My Nightmare

I couldn't agree more Mellie !

Great use for old socks, and certainly better than darning! I know this is an exercise meant for kids, but I'm tempted to try it myself just to see what pops up.

Don't tell VV, but I knit socks and hook rugs. Below is a picture of a pair I'm currently knitting for my husband, and to tie it in with gardening, the brown is the color of the bark on a young Prunus serotina (Black cherry) and blue the color of Campanula rotundifolia (Harebells).

Mellie, you put it much better than I ever could.

Mellie, I've started pulling the ivy because it comes up fairly easily, but all the branches from the trees and shrubs I've removed have been placed over the Liriope in the hopes of smoothering some of it, per VV's suggestion. I'm not sure if it will be easier to pull when dormant or not. I'll have to do some checking. Thanks for the suggestion.

I'm still hoping to plant some of the hedgerow in the fall.

THIS IS how it is done. You create the "how to" so those who might be interested in learning more have a baseline. If you create it, they will come. What you propose exemplifies my little phrase of "Think globally while acting locally".

Fireweed! Do try the sock exercise! It's not just for kids ya know. I did one (ok maybe 2 or 3 or 4 or more)! One suggestion, pick up a rubbermaid or sterilite plastic shoebox and add about 3" of Sphagnum Peat Moss mixed 50/50 with top soil then lay your sock on top of that and pat it down to make contact with the medium. Sphagnum can really hold the water and it will wick up into the sock so your chances of it drying out are reduced. What will germinate on that sock will be a real eye opener.

I used to hook rugs. I was no good but I had fun! I also tried embroidery and crewel work. Oh did I love those kits. I would still be doing those were it not for the fact that my vision didn't cooperate. A DG member here knitted me a scarf and a coordinated cap and they are up there with my favorite things. Your socks are way cool!

Ladies, regarding what to go for first... research the invasives you have. Go for any invasive that is additionally allelopathic. That's your best bet in my humble opinion. Allelopathic plants literally poison the soil for all practical purposes often inhibiting the germination of native species or killing off any native plants you lovingly add to your properties. Go for the allelopaths first! Dead head and remove fruiting invasives after that. Prioritize and pace yourselves. They'll still be there for you to whack the year after next.

And here I was worried I was ranting again! I tend to get up on my soapbox but I'm glad I have supporters. : ) Here in Fl we have so many Northern transplants and I think they are just kind of clueless when it comes to what to plant (and when). But on the other end I have a lady at the end of our cul-de-sac who has a yard full of "wildflowers" which everyone thinks is just weeds because she lets it go wild. I think if you plant natives and keep them well-maintained they can look just as formal as any other garden. I know when I look through gardening catalogs I often feel envious that I can't grow certain plants (peonies...waaah). But then I just remind myself that if I didn't live here, I couldn't have all my bromeliads outside. And when I want to see peonies, I visit my grandparents up in West Virginia (like I did in May)! And the rhododendrons....so pretty! It's amazing I didn't drive off a cliff looking at all the plants instead of the road! And the irises were in bloom, too! I guess it's true what they say, the grass is greener on the other side of the fence (or state line).

Fireweed, liriopes are evil! I just have a personal dislike of them. I don't like the way that look. Dad planted some in the front of our house and when I moved back in I pulled them out. Now I have gerber daisies greeting me when I come home. We had a real problem with slugs living under the liriope; I don't know if that's a problem for you. I actually had to have my brother help me remove them. I dug all around them but they were so heavy I only pulled one out and was exhausted. So glad they're gone!

Hi, I just found this thread and I wondered... If you get the big stuff down to the ground, you could try solarizing. We have problems with crown vetch. Before I knew what it was, it was colonizing my "back 40." That stuff is really impossible to pull up. We dug up the area, removed as much weed as possible and solarized the area (which works really well in the hot times of the year) and this also killed lots of other weed seeds so we could be selective about what we allowed to grow there. It takes time, but it helps solve the buried seed problems.

Sorry for abandoning my thread, but work has been a bit . . . bitter pill.

Mellie, I had to laugh about your rant on Liriope because I have found myself feeling the same way. When I first moved in here years ago, there was a little patch of it in the back, and I moved some here and there to fill in empty spots. Boy, did I live to regret it! I've pulled it out everywhere else, but that little patch in the back is now about 15'X15' and is mixed in with the ivy, vinca, and (even worse) roots from larger privet and Koelreuteria. When I'm back there with my cultivator and shovel I am thinking, "Lirope is Evil!" But, at saner moments I realize that it's just misplaced.

Okay, call me an idiot, but a happy idiot. All this time I thought I had an Ailanthus, but when I was pulling out Liriope, I kept finding these little lantern-looking pods. Hurray, I have a Koelreuteria paniculata (Golden Rain Tree). Yes, they're still invasive, difficult to remove and weedy. Why am I happy? Koelreuteria isn't allelopathic. Disposal will be easier and I'll have good logs for the wood pile.

Candy, I've never solarized. Will it work in partial shade? I still have the mother White Mulberry to remove that shades that whole area and my intention was to girdle it and leave it as a snag. Maybe my next move is to remove the Mulberry and then try solarizing. It would be great if it helped me get rid of that Evil Liriope.