Wild huckleberry/blueberry. I have spent most of the morning cutting down the tops, and digging up roots! Big pain in the rear.

I'm trying to start a flower garden and they are in my hindering my progress!! They are every where!

Rose of SHaron. My previous owner planted them in every square inch of the property. When they bloomed in the summer and flower buds dropped I ended up with 1000 seedlings in my lawn that I had to pluck all summer long. I yanked them all out and replaced with natives such as Viburnums.

Nobody has mentioned Wisteria. That vine is on turbo charge from the moment it emerges in spring until old-Man-Winter shuts it down. And it's roots match the foliage inch for inch underground. Once you have a mother plant expect YOUR children's children to be forever trying to get rid of Mother-Wisteria's children. The flowers are nice in the spring tho...it's true. Only last a couple of weeks as payment for all the frustration it causes the rest of the year.

Wow! How fun! Some of the plants listed we would be thrilled to get to grow. Can't imagine Acanthus getting out of control, or Crocosmia. We love our creeping charlie in the lawn. It mows easily and smells great when walked on or mowed and when it approaches into the garden rips out way easily. We;re not into pure grass lawn and invite the violets, too. Problem plants include Nepeta Six Hills Giant that we love beacause humming birds love it and it blooms forever. So we buried a five gallon bucket with holes in the bottom and planted the nepeta in that. Physotegia, obediant plant, really takes over so we got rid of that as well as fire weed, Epilobium. Petasites really spreads a lot too and it's getting harder and harder to stay ahead of it digging up plants every spring to give away. Are we nasty giving this plant away? It is just too cool with it's foot wide elevated lily pad leaves in our zone 4 to get rid of completely. Probably the all time worst plant is one locally called "Bluebell of Scotland", and is one of those plants whose roots will destroy a house foundation and takes repeated doses of round-up. The roots when broken provide a new plant from every 1/4 inch piece of root. So you can't dig it out or pull it. It's not a Campanula but is related.
Tom

Anthemis tinctoria kelwayi is so darn invasive, I wish I never planted it. It's also too tall, so it's a floppy flower, which I don't really like. If it looked great, I probably wouldn't mind it spreading. This thing shows up all over my half-acre yard (and probably in plenty of neighbors' too!).

I did read that if I cut them back in June, they'll grow more compact -- I just may try that this year.

This is a great thread. I am SO happy to hear about all of your experiences with some of these perennials. I would find it very difficult to keep up with one of these invasives so I am very careful about what I plant.

It is a shame that often magazines/books/nurseries that begin current gardening trends will promote some of these plants. I have noticed that suddenly I am seeing PLUME POPPY recommended and it was used on a garden make over show, recently, without even a mention of it's hard to irradicate tendency. I love the look of it but read about it's invasive nature and passed it over.

We do all have to keep reminding each other of the problems encountered when growing certain plants, because we forget. We get ready for something new and exciting and spot something at the nursery and drag it home.

In my yard, I have had a problem with VINCA MINOR. We just got it all pulled out of one area and have a few more to go. We had a flowering quince and it was a bear to dig out but we didn't have any problem with leftover root sprouting, thankfully. I was considering adding another one of the newer varieties, but won't after hearing that story. [g]

TRUMPET VINE coming into the foundation of the house??!!
I had always heard stories about trumpet vine, so although I just love it, I definitely couldn't deal with it. Has anyone seen the gardening show that visited a public garden..I forget which one, that had a trumpet vine on a very very large and long pergola and it was old and the trunk of it, 3 entertwined was larger than a tree trunk. No, that particular vine is gorgeous but somehow I can't see it in my 1/4 acre backyard..lol.

