There is a rental property owner in my neighborhood who owns several houses in the area. I have been frustrated because I noticed some time ago that he is in the habit of replacing turfgrass with liriope spicata. (Mind you, I am not a big proponent of expansive lawns either.)
There is little else planted on his properties for landscaping interest. Instead, they tend to be seas of spreading liriope. Never mind that they may be adjacent to Harry HomeOwner who is just trying to maintain a decent landscape. I'm typing this tonight because I am particularly fired up after being handed one of this guy's business cards tonight which reads, "Liriope Lawn Landlord - no watering weeding feeding seeding mowing."
As far as I can tell, Liriope spicata is not actually on the invasive species list for the state of MD, but all you have to do is look across the street from one of his properties and see the liriope spreading into the public spaces. UGH!
Is there any recourse or do I need to grin & bear it? This is an 'older' neighborhood and there are no home associations to regulate landscapes as far as I am aware.
Liriope spicata as a grass alternative?
wrightie,
have you checked with your village? they may be able to put you in touch with some one that may know if there is anything that can be done to keep it from spreading to other homeowners lawns.
i too would be ticked if it came into our yard.
Well, I do know that my local city councilwoman is ~not pleased~ with his landscaping, but I haven't managed to talk to her about it yet. That's on my To Do list. I was noticing during a run the other day that it has spread more than I realized across the road and into public(?) property.
Hmmm, I have some variegated Liriope but I have never noticed it spreading anywhere.
Do you have liriope spicata or muscari? Spicata is more likely to spread, whereas muscari forms clumps and is much easier to control.
I must have L.muscari, it stays in clumps.
Hmm, that would be pretty annoying alright. I don't know if this would be practical in your situation but I would guess that if you put in sheet metal (or some other) divider along the property line, you might be able to at least barricade your lawn/garden from the spreading roots which should lessen the problem significantly. It sounds like you might not have any other options... :-/
Hi Paul,
In this case, the guy actually lives a few blocks from me, but owns several investment properties in the neighborhood (this is a college town, so he has several student rentals). He has landscaped many of them with the liriope.
I'm not concerned about my own lawn and garden, but rather the bigger picture. I guess I'm just frustrated by his irresponsibility.
RoundUp drift can be soooooo sad :(
LOL ... I would need an airplane to accomplish that; we're talking about a very large area. Fortunately, there's a small airport 1/4 mile away.