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What do you wish you never planted?
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Posted by amyh_sps z7/8 (My Page) on Mon, Mar 10, 08 at 20:13
| I saw this posting for a different region in the U.S. but still read through it anyway. There was a lot of good advice! So... I would like to know what people here in the PNW have planted that they wish they never had and why! I recently just ripped out a lot of Vinca Major from my front walkway garden, it started spreading too much and looked too messy. Last year was my first time planting a real garden, and now I've already ripped something out that I didn't like!
Please share so we can all learn from each other's mistakes! |
Follow-Up Postings:
RE: What do you wish you never planted?
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Lysimachia nummularia 'Aurea' and Galium odoratum and Acanthus mollis. I like the Acanthus but I think I will have it forever as they seem to root fairly deep and a small piece of broken root makes a new plant!!!!
But all said, there is nothing I can't get rid of if I really set my mind to it!!!!
Fever Few showed up one year and I had not planted it. It was kind of pretty but I knew it would be a problem if I left it to seed. After a few years of agressive weeding, I rarely see a plant. There really are no mistakes. It just depends on how much time you are willing to put in to removing seedlings or root pieces! I personally feel that self seeder are the hardest to get rid of rather than things that spread by rhizomes...... and I have removed a lot of aggressive ground covers including dwarf bamboos, which I feel are easy to remove! I am sure you will get other opinions! cheers & Happy Gardening |
RE: What do you wish you never planted?
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- Posted by knotz 8/PNW WA (My Page) on
Tue, Mar 11, 08 at 0:21
| Yucky Yuccas!!...I planted too many too close together and can't get rid of them!! |
RE: What do you wish you never planted?
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| Lily of the Valley, Sweet Woodruff, Grape Hyacinths (the common one, the fancier ones are fine) Purple Leaf Plum 'Blerieana' prone to diseases, pests and wind and ice damage.... |
RE: What do you wish you never planted?
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- Posted by ian_wa Seattle area (My Page) on
Tue, Mar 11, 08 at 0:48
| Oxalis carnosa in the greenhouse.... kind of a cool weed though. |
RE: What do you wish you never planted?
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| Although the pink poker like flowers are very pretty, Persicaria superbum, this plant has spread into the most unlikely places, I'm forever yarding it out. A...... |
RE: What do you wish you never planted?
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Bishops weed. It was in one area of our yard when we moved in. Before I knew better I transplanted it to a few other areas. Big mistake!
Japanese anenome and sweet woodruff have also gotten out of hand no matter how I try to control it. |
RE: What do you wish you never planted?
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"Baby's Tears" (Soleirolla) creeps EVERYWHERE and chokes other plants, can't get rid of it. Also something called "Wire Vine" should be kept in a pot!
I find things that creep by roots harder to deal with, don't mind plants that seed themselves at all. |
RE: What do you wish you never planted?
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| ...Euphorbia robbiae, Galium odoratum, Linaria 'Canon J. Went' and L. purpurea, Impatiens glandulifera, Viola labradorica, the list goes on... Fortunately, after much time and persistence, I've managed to rid my garden of most of these thugs. I do still find the occasional seedling in some out-of-the-way spot, however. I'm thinking of yanking my Linaria triornithophora. It's rhizomes are spreading at an alarming rate. Anyone else have experience with this one? |
RE: What do you wish you never planted?
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| Each tree that has died I wish I hadn't planted. But there was no way to know ahead of time. Frustrating to spend a lot of time and money on something that croaks. Planted many varieties of vinca. Couldn't imagine it growing; everything was so desolate. But that stuff goes everywhere. It's very pretty and is flowering now. But it goes into other plants and smothers them. I just have to get busy cutting and pulling to free some azaleas etc. It will require vigilance. 3X a year to keep it from attacking. There are some weeds here, didn't plant them of course but I find I'm starting to not mind pulling weeds. The horsetails are starting to come up and getting rid of those will be a full-time job for the next few months. Planted some rose bushes that were given as gifts. They're rather finicky and don't give year-round beauty. Probably wouldn't have bought so many. I must be crazy to not love roses in the Rose City. Sure the blooms are nice and fragrant but the plant isn't the best. |
RE: What do you wish you never planted?
