NO! Don't try to work with it.

Ugh. Bishop's Weed is horrid. I had a large patch that reverted, which is more ruthless than the varigated.

Keep digging- dig deep. Paint or spray all new emerging leaves with vinegar or RoundUp. Your dedication will pay off. It could take 2-3 years.

What a pretty plant, can someone mail me a few cuttings? :)

BLAH! I wouldn't give this plant to my worst enemy!!!! Or would I??? ;oP

Bishop's weed, Goutweed, Snow on the Mountain....take your pick. It's probably one of the most invasive plants you can plant. I'm really surprised it's still sold in nurseries. That, and Ajuga, are two I would not have NEAR my property.

Janet is right on the money. Use anything and EVERYTHING you can to get rid of it! Spray it, dig it, but above all, keep after it!

Dave
Milwaukee

Has anyone tried mowing it and then smothering it with carpet or lots of newspaper and mulch? That has helped me get rid of other plants.

Funny. I have a spot where *nothing* would grow; dry clay, full shade, poor soil, under an old maple tree (with it's shallow roots). I tried vinca, ajuga, epimedium, pachysandra, lysimachia...nothing lasted more than a season or two. Good old bishop's weed made it green. It is contained, and I agree that it's invasive, but I tend to think there's a place for most every plant.

My neighbor has it, and therefore so do I. If you want contain it, use deep edging and keep an eye out for escapees.

Thank goodness the previous owners planted it in a contained area between our house and driveway, but I have good news for you because I was able to get rid of it by planting Pachysandra aka Japanese Spurge.

Within three years, the Pachy won and choked out this horrid plant. A couple years later, I removed the pachy and now I have ajuga, bulbs and whatever I want there.

Pachy looked nice, but I wanted more of a variety. I still have Pachy planted in other areas of my yard. Nice evergreen groundcover.

