I also have grass growing through my Dianthus 'Cheddar Pinks'. Will it work for that as well?
What are you sorry you planted..... Part 4
So far I've never seen Ornamec hurt a non-grass plant. Use at your discretion.
Well, you know, the Cheddars leaves look a lot like grass, but phlox sub. has tiny leaves. For me, it doesn't matter if I loose them or not. The grass HAS to go. I have B. grass in my gardens at a past home. I had four feet wide sidewalks and it would grow underneath the sidewalk into my garden. Maddening.
I inherited a privet hedge that seems to grow 6 inches after every heavy rainfall -- and it rains a lot in NY so I have to hack away at it constantly. So every year I remove another section. I've been at it for 7 years and I have about another 5 years to go
Thank goodness I avoided the weed woodruff -- I shudder to think of how many times I almost bought it -- I'd have been done in by catalog cuteness
My wild violets hate rainy days because they know I'll be out with my knife breaking up their breeding and spreading parties where they drink shots of Roundup for fun
LOL! Shots of Roundup. Breeding parties. I love it!
birder, even though the phlox leaves look 'grassy' it shouldn't hurt them. I think you will like the results. Just give it a few weeks after you spray to notice the difference. And you may have to spray one or two times after that. Maybe not. For me it is very well worth it.
Bouncing Bet-Saponaria. I love the look of the flowers and they are so fragrant. BUT, this year, it tried to take over a whole corner of the garden. If it didn't reseed, forming mats of tiny green seedlings, they were running underground, coming up with new shoots even in the middle of other perennials. And some of it was even heading out into the lawn.
We pulled as much as we could, stripped the top layer of dirt and mulch where the seedlings were the heaviest, and then even dug out a large area and refilled with new compost/topsoil mix. From now on, I'll admire Bouncing Bet at the roadside, and not in my garden.
A good gardening friend warned me about planting BB, and I didn't listen. She's still trying to get rid of hers for over five years now.
Linda
Bouncing Bet. I love it. 7 plants. 2 colors. Boy does it require discipline. 2-3 times a year I take a shovel to it. And the white I grow next to other pushy plants (anemone x hybrida Honorine Jobert and bayberries). So it tries to grow into the lawn I was given the pink by mistake. I ordered salvia Rose Queen, a quite demure thing. I tolerate it because it looks and smells fantastic.
Particularly aggressive is the white. I have to tear out the front stems quite brutally each year. Or put a shovel through. Definitely has to be watched. I put it where I pass every day. I hate to think what would happen if it was unattended.
And to think they look so pure and innocent!
LOL! Yes. They are definitely ladies of ill-repute!
I had the most fun (it's all relative) using the Bernzomatic on weeds today in my gravel paths. I even managed to hit some of the Campanula rapunculoides and Lamium-gone-wild. I'm experimenting to see if this method has any impact on these rogues. I'd do the sweet woodruff as well but it's intermingled with other perennials. Very satisfying to see the undesirables crisp up. I really don't want to do the Roundup thing and it's so much quicker to get the weeds with the flame than sit all day digging them out. Can't wait to see that chickweed rear it's ugly head again.
I loved using my torch! I felt such power and the dog ran for safety!
It's really such great fun killing those miserable weeds and it's so easy.
Just took a tour of my garden. Two weeks now of over 100+ everyday. Water meter reader came to my door this week to see if we had a leak. Usage up 400% over last month. 78,000 gallons so far. Has made little difference. Many plants look like I took a flame thrower to them. What the last two unusual winters didn't get, this summer will. Instead of rationing water in our community they have 3 tier levels of charges. Mine is waaaay over the top. Bill will probably be almost $400. This is our only vice these days. Rarely eat out and don't buy clothes or do-dads anymore. If I could figure out how to use iPhoto on this mac, I would show you the pictures of how we have combined our yards with the neighbors. Paradise. If only we could get a little rain. My heart is with those that must farm our vegetables for a living. I don't know how they do it. Will not be surprised when everything goes sky high at the market. Still thankful that I have a home and a flower garden to fuss over. Mother Nature has destroyed everything many had. This is August in Texas that started in mid-June. No relief in sight.
Lou, so sorry to hear about your drought. It is sad when one works so hard to keep things alive. We're having hot dry weather also, but nothing like you and Oklahoma.
Only 5 days since last post and the daily temps are now 103 and climbing. News reports this was the hottest June in history for us. We are used to scorchers but they usually come late July/August. this started very early June and not one drop of rain.
Mother Nature is on a rampage world wide. Heat and drought are one of the lesser terrors.
Lou, I think it's lovely that in the midst of all your troubles you can think of and sympathize with others. You must be a lovely person.
Donna
Thank you, donna. What a gracious thing to say. I really don't deserve it. Just ask DH of 50 years. hahahahaha
Well, he stuck around for 50 years, yes? I think it says something about YOU. Lucky man!
We are both really stubborn. Made a commitment and stuck to it.
Lou, I love your attitude! I've only been married 26 years, but we both plan on sticking it out! I remember when we got married, we thought we'd be dead and gone by the time we were old enough to be married 50 years! Now we know what a stupid thought that was! What can I say, we were young and dumb back then! Congratulations on that major milestone!
We've had the 5th wettest Spring on record, going back to about 1860. It's been really crazy everywhere this year. We should be really dry this time of year, but parts of my yard haven't dried out completely since Winter left. I've only had to water my back lawn twice now, and that is pretty much unheard of here. I do wish I could share some of it with everyone who needs it. Since I can't, I'll thank my lucky stars for the gift all this water is.
I've got to get in on the torch action! Sounds like fun!