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I could almost say "ditto" to sedumgal's list! I have no linaria however and so far, my violets haven't run rampant.
I have a pot of bishop's weed from my mom's yard I hang onto for sentimental reasons, but haven't had the nerve to turn it loose anywhere in my yard! Patrick |
RE: What do you wish you never planted?
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| In my vegetable garden I wish I had contained my horseradish plants. I have had to give away (far away) most seedlings and it is only through very deep digging through every square inch of one plot have I almost (I say that quietly) gotten rid of what I wouldn't use. I have since surrounded it like I have had to do with any mint plants. Thanks for all the other warnings here. When your gardens are young you want to see them filled with plants but then you are digging out the re- seeders forever! Salmonlady4 |
RE: What do you wish you never planted?
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- Posted by sea_jen Zone 8, Seattle (My Page) on
Fri, Mar 14, 08 at 16:08
| Euphorbia cyparissias ‘Fens Ruby’. I love my other euphorbias (even E. robbiae which definitely spreads, but can be kept under control by pulling up the strays). Fens Ruby looked so pretty, but it spread all over my front yard including colonizing much of the grass. It strangled some other plants. It looks crappy in the fall - other Euphorbias are evergreen, but it turns yellow and all the little leaves fall off. Two years after "completely removing" it, I'm still pulling up massive clumps. I also wish that the person who lived in my house before me had never planted fennel. Six years later I'm still getting stray shoots. |
RE: What do you wish you never planted?
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RE: What do you wish you never planted?
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RE: What do you wish you never planted?
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| Euphorbia fen's Ruby, golden hops, balsam, sorrel, dead nettle, and alstroemeria. I have been pulling and spraying a lot this spring. Hopefully I will have most of them gone by the end of the summer. |
RE: What do you wish you never planted?
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| Dead nettle. I didn't even plant it. Just bought a pre-planted container that had some in it. Left it outside and was happy to see that the dead nettle lived over the winter in the pot. It then spread ALL over, even jumping across my driveway! |
RE: What do you wish you never planted?
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Lamiastrum galeobdolon, Archangel
Geranium Herb Robert
Comfrey
Lemon Balm but it does make a healthful tea |
RE: What do you wish you never planted?
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| Lily of the Valley, Lily of the Valley, Lily of the Valley! |
RE: What do you wish you never planted?
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| The person the lived here before me planted Herb Robert, Yuck, that stuff smells nasty and comes up everywhere! I am forever getting rid of it. I've also transplanted woodland violets from the woods and they pop up everywhere but I do like them. I can live with those. Like daphne I bought a container with dead nettle in it a few years ago. Still, I am finding that stuff everywhere. |
RE: What do you wish you never planted?
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| Ditto to sedum gal's post. Plus those darn yellow belgium poppies that my neighbor gave me. Pretty poison. |
RE: What do you wish you never planted?
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| Double ditto on the dead nettle, that stuff just won't die! Sweet woodruff, hitched a ride into my garden with some starts from a friend's garden! Now what kind of friend doesn't warn you about that pretty little garden thug! |
RE: What do you wish you never planted?
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| Bamboo. Anyone want some? It's not a special variety, just plain old green, runner bamboo. I catually love the way it looks, but not the way it spreads. Not that it matters, but we inherited it from the previous owners. jb |
RE: What do you wish you never planted?
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| Ornamental Strawberry. It was hard work pulling it out and I have a strong feeling it will be baaaaaccckkk. We also have ivy, which served a purposed when we had no sun, but now that area is full sun and I want the ivy gone. :-( |
RE: What do you wish you never planted?
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| Ivy and Lily of the Valley. |
RE: What do you wish you never planted?
