Invasive Plants have gotten loose in your garden

Bishops Weed
Comfrey (it came with the farm) it's still thriving 20 years later
Chameleon Plant, pretty but don't let it loose!
I'm sure I've had others over the years but these have been some of my biggest battles.

WALKING STICK - IT IS EVERYWHERE --- and far far from where it started!!! Help! (Verbena Bonariensis) it is displacing all my plantings between the flagstones. One good thing (small consolation) it pulls up real easy.

English daisys. I thought I had gotten rid of them. And there are some out by the pond again this year.

Lemon balm. Still finding babies. At least it smells good!

Bishop's weed - you can only see what's happening on top, but this is growing underneath farther and farther
Lamium 'Archangel' - I only had a tiny one for a single season and now I can't get it all . . .
Lychnis - I have it seeding itself in between the rocks in my driveway

My neighbor has many Ailanthus trees - she planted them 5 years ago and they are now on the 'do-not-plant' list in Portland. They are extremely invasive and are popping up all over my yard. They have something in their roots that kills other plants and nothing will grow near them for a long time. I roam my yard every day to check for them. The city has sent the neighbor notices and all the neighbors have tried to talk with her, but she says all the experts are wrong! Grrrrr

This is a weed, but still highly invasive--Sorrel. Those rubbery roots go everywhere. Masses of mulch and continual pulling hasn't helped for 3 years. This year I've declared war. The giant economy sizes of Round-Up, Preen and Weed-N-Feed are in my arsenal. I don't usually use many chemicals, but this stuff must GO.

Dianne, I would love to find something that would kill the bad guys but not put bad things into the ground water. Are any of those safe for rivers, salmon, etc?

Dianne - if you make a solution of round-up (1 gal.) with a tsp of dish soap added, you can paint the leaves of sorrel and it will die. the soap acts as a sticking agent, so the round-up does not run of. Wrap a stick with a cloth to paint with unless you've got an old paintbrush.
Burning them works, too, but takes a few times to weaken the plant.
I don't normally use chemicals, but round-up is one that has been successful on the harder to eradicate weeds, as it binds to plant material.
As always, balance & moderation are key.

I agree, sorrel is so nasty. And herb robert also

All of my runaway plants are self induced.

I am with Kathy on the Lamium 'Archangel' .

I guess my grass that is taking over everything is verigated Ribbon Grass. Purchased before I learned the IMPORTANT difference between "spreading" and "clumping" grasses.

Montbretia is extremely happy in my gardens, and once it's in one, you can't get it all out...period.

Centaurea montana--Beautiful but floppy in my yard, it smothers the plants around it and I can't keep up on the deadheading to keep it from going everywhere, and it's hard to pull once it gets a foothold.

Mint...Plain mint, verigated mint. Smells great. Stayed in a nice little clump at my Federal Way house. Much happier in my new garden...

It's strange how some things behave differently depending on where they are planted. I have a nice clump of lemon balm that has stayed put for ten years.

I'm the only person on the planet (I think) that likes the smell of Herb Robert. In fact, if it didn't represent "weediness", I'd probably leave it in. The little flowers are as pretty as its geranium cousins.

Kathy, I can't say I am with you on liking the smell (UGH!), but it is pretty if it isn't taking over your flower beds. Our pet cemetary is covered in it, and I have been trying (unsuccessfully) to introduce violets to go with it.

Oh yeah, add violets to my list of things I am trying and failing to keep in one place in my garden!

I have violets everywhere (as planned), but I haven't yet been able to get the heart's ease (johnny jump ups) to seed. Go figure.

I think herb robert is on the noxious weed list. I agree it is beautiful and I never noticed a smell to it.
Kenilworth ivy is another one I love to hate. It is easy to pull and I use it. I originally put it around a pond and now it is in my courtyard happily growing between the bricks and hanging out of all the planters.

I think I heard the same thing about Herb Robert. It's hard to imagine that as it's so easy to pull and doesn't seem like it gets in the way of anything else . . .

Lamium - I hate the stuff because it takes over everything!

Add me to the Kenilworth Ivy list, too. I think it's cute as can be so I usually leave some, so I always have it. But, I never deliberately planted it at this house. I had it in a container once before we moved here and I've had it ever since. Sometime in summer I get frustrated with it and tear most of it out, but by then it's too late and it's seeded again.

Oh, yea, violets, too. This year I have TWO colors-light pinky purple and dark purple. The dark purple is in the lawn. The light is everywhere else. I don't know how it got here, but I spend a lot of quality weeding time trying to control it.

Herb robert-yes, smells nasty-burning tires? My neighbor has this everywhere. She must've brought it when she moved. So, now I'm fighting it everywhere, too. At least it does come up easily...

Julie, if you want that lemon balm to increase, plant it somewhere with nice moist heavy soil in part shade and then don't ever deadhead it. This stuff actually killed off my spearmint...

I'm now worrying about my (so far) only one clump of Centaurea Montana. I do agree about the crocosmia being not a lot of fun to dig up, but I did discover that if it's in a pot it will die if the temps stay under twenty for a while....

