. Was soooo much fun though to learn from DG and then to be vindicated of my "mistake" by removing it.
Thug nature keeps planting for me is Johnson grass.
Lol Amiee I have planted those before and if not for the fact I wanted natives I would plant one here too..... one of those trees som elove and some hate.
Bermuda Grass is a HUGE thug here... did not plant it but it is everywhere!
Opps Mitch, good thing we aren't neighbors, you'd hate me. I planted Bermuda because Augustine is so thick and coarse and I was tripping over it's twig like runners. I live in SA and was watering it a lot. Put in Bermuda requires almost 0 water and is fine and soft like the grass from the northern states I was used to. GRANTED it is a booger to get out for creating NEW garden beds but I was the first owner and pretty much able to "barricade" off with edging the areas I wanted for planting. So I can't complain about it just yet. If everyone hates it, and I hear that a lot, how come it is one of the more pricey seeds at all the stores?
P.S.
OH YEAH! It's like the original price on those Bradfords huh? They are abundant for sale at all the nurseries and cost the same or more as any other tree....but few people who actually know about the tree would plant one!!!
Well, I didn't plant it, but we have burmuda grass. I was thinking the other day, what if we took some St. Augustine from the front yard and plugged it in the back yard where the burmuda grass is, water it well. Maybe it'll spread and get thick enough to crowd out the burmuda? My brother is Houston says if you have St. Augustine the best weed killer is water. I would much rather pull St. Augustine out of the beds than burmuda.
One thug I did plant was some sort of morning glory. Don't know what kind, it never blooms, but it sure does climb all over my Cecile Brunner and spirea and lavendar. I also planted 4 o'clocks, but they are in the yard. For some reason I don't have many in the beds. Or maybe I just don't recognize them when they're little. For anyone who's never dug them up, I have a warning for you. There is an enormous tubor waiting for you under that plant!
Silver,
Oh we didn't overwater, I know that's true about Augustine, it just requires more regular waterings than Bermuda. You are right, it is much easier to pull out in a clump. Well, we put Bermuda seed down over Augustine sod and the Bermuda still has filled out way more than the Augustine seems able to overcome. But both are still there and complimenting each other nicely. We mixed in Ficus grass seed as well. If only I could get rid of the Johnson grass?
yes the Johnson grass is a pain too. Not as bad as nutgrass though. The person who comes up with a commercial use for nutgrass is going to be a rich person ... and my hero.:) Wouldn't it be nice if it were discovered that nutgrass is actually a high protein food? We could clean out the beds and stock the kitchen at the same time!
The next time I dig a bed in the front where the St. A is, I'll transplant it next to the flower beds where it will be watered when I water the beds.
Bermuda - you think you have barriers - let me tell you about that... they seed like crazy and each seed will go by magic into your garden beds each one will grow 10000000 foot long roots in just a few weeks.. I have beds in areas that had Bermuda and I ahve dug down two foot deep dumping the soil and everything in it basket full at a time in the trash and rebuilding the beds to get most of the Bermuda out... and then they reseed there anyway! On a side note yes St Aug will kill out the Bermuda if you water it and keep it at 4 in tall for the first year or two with out fail - that is my plan now buy St Aug plugs and put them everywhere for a few years before I get out and dig a new bed into the Bermuda again...
Nutgrass is a real pain for me in some areas of the garden. Seems to be able to easily emerge through 18" of "cooking" mulch...have even heard urban legends of it emerging through wet asphalt...I almost believe it.
Mitch is right. It also can travel for a long long way without sending up leaves. I dug out an area about 8 feet square around an Italian Stone Pine tree. That dirt was clean when I finished! I put down 8 or 10 layers of newspaper and then mulch on top of that. For 3 years there was no burmuda grass coming up in the bed, but those evil roots were snaking their way underground. Now I see little wisps of burmuda all around the tree.
Yep - I have seen them to leafless creep from the lawn up 2 foot into a raised bed to get the moist soil.... bad bad bad plant..