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- Posted by buzzy 8PugetSound (My Page) on
Thu, May 1, 08 at 23:28
| This is what I wish OTHER people had never planted: Geranium "herb robert" very pretty lacy leaves and little pink flowers but what a stench!! Catbox and old socks combined and self-seeds everywhere. Then dead nettle (Lamium ...) this has spread all over a road - about a quarter mile and still marching on - on Maury Island and is choking native plants. And ditto English ivy - it's crawling all over Vashon Island and killing trees - it's horrible! Crews of volunteers are out constantly ripping it out but still it's covering trees and choking them. It's hard to monitor the forest. Then in my garden there's the alstromeria previous owner planted 22 years ago that still comes up no matter how much I pull it! A brassy ugly gold flower. The Japanese anemone also still coming up in the middle of the lawn where the flower bed used to be - but I like it. Just keep digging and moving. Finally, nobody has mentioned using a plant in the wrong place - I planted a Clematis montana near a small deck which it engulfs on a regular basis! |
RE: What do you wish you never planted?
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| Okay, I've got one more which I discovered is slowly taking over my front flower bed. It's adenophora (sp?) Lady bells. It's pretty, but I've been spending weeks digging out roots and runners!! It spreads by runners and seeds and is just everywhere. I'm researching what I buy from now on!! |
RE: What do you wish you never planted?
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- Posted by ian_wa Seattle area (My Page) on
Fri, May 2, 08 at 0:48
| This is why we shouldn't plant things that are totally hardy for our climate. Who knows when you might want to get rid of them! LOL. |
RE: What do you wish you never planted?
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Beware of Comfrey:
Some guy was praising it up to me a few years ago for all sorts of health benefits, so I planted a couple in my Garden. More recently I've read that there are some toxins in the leaves. It spreads by seed, and root cutting. Rototilling creates a population explosion and it is almost impossible to kill--- even with herbicides. The tap root is over 3 foot long on a mature plant. It is an attractive plant for a weed but can really take over. The purple strain gets about 3 foot high and the white ones about 2 feet high. I have kept on purple/white hybrid by the fence, but don't plant Comfrey. |
RE: What do you wish you never planted?
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| Funny, a lot of the things that seem to be going rampant in Seattle (Lily of the Valley, Sweet Woodruff) do just fine here in Index because it's not such a perfect climate for them. When I was in Seattle, the plant I regretted most was Vinca Minor. Here in Index, I'm having a problem with a particular oregano that was given to me by a friend. It has no flavor (I can't find any culinary use for it at all) but it spreads like CRAZY! I'm forever pulling up Herb Robert, but I don't think anyone ever planted it (anywhere in the Northwest) -- it's just a weed, and it pops up everywhere. After reading all the complaints about Dead nettle (also a weed here) I'll be more careful with it. I've been letting it go, but this year I've noticed a lot of new sprouts! English Ivy is just bad news -- an invasive species that's nearly impossible to get rid of. We already lost one tree to it (we hadn't noticed it being strangled to death until it was too late -- so a 40' Hemlock just bellied up). |
RE: What do you wish you never planted?
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| passionvine! It's everywhere now! |
RE: What do you wish you never planted?
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| Years ago when I was young and stupid, I bought a "mystery herb" at clearance price from a table of plants with labels missing at the nursery because I thought it was "pretty." Turned out to be a sage, and remnants/reseeds of the stupid thing have since popped up literally all over our property. I can't get rid of it for the life of me. Also: Homestead Purple Verbena, but not for the same reason at all: It had reseeded itself for a few years after I first planted the one I bought... but I absolutely fell in love with it, and it stopped showing up in my gardens a few years back. Now I can't find that particular variety anywhere to save my life. Anyone have some they would send me? I miss it so much! :-) |
RE: What do you wish you never planted?