Have also had a problem with SPIREA. These reseed everywhere in the bed that they are growing in. When I am wanting a plant sometimes I ignore the information about reseeding because I tell myself, 'well, all I have to do is deadhead it so it won't reseed'. That's a laugh. There is always too many things to do in the garden and always some jobs that get neglected and that is one of them. I hope to not kid myself the next time a reseeder is calling my name. [g]

Although not all reseeders bother me. I love VIOLETS AND PANSIES. They are all over my lawn and I don't mind them a bit. The year before last, I had pansies in containers on a mulched sitting area and they reseeded into the mulch and last year I had these little strategically placed patches of pansies come up and bloom in place. Of course they were all right around where the containers were. They bloomed for over two months and were fragrant to boot and I had to do nothing for them. They were my favorite surprise last year.

I also have LUNARIA in my yard which is a reseeder but is not invasive. It reseeds gently. I had a gorgeous stand of them blooming the year before last and they had a great natural look. I helped them out last year and scattered the seed pods where I wanted them. They are coming up everywhere that I wanted them and I am looking forward to them.

LEMON BALM, I am done with. It reseeds too readily and I just don't need much lemon balm.

Right now, I have nothing else that is a problem plant. I just got rid of an invasive grass that drove me crazy for 15 years. I kept trying to dig it up, but it had those roots that if you break a piece off it makes more plants. I finally tried smothering it with heavy cardboard layers with bark mulch on it and didn't water it all last summer in that heat and it stopped coming back. It is heavenly this year to go out and see mulched beds ready for new plants and NO weedy grass. I have one area that didn't get enough mulch that it came back in and I am doing that over and being vigilant to address any stragglers that come up.

So laurelin, with your CREEPING CHARLIE, try that method. The other method that worked for me with other real weeds, was solarization. Placing clear plastic over an area so that it overheats it and keeps it fairly dry. Two more organic methods to use.

Thank you all for saving me from some of these garden thugs.
:-)

I'm pretty sure nobody mentioned TANSY !!

Physotoegia (planted three last summer and now have 21!!) and nepeta (low growing) - I pulled some of the physotegia but am waiting to see how it looks this summer - I may do what many folks have mentioned and plant it in a deep container to prevent the runners. I pulled out all the nepeta (which I loved because it hid the dying foliage of by early spring bulbs) and it is still coming back - at least I can identify it by crushing a leaf and taking a whiff!! The only other one I had a slight problem with was yarrow - my friend indicated that it was a wetland plant and that it would spread if I was not careful - I pulled a lot of it, but kept a few - I guess that's what you have to do if you want a certain plant!

Happy Spring to all!

Jenn

ARTEMISIA POWIS CASTLE - was well behaved until this year. Went from 1 foot clump to 4 feet over the winter and into everything!! It had me fooled for 2 years. I imagine 3 more years to get every little rootlet out.

Wood Sorrel.

Artemesia Oriental Limelight. Let it live for one year. Three years later I'm still pulling it up...several feet from where it was originally planted.

Achillea ate my herb garden. What started out as 6 "Summer Pastels" seedlings ended up as a solid mat of Achillea in the herb garden and seedlings all over the yard. Very hard to control!

And, I really regret planting Sweet Autumn Clematis - it is a rampant self-sower and is especially hard to eradicate when it comes up between its better-behaved relatives.

I can't believe anyone finds Nepeta to be invasive. Yeah, the low-growing type self-sows, but ... invasive? To the point of ripping out? Wow, that's almost unbelievable. I dig up a few and move them around every year, but I can't get enough of them; I grew mine from seed, and like them as much as the taller 6 Hills Giant - which doesn't spread at all for me.

Great thread! It must be one of the longest-running in GW. I guess the subject is endlessly facinating; other people's "problem children" really make good reading!

The benefits to this thread is for newbies to become educated to what some of these cute little plants can do.
Yes, they look well behaved and pretty one year but then rack havic the next. They could easily deter a beginner and they just plant grass (lol). And then again what's invasive for some are welcome companions for others.

The "in your garden" part is important. The climate zone and individual conditions can make quite a difference. Here in Canada, English ivy is a nuisance plant on the west coast. In my zone it's only marginally hardy and is never invasive. Grape hyacinth will spread here, but I've never heard anybody complaining.