Natalie
Natalie, don't expect life to ever be easy. It seems to get harder as the days go by. How strange that you have some moisture in Utah. Pretty much known for the dry conditions. Will be 70 in October even though I can hardly believe it. Texas has always been dry and hot. Only the last 6 years have I gardened with such passion. Maybe that's why it is so evident that the heat is really hard on things this year. The garden is my communion time with God. I work and He allows things to grow....or not. Do not question His almighty wisdom. Am still learning.
Donna is this bouncing betty? A friend bought it at a garden club sale and they had a name on it called ragged betty?
My nightmares I can't control:
poison ivy - I think the birds must be delivering it
violets -
vine - not 4oclocks it has tiny blooms and is taking over and has gotten into my clematis
russian sage - like a shrub trying to come up everywhere
some kind of black herb - I think and it is everywhere, didn't know seeds could spread like that, color is beautiful and tough as nails
DH - rofl
I can deal with the grasses altho they are a pain, but poison ivy and vines in my vines..rofl. yuck!
Hello Happ. That is definitely bouncing betty. I swear, one of the reasons things end up in garden sales is because the owner has tons of it because it spreads!
It's beautiful, fragrant plant that blooms repeatedly if you deadhead it. But it will spread to spill into any space in which you put it. I use it as a filler in my peony bed (which is surrounded by rock) but I also take a sharp shovel to it from time to time. Do keep it away from grass, because if you don't it will start coming up through the grass.
But it's NOTHING compared to violets. Even knowing its spreading tendencies (I was supposed to get another plant) I actually ordered four BBs in white. And wow they are lovely - they just want to invade the grass nearby.
We are in worst prolonged drought and heat wave since they began keeping records. Wouldn't you know it, the violets are thriving. Many, many other plants are not going to make it. The violets don't even wilt. whine.....
Thank you so much Donna. When I saw your pic I just knew that is what she had. She loves it so far and yes the local garden clubs you sure need to be careful. At our sales we mark everything invasive that we know of and tell the buyer over and over, course sometimes you know in your heart of hearts they aren't listening. I have tried to stay away from invasives cause I am at heart lazy...rofl, but you still get duped sometimes.
>>vine - not 4oclocks it has tiny blooms and is taking over and has gotten into my clematis
chick weed or wild morning glory, perhaps??
I have both, and they choke out other plants.
amazing how weeds thrive in these droughts, many of my perennials are struggling while the weeds look great. *sigh*
we have some rain forcasted for tomorrow .... very dry here in N. IL.
in Wisc, we've had our share of storms/rain lately... we we are doing OK up there.
Maybe we need to make a weed garden. LOL. Grow all weeds and let them grow to their hearts content.
pepper, I got a good laugh from that! Sometimes I think I DO have weed gardens!
Natalie
More than once I've thought about how it would be to grow just a bed of different weeds just to see who would win!
And I've also thought about having a flower bed made up of only native or wild species from the local area. Every year, I see the same plants blooming along the side of the roads at the same time. If we didn't have hybrids, new plants brought here from Europe and other countries, and really different plants developed by plant growers, these are all we would have to choose from. Just an interesting thought,
Linda
PS Bouncing Bet would be among these plants. I see it growing in the wild here all the time!
Happ, your invasive vine isn't sweet autumn clematis, is it?
It's an invasive nuisance around here and has small white flowers...
It's incredible. I live in a conservation community and it's heavily promoted. It gets enormous. And once it blooms and goes to seed, it's the ugliest plant you can imagine - and looks that way for months - a bunch of brown, twisted stems. And since it is trumpeted as showy, people put it in very prominently places, where its unattractiveness can be viewed by passersby.
DonnaMack,
What vine are you talking about?
I do have a mostly native plant garden specifically planted to attract native bees, birds, bugs
and butterflies. I hope it looks like a cottage garden.
Weeds are a different issue, most are invasive non natives.
Bouncing bet, saponaria officinalis, is a naturalized non native from Europe.
In fact most of the roadside plants we see now are non natives, many highly invasive.
There are certainly native plants that are too big,weedy or aggressive for a planned garden.
No matter how wonderful the common milkweed (Asclepias syriaca) is for attracting monarchs
I won't choose it because it is an aggressive spreader, but the beautiful and similar looking purple milkweed
Asclepias purpurascens, is welcome.
It is all about choices, picking the right plant for the right spot the same as with traditional garden plants.
Sweet autumn clematis. Weerobin made a reference to it just above.
I have a mix of native and non-native plants, which are planted to attract the large number of bees, butterflies, hummingbirds and birds building nests that I enjoy. I think that it's important to control your plants and take responsibility for what you install. Whatever you install. I just wish that some of my neighbors who boast about their native plants would take care of them better. It's a myth in my community that you can just toss natives in the ground and walk away. Their yards look terrible, and their aggressive natives spread to my yard - where they are promptly removed.
In many cases, location is everything. If it doesn't create a problem in your yard, and you love it, there's no problem. But I've been reading up on it. It spreads by seeds, which it has about a billion of. The comments on DG are interesting and go both ways. In some places it is well behaved. In some places it tromps into wetland. It apparently is contained by deadheading, but If you have seen how big it can get (I personally have seen specimens that are 20 feet by 10 feet0 that could be a challenge.
http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/683/#b
Read the comments. Wow - who knew? Have had mine for at least 15 years. I think the location (dry, clay, no supplemental watering) probably keeps it in check. Even though it blooms, I've never seen any seedlings nor underground wandering. But will keep my eye on it now. No way I can deadhead it as it's growing on a copper arbor about 10 ft high in the center.
Cindy, it's clear you don't have a problem. Congratulations! Enjoy your plant (ah, dry, clay - sounds like my soil!)