LOL dmj...emerging through wet asphalt. HA! What IS this nutgrass? I am new here. Is it just in Texas?
Okay okay, aside from paying the cost for a nice Zioysa lawn what other grass will do in the south comparable to texture and hardiness as Bermuda?
None - that is why it sells.... one of those things you have to get the less of the evils and live with!
Nutgrass - not just a Texas thing but what a pain...
would nutgrass be in the plantfiles to look up?
Should be - I think Htop posted photos for me last year but thank God it does not grow in my yard... yet.
I can attest to the fact that nutgrass will grow through asphalt. The parking lot in front of the EXxtension building was black-topped, and within months nutgrass was showing up all over the place. It had grown through the blacktop. So now we get to Round Up the parking lot!! LOL
My neighbor has bermuda grass lawn. It grows into my flowerbeds and does really well in the rich dirt and regular watering! I agree, it grows a mile a minute, jumps barricades(I swear, I think it went under my swimming pool and came out on the other side), roots everywhere a node touches the ground and every little piece of stem left in the dirt will root.
Pink primroses grow wild here, they are everywhere. I had a 25 gallon pot sitting on the ground near some primroses. They came up thru the pot!
In TN I made the mistake of planting apple mint..........geez, that stuff can spread. I also planted goosneck loosestrife, dis-obedient plant, some kind of green and white grass and a lime green artemisia that was a thug.
artemisia?? Dont tell me that... I just was given one and planted it here! It is in full sun soooo I hope that will stop it a little...
Dwarf ruellia. I was at a popular, chain gardening store and asked one of the older employees what he would recommend for a long blooming perennial. He walked me over to ruellia and continued to praise the plant's beauty and long flowering habit. I planted four in the back of my flower bed. I knew prior to purchasing the plants that they were drought resistant, but I had no idea just how hardy these plants are. I now have eight ruellia in two years. In hindsight, I have been fortunate. I planted them in the back of the flower bed which borders the semi-circular drive; thus easily contained. They also cover up and grow into the gap between the concrete of the drive and the flower bed, so they are functional. They have sort of choked a rose bush, but things could have been much worse. After mowing the yard every Saturday, I'll spend 15 minutes hunting stragglers and scouts.
Mitch - It all depends on the kind of artemesia....I grow Powis Castle, and it is not a thug. But some of them truly are...
Good Thread Mitch!
The tall Ruellia Britonniana. I have to add my name to that one. It was coming up in every crevice and piece of dirt at the old house. I am glad I left it behind. I have been lucky enough to been warned about Mint, primrose, and obedient plant and did not plant them.
As far as the not planted invasives....
Nutgrass -I noticed I have some colonies in my new yard. It is also going to seed down where it's growing in the mucky area of the creek behind the house - on my side and the neighbor's. I snipped the head off some already, but need to get back down there.
Bermuda's invasiveness is the fear keeping me from starting beds in my new yard. I lots of pots behind the shed with all my plants waiting for a new home. The yard is well irrigated and has lush bermuda where the beds will go and I have this fear that I will never be able to remove it all. Roundup is actually tempting, though I don't like using it, but is really out of the question since the creek is just 200 feet away.
I am trying to renew my creek area and have new thugs to deal with. Literally 100s of Curly Dock, Giant Ragweed and almost as many Johnson Grass. I don't want to mow, but it's getting really tempting. I have planned to add a picture to my diary http://davesgarden.com/journal/ed/index.php?tabid=2572 , but haven't yet. I will try to do that tonight and anyone who is curious to see the mess I have gotten myself into can see it.
Mitch, I've planted lots of artemesia and they aren't usually bad. This one was chartreuse green, I think it might have been called "Limelight." It was not well behaved.
Powis Castle was a thug for me--but it's real shallow rooted and easy to clear out. It was in half shade half sun. Worse than the thugginess of it was how it looked Aug-Sept down here in the humidity....but of course, that's what does most things in down here for me.
this is limelight....
but your near Dallas, right? The cold winters will probably keep it in checks and the lack of humidity will keep it lookin' perky!lol