Invasive plants can be downright useful. I had a heavily shaded bed with heavy clay soil that my cat liked to go in. So I filled it full of goutweed, violets, ostrich ferns and such. It was rather pretty, my cat was happy, and I didn't have to get upset when she killed off a few. They were guaranteed to come back sooner or later... ;o)

Well I didn't look at this thread before, but I think I have one that nobody has mentioned -- Aster tataricus. Maybe that's because people tend not to grow asters in general, though I love them. This is a lovely plant, and fairly late blooming for northern gardeners (October and November). But in good soil it spreads like a wildfire, one plant was 6' the next year, and then....OMG. I contained it in a plastic edging barrier, and it went under, over.....

Of course, there are places for all these plants. The first time I saw Aster tataricus was at Wave Hill where it was planted among large scale shrubs, and there it added wonderful late season color, and could romp around without a problem. It also has the advantage of being browse resistant, whereas most asters are beloved salad for woodchucks in particular. Gooseneck loosestrife works in similar situations, where it is contained by a sidewalk or shrubs and can just be let go. Monardas are nice like that too.

And feverfew? I would never call that plant invasive. Yes, mine seeded abundantly from a few plants I planted years ago. But it rarely seeded in the middle of desirable plants, just in bare spots all over the garden. And so it gave the garden a certain continuity ("repeated plants", right, one of the good principles of garden design), so you could just leave it be wherever it ended up, or pull out 15 to make a nice mature grouping somewhere. And it is one of the easiest plants to weed out, just a gentle yank in good soil, and roots and all come out easily.

That reminds me, I have to go buy some feverfew for my new garden. But just one, since there will be 100s in a few years.

OK with me.

Ajuga. Does Round-Up work???
Leslie

My nepeta were taking over my "pink and blue" garden - I had the low growing ones 'Dropmore Hyrid' and 'Blue Wonder' - and six little plants took over - I guess I could have let them go, but they invaded my irises, tulips, and daffodils. I was afraid of losing other plants. Perhaps it is just where the nepeta was growing - lots of sun and water - happy little plants.

Just my own personal experience.....

Jenn

Since it hasn't been mentioned in a while, I'll reiterate: Lambs' Ear (Stachys) - mine is everywhere, and spreading. I dug up twice, but it's time for Roundup since the Lambs' Ear already killed (choked to death) my blue star juniper that I'd hoped to save originally. Every time I remove the lambs ear, it just comes back stronger and spreads further - truly scary.

Also, although I love my beautiful, mature Weeping Cherry Tree - it is invasive. It sends up shoots or runners or whatever everywhere, even on the other side of the house. It's root system must have traveled now through 3 beds, under a sidewalk, around corners or possibly right under the house - who knows. The root system is everywhere and these little "weeds" shoot up everywhere and are terribly difficult to pull. Another kind user on this forum finally identified my worst weed problem as shoots from my Cherry tree. I was shocked.

Sherri

I need an ID on this THING that my friend gave me. As I recall, I WANTED it, and it was pretty, but good thing I planted it in an area by itself, cuz it looks like the wind just blew one day and spread the thing 1/2 way to the neighbor's yard! It's growing all over the area. Can you ID it?

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Thanks

Artemesia Silver King and Bee Balm. I am so sick of digging up Artemesia I could scream! Thought I had gotten rid of it and all of a sudden this Spring I look up and it was coming up everywhere! I think it slept most of last year and boy did it wake up!

For me right now it's privet. I'm surrounded by neighbors on all sides that have 30' shrubs that they let go to flower. I have millions coming up everywhere. Plus it sends out runners. It's real easy to pull up, but the sheer multitude of them makes it daunting. I have learned hard lessons from previous gardens about gooseneck.