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| Wild Geranium---don't know the botanical name but it's the one with the lacy leaves and little pink flowers. Neighbor gave me ONE small plant---now it's in EVERY bed, empty container, and I swear will grow in the gutters! At least it's easy to pull! I planted Sweet Woodruff because I thought it smelled like Sweet Grass (love that smell) and Oxalis in my Native Plant Garden. (Am I going to regret this???) It has taken over, but the only plant I have ever had that actually controls the Johnson Grass the former owner managed to bring in. I was told they used to go collect "topsoil" from river bottoms and it came in that. After 35 years it still takes over ever bed in the yard and garden. Microscopic pieces of the VERY long white roots will sprout new shoots. Been fighting it for years! If I transplant something from one bed to a "clean one," no matter how careful, it follows! Didn't plant the ivy, but spent years pulling it! BAD NEWS!!! Still finding it! My neighbor also has holly trees that show up everywhere! Vinca Minor? Can't hardly get it to grow, LOL! Guess it all depends on conditions and location! Linda |
RE: What do you wish you never planted?
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| New England Aster! Turns out I don't like them at all and they never, never leave. Plus they spend the whole summer coming up and looking unattractive while they do it. Also, I wish I hadn't planted blue star creeper in the planters...I love it, but it's taken over the planters completely and there's no unravelling it from the established plants. |
RE: What do you wish you never planted?
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| "ice dance" sedge. My but that stuff spreads and it is a lot of work to keep after it. I planted it because it was on the Northwest Best Picks list - yikes! My house is next to a cemetary. There is a green belt between that is just full of the most horrid weeds: ivy, herb robert, vinca, buttercup, shot weed and forget-me-nots. I am also unhappy with the emerald carpet I planted. It does a good job of covering over bald spots, but it doesn't know when to quit. This is a good thread. I had been planning to plant golden hops, but now I won't. I have tried hard to grow clematis montana without any luck or maybe I was lucky after all. |
RE: What do you wish you never planted?
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| sedum! The standard green sedum -- it's *SO* invasive. It seems to grow by the day. It will go not only up to and through other plants, but climb up them, somehow. I've stopped trying to give it away and now just throw away what I pull almost every week. I also don't love the four o'clocks. Can't make them go away. I couldn't get the sweet woodruff to stay alive in my yard--maybe because it was in a very dry area? Or because it was near a tree with verticillium wilt? |
RE: What do you wish you never planted?
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RE: What do you wish you never planted?
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I'm still pulling lily of the valley, sweet woodruff and grape hyacinths. Spanish bluebells too. Have given away on Craig's List and here but still can't get rid of all of them.
:( |
RE: What do you wish you never planted?
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| vinca minor Sorry if the spelling is off, but here is my list:
verbena bonariensis
strawberry
euphorbia robbiae
linaria purpurea
digitalis ferruginea
blue star creeper
impatiens balfourii
saxifraga stolonifera |
RE: What do you wish you never planted?
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| Lychnis coronaria ---rose champion |
RE: What do you wish you never planted?
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| Petasites! I was growing tropical plants and wanted large leaves---so now, I have large-leaved petasites all over my yard, raised beds, vegetable garden---and you cannot dig them out! Number 2 would be a large euphorbia that I cannot remember the Latin name for. It grows about 5-6 ft tall and is spectacular as a large shrub, but it also seeds all over the yard, so I have large clumps of euphorbia everywhere, and I can't give it away, no matter how I try. |
RE: What do you wish you never planted?
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RE: What do you wish you never planted?
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Oxalis, impossible to get out!
Euphorbia robbiae, ditto!!
Hypericum (inherited from previous owner) |
RE: What do you wish you never planted?
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| Without a doubt, Russian Comfrey. Got a root piece a few years ago and put some in my Vineyard. It is very difficult to eradicate and if you chop a root you get several new plants in the same spot. it also spreads gradually by seed. If you do grow it, keep it in a large container. |
RE: What do you wish you never planted?
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| English Ivy, and the rest of the Hedera 'Ivy' plants are a plague once they start climbing trees. On the noxious weed list in several counties now. |
RE: What do you wish you never planted?
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| "rose champion" above should be "rose campion". There are many rose champions named in Portland in June during the Rose Festival. |
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