I'm getting a little concerned about a cute little ground cover I bought late last summer- Arenaria . It's a steppables-here's a picture-now isn't that just cute???
http://www.stepables.com/store/Scripts/prodView-plants.asp?idproduct=27 Teeny tiny bright green leaves, adorable 1/8" white flowers-and it's grown from a 4" pot to almost covering the entire surface of the 12" pot I put it in-and it went right OVER the dwarf mondo grass...... I was thinking it was Herniaria glabra, which is much more innocuous-spread 4" in a year

The arenaria sure is pretty, though.

Herb Robert - burning tires? Maybe I just process smell differently than anyone else. It has a traditional geranium scent, but a little more pungent to me . . . huh.

Kathy, interesting. What kind of plants do smell unpleasant to you?

Hmmmmmm - good question. I can smell the stinky in the Hellebores when I brush past them. I'll have to think on that one. Nothing comes to mind right now.

Susybell I have some of that ground cover between stones in my garden. I love it! I do trim it back once in a while. I don't think it's invasive - that's just the way it grows. Before I put anything in the ground I check with the environmental agency to make sure it's not invasive.

Judi, good to hear that it really won't take over everywhere. I do watch the "official' noxious/invasives weed list pretty carefully. Most of my "pest plants" aren't on it, so far, anyhow! Still, rampant growth makes me a bit nervous-I'm on a city lot like you are. :)

Susybell LOL - plants can take over our city lots if we don't watch out! It seems like things grow 12 " over night!

My Centaurea has stayed just one clump. But, the bronze fennel on the other hand... What was I thinking? I do like it though, but MUST remember to deadhead before it seeds.

Funny Jan! My fennel is barely limping along and my centaurea is being evicted to the woods! Kind of like what they say when starting a business...location location location!

So true!!! ^_^

Yes, fennel. I had it coming up in the lawn at a place I rented. It's a great plant, but don't let it go to seed!!

I WILL be vigilant this year. LOL

Ditto on fennel and centaurea, they both have been too happy here over the years. I've been working on getting rid of them. The floor of my greenhouse will completely cover with Asarina procumbens and Kenilworth Ivy if I don't hire my granddaughter to pull it fairly often.

LOL, Judi, isn't that the truth-unless it's something I'm anxiously wanting to hurry up and grow, of course!

All this talk about fennel makes me very glad I never planted any. Its size was a bit more than I wanted, and it sounds like its habits are as well.

So, at the EWA house I have a real problem with Rose of Sharon. Let them go to seed, and you have babies everywhere! Last summer I resorted to crossbow to try to get them back under control as the house had been vacant for about a year and they had not been deadheaded. You can bet the deadheading happens now, for sure. ]
They don't seem invasive over here on the W side, and I have lots of babies if anyone is interested. LOL

oooooh - ad for Houttuynia Cordata at top right of thread - perfect for this topic.

I have a couple of fennel plants that stay very nicely under control. Think it is because of the lack of heat and/or sun here in the forests. Gave a start to a friend in the Chehalis area, and she had much more of a problem. They have more sun and heat there.

As usual, lots depends on the environment.

By the way, I just noticed a new shoot of the comfrey that I have been digging for 12 years now!

I spent all day
on hands and knees.
My task was to pull
the lamium with ease.
Alas it was tough
and my hands are now rough,
Because that blasted lamium
is such a tease.

It is gone from sight
but as you and I know,
It will be back very soon,
putting on a show.

But I will be ready,
with a heart that is hardened,
toward any lamium
that has entered my garden!

Excellent rhyming job!! LOL

I have a love/hate relationship Houttuynia Cordata. I Found out how tough this plant is after it was buried under 4 inches of sand and gravel from flooding last winter. In the last few years I have some how acquired a new nasty weed that seems to be some kind of red oxalis. This stuff is even coming up in my gravel.

Oxalis or clover ????

Love the poem, Judi.

Hmm - so many weeds, so little time...

Creeping Jenny (moneywort) in a small pot given to me as a gift. It is now the gift that keeps on giving. Thanks, Mom-in -law.
Horsetails - you really have to roto till these and pray to get rid of them. So far, my prayers have NOT been answered, but I have faith.
Wood violets. Once thought these were adorable, now they are the root of all evil. You can quote me.
Lamium is creeping toward us from the gully below. It's native here, I think, but I will beat it back at the property line since I've read the warnings above.
Scotch Broom invading from the south - Arrrghhhhuhhhhh. Get your torches!
Purple Loosestrife - not so bad, but pops up in odd places and tries to get a foothold.
Native blackberry - Rubus Spp. a deer magnet.
Daisy - I think it's michaelmas or oxeye, but not sure - seeds everywhere, but I let it go along the wild side of the yard since I like the flowers in June.
Red Alder and Big leaf maple seedlings - EVERYWHERE.

Ugh - I've been out there all day chopping, pulling and wheelbarrowing, so technically I am now winning the battle. Next week, the score may look differently.