Well, for mmqchdygg I'm going to make a wild, an uneducated guess, that it is some form of hardy Geranium (Cranesbill?) - the foliage looks a lot like mine, which I do like, but many consider a weed. Of course my foliage stays closer to the ground and it spreads out a bit, but not too quickly, and it does not get tall at all, not even a couple inches. It really hugs the ground; in very late Spring, maybe early summer mine blooms with very nice magenta colored flowers.

Sherri

Sherri I know what you mean. It is a Cranesbill of the old kind. It does get weedy but I still like the foliage especially in the fall. In order to keep mine under control I cut the seed pods off and the plant still stays contained to its space....but if you don't cut the seed head off you will find it blocks away!
I wonder if we can get to 200 post with this thread!

And then the old reliable "black-eyed Susans". I have a full bed of them & they pop up all over the yard & in every flower bed. I have yanked out as many of them as I have weeds. I love them in their place but I have dedicated a bed to them & would prefer they stay there. Betty

Some bizarre onion that looks very pretty, but not only attracts wasps (not bees, WASPS) but reseeds like crazy. (Garlic chives, maybe?) I lifted up a stepping stone yesterday and they were sprouting UNDER that, all squished up against the stone.

Manitoba Maple - bazillion seeds and boxelder beetle magnet

Finally, RHUBARB. While not invasive, it is indestructible. I've dug it up every spring and every spring I miss a piece and it comes back bigger than ever. I may try TNT

"Star of David" -- this little grass-like bulb plant is next to impossible to get rid of. The waxy leaves deter herbicides. Trying to dig up the little bulbs only manages to spread them further. If you miss just one, the whole patch will be back, thanking you for cleaning out the area for them to spread again...

ARRGGG...

Indyrose

I kind of wish my cranesbill would spread a little quicker. It's in a bed that is mostly empty and since I like the look, I think it would fill it out nicely. I've never seen seed pods on mine though - just the sweet little magenta flowers which last quite a while, maybe 2 - 2 1/2 months?

An idea for an invasive that you are tired of: Freecycle it! No, I'm not kidding. I swear, if it is free, you will find someone who will take it. I freecycle at least 25 pounds of lambs ear each year, and still have plenty more. I freecycled my black eyed susans - someone came and dug them all up, nothing has come back up since. Those were very popular, I had several people inquire about them. I even recycled 15+ year old creeping juniper ground cover (blue rug or something similar) that had gotten just nasty in my opinion and I wanted it gone, same with some older and half dead blue star juniper. People responded by the dozen to come dig up my no longer desired plants. I recommend that you stay home and monitor who comes and what is taken, and only provide an address to one respondent at a time - don't post a free for all, or your whole garden could disapper. Still, it worked out well for me- it was no effort on my part, all I did was point and pour a few glasses of water and lemonade. People came with their own tools and buckets, boxes, etc and took what I allowed them to take. No one has ever come back and taken something unoffered, and nobody took anything I didn't specifically give permission to remove. If you've got more of something than you want, it's always nice to share and it's a lot less work on your part.

Sherri

Here is a link that might be useful: Link to Freecycle

schmlechten & hostared-

I asked the gal that I got it from, and she was certain it was a cranesbill, and I was certain that's what she gave me, too...but since there's a definite geranium-looking thing on the OTHER side of the semi-circle where this 'thing' is planted, I figured, well, THAT must be the cranesbill that she gave me (although I was CERTAIN I planted it where this 'thing' is), and now I'm totally confused.

Did I maybe get another geranium from the plant swap? Was I 'absent' the day I brought this thing home?

Maybe I'll just leave it there, and see what happens.

Phalaris,
golden sedum,
Bishop's weed

So wait! I'm a newbie and I just planted 3 Appleblossom yarrow plants that I bought at a plant sale. I chose them because they are supposed to bloom for a long time and be hardy. Am I going to regret this? Should I dig them up and toss them?

"This little bugger found its way under the siding and between the foundation and into the house! Unbelievable.
Never saw one like that before! " One of my scariest experiences as a child....pulling on the cord for the drapes...pulling...pulling...it's stuck...suddenly it pulls free and ivy jumps out from behind it where it had grown through a small hole. That was in New York; I'm in N. Cal now where mexican evening primrose and wisteria ran me out of my first home. I pretty much swore off vines after the wisteria experience. As for Locust, I've got mutant honey locust springing up like those brooms in Disney's Sorcerer's apprentice.I loved the "hopeful nandina" image, but they are not a problem...yet...Lambs ears and shasta "Becky" , and just plain old 10 foot rose "shrubs" are giving me pause. Various shrubs seem to spring from nowhere.

Aster oblongifolius, Dream of Beauty and Chrysanthemum weyrichii 'White Bomb'. I planted 1 plant of each near our foundation and they have both taken over the area! I keep debating whether or not to rip them out. Oh, and I'd like to add Shasta daisy, Becky. I started out with 2 plants and they have spread everywhere. My Mom wants some even though I told her that it spreads like crazy. Oh, well, at least I warned her!

Hi mmqchdygg & smlechten,
The common name for Perennial Geraniums is Cranesbill. So all are one in the same.
The all behave differently. The one that is being discussed is the Meadow Cranesbill, Geranium pratense.
This is a woodland plant or Grandmothers plant that has been introduced into gardens along time ago. It's a beautiful plant that holds it's flowers well above it foliage. The leaves are large and lookes lovely but beware the pods are deadly and will resead prolificly into your garden...so I suggest if keeping this plant cut the seed pods after it blooms...all of them. Now the other perennial geraniums introduced at garden centers are more behaved. They are low growing matts that do reseed some but are not invasive so please plant those among your plants so they weave in and out and give you lovely flowers and foliage color int he fall.

A suggestion to some is to look for a book out in 2003 called: Perennials The comprehensive guide to over 2700 plants. Almost all pictures of various plant families with not just one plant but sometimes 30 pictures of the same family. It includes captions if they are invasive, seeders, or well behaved. It's a plus for researching plants and zone hardiness. It's just a great quick guide to information. Can be bought at Borders..sometimes on the bargin table for $20. Check e-bay or Amazon...well worth the search.

I guess no one grows the bulb Ipheion. Cute little garlic-shaped bulbs that produce cute little grass-like plants with cute little periwinkle-blue star-shaped flowers. AVOID THEM LIKE THE PLAGUE!!! I planted a few (3 or 4) here and there in the front yard several years ago, and I bet there are now THOUSANDS of them out there in multiple large patches where I never planted them at all. I spent HOURS one afternoon sifting a small square-foot area from which I removed a few HUNDRED bulbs. Guess what, they are back again in that spot. Every so often I see a new one pop up in the backyard and I run and remove it as fast as I can.

Artemisia 'Oriental Limelight' by a mile... Last year we stuck one in a spot that would have been torture for just about anything else and it did great (except for greening out completely, which defeated the purpose.) This spring, there were hundreds. I'm trying to redesign that bed with other plants that thrive on abuse, but I just can't get rid of those dang things. Dynamite may be my next step!

Hyacinthoides hispanica - Spanish Bluebell. They're in all the neighbouring gardens so naturally they've invaded mine. They spread like crazy. They have wide, strap-like leaves that shade out more delicate plants, and wishy-washy blue/mauve flowers. They're also quite hard to dig out, as some of the bulbs go very deep. But the big problem with them is that they hybridise with our native bluebell, Hyacinthoides non scripta, and as their genes are dominant the smaller but much more beautiful English bluebell eventually gets outnumbered. But there isn't yet such a wide awareness of the dangers of planting non-natives here that there seems to be in the States.

Oh bummer! I just planted hyacinthoides hispanica last fall & they are up/growing well right now. I planted 25 bulbs...sounds like I won't need to purchase more to increase the planting! :(

For me without a doubt--Lily of the Valley.

I am cracking up all over again at this thread. Here is a good one to look at again:

As for Locust, I've got mutant honey locust springing up like those brooms in Disney's Sorcerer's apprentice.

Great mental image, that.

Bermuda Grass!!!

It's the grass in my lawn, and not really a 'plant', but I sure can't keep it out of my flower beds! Hate the stuff. Would re-sod with Fescue if I had the money.

Yes, Diggingthedirt, Summer Pastels Yarrow (Achellea) is maniacal. Not only have the 2... count 'em ....2 ... plants I put in a few years ago multiplied all over my garden, each one is a monster crowding out everything around it. I plan to dig them up and bag them. I don't dare mulch these varmits.... don't trust them.

Ditto with creeping charlie, a terrible pest. This weed is so annoying that my husband is actually considering hiring a lawn service this year.

Molie

Tnremodel,
I have 3 Appleblossom yarrow (love the chalky pink color)and no problems with them at all. Of course, I'm colder than you and have heavy clay soil which I have to amend well and then must plant them high to get them to grow at all :~) For me they have followed the sleep, creep, leap pattern and after 5 years have slowly formed good sized clumps.

It's got to be ornithogalum (I think it's also called Star of Bethlehem). It started under a clematis vine. Looked nice the first year. After choking the clematis to death, it moved on to the rest of the yard. I know it's a bulbous plant but also seems to self-sow as it has now spread a couple of hundred yards in isolated patches. I'll give it one thing - it can even crowd out Bermuda grass.

leslie,
Thanks. I guess I'll take my chances and keep the Appleblosom yarrow. I also have heavy clay soil, but we are warmer than you.
I hope they're not invasive because I planted them on the border between my yard and my neighbor's yard and I would feel terrible if they ruined his garden.

Four O'Clocks are a pain for us. They seed everywhere even the lawn on occasion, and are not killed if plucked because the roots go deep and they can resprout.

Euphorbia dulcis 'Chameleon'. I can't believe that no one has mentioned this infamous reseeder here. There was a tiny piece if this stuff in a pot of dianthus that I bought at a nursery. "Pretty color" I thought, so I seperated it out and planted it to see what It would do. It grew and flowered and spewed its seed all over my 3/4 acre, thats what it did. Ripped it all out the folowing spring. That was 6 years ago, and I am still finding that lovely purple color anywhere there is exposed ground. It just "suddenly" shows up. Getting all the roots takes some hard, deep digging.

Gazania, I totally agree with you about 'Chamelon'. I planted one and the following spring had seedlings everywhere. (and, I thought I'd cut the thing back after those tiny flowers appeared 'cause I thought they were ugly). They seemed to especially enjoy sprouting in the crowns of their neighbors. They quickly send a root down to China and are hard to dig. The seeds can lay dorminant for several years and still remain viable, too. I know 'cause even though I yanked the original plant the spring following planting...it took 3-4 YEARS to get rid of all the sprouting seedlings. All euphorbias have been like that in my garden...I won't plant another...of any kind. Rampant self-seeders.

I'll second Virginia Creeper. I didn't plant it (was here when we bought the place 4 years ago) but it's relentless in its effort to invade anything it can. I'd put it right up there with Poison Ivy in the Nastiest Plants To Have On Your Property category!

Creeping Charlie or Ground Ivy as we call it, has taken over the back corner of the yard, but it's keeping all the other weeds down and it does smell good when it's cut. But as for all time invasive, there are two plants that I didn't put in but are a nuisance.

The wild Rose of Sharon that spreads everywhere and I spend hours every year pulling it out of the 50 yr old peonies and rose bush. There must be thousands of seedlings in the grass. Its my neighbors plant and "she likes it." I call it the the Rose of Sharon from Hell.

Then there's a second plant that grows to like 7 feet tall that looks like bamboo with trailers underground. They're impossible to pull out and break at the sections. I have yet to discover what they are.

Gooseneck strife. I don't know how I got it but it started growing around my irises which were given to me. I've been trying to get rid of it by pulling them including their reddish roots for 4 years and it's not working. Any idea on how to eradicate these plants?