Shop Products
Houzz Logo Print
shellim_gw

How do I get rid of Tiger Lillies

shellim
17 years ago

Hello I live in an apartment in Massachusetts with a small garden plot. 3/4 of which is taken over by orange tiger Lillies that have blooms that last a month a most. I want to get rid of them! I know that they have an extensive bulb/root system. I have spent the last 2 hours trying to dig them up - urgh. Is there anything I can put on the soil to soften the root system (or kill it) that would make my task easier.

I know you all love them so I hate to say I want to get rid of them, but they are just not my thing. If there is anyone in the MA area that wants them....they are your's for the taking. I have cut down all the stalks and cleaned out all the dead leaves but the bulbs will keep coming back.

Advice MUCH appreciated.

M.

Comments (7)

  • alina_1
    17 years ago

    Are you sure you have tiger lilies? I had the same problem with orange daylilies. They do have extensive root system and they are extremely invasive. It is relatively easy to remove true lilies.

  • oldroser
    17 years ago

    I expect she is referring to the orange hemerocallis ditch lily and not a true lily You can eradicate the ditch lilies by constant digging but any tiny piece of root left in the ground will form a new plant. This variety does not set seed but it sure spreads from root pieces! Roundup applied several times will do it in and so will spreading black plastic over the area and leaving it down until everything under there is dead. Persistence does it.

  • haziemoon
    17 years ago

    I would love to take them off your hands, no matter which
    ones they are! I have so much area to fill. If you would like to ship them, I'll pay shipping.....e-mail me

    Haziemoon

  • alina_1
    17 years ago

    O boy... Hasiemoon, I have been fighting with them for two weeks (I did not use chemicals), having a very small flower bed... We were given a small rhizome by our neighbor tree years ago. This year nothing but these orange monsters was left on this bed. They even got under the driveway paving, broke it, and sent some shoots through the gap! I threw them away, so I can not send you any, may be the author of the thread can. Just think it over, do you really want them? They are soooo INVASIVE!

  • lilium_guy56
    17 years ago

    OOOOOHHHHH good.. someone with the same problem I had.....yes HAD. What you have is NOT TIGER LILIES. Tigers are a bulb. You have orange "ditch lilies' I believe the true name is FULVA Lily but I could be wrong. I dug some of these out of the ditch years ago and planted them in the back against the house. After a few years they managed to kill off most everything else. 9 or so years later I wanted the darn things out. I dug up the entire flower garden saving what little Tulips, Lily etc I could find. Then tossed in the woods every piece of ditchers I could find. That took 3 days sorting soil by hand. I was confident i had them all. Next spring up they came again but only 10% as before. So I dug it again, then again the 3rd year. After 4 years in a row I can proudly say that I did not see 1 ditcher in there. But they sure are growing out in the woods. Either just keep at it or buy a herbicide which will kill everything. I don't use chemicals much so I not sure what you'd have to do to the soil after.

  • cabosan1978
    16 years ago

    I recently bought a home that was surrounded by and had numerous "orange" lily beds. I would say they numbered, at minimum in the thousands. For those of you who like these, good for you. I did not plan on putting any more of these into the ground but did have to come up with a way of removing them from my landscaping scheme.

    I had 2 areas.

    One, around my entire home. I buzzed them all down with a hedge trimmer. Put a weed guard over the exposed bulb stumps and topped that with about 4 inches of mulch. My problems arose where the weed gird has its edges. Around the perimeters and where the holding stakes pop through the barrier itself. They are coming back here and there as I predicted in these areas so I am using a chemical that breaks down when in contact with the soil, as most do and will not have long term effects. It is a work in progress but a controled one.

    Second Area . . . flower beds removed in my yard. Had success! I mowed the lillies to the ground with a weed trimmer as close to soil as I could. I then soaked them, and only the bunches with a degrading chemical. This did it. They are done in these areas and are decomposing and not returning. In addition, the grass seed I had planted is growing fine. I wish I would have done this with the ones under the mulch but I have learned for future.

    I hope this helps with anyone with this problem and you can use this in your own situations.

  • cabosan1978
    15 years ago

    I planted a japanese maple in green bay wisconsin this summer. it is half buried in snow. it is about 4 feet tall with a two foot width. no protection. Is it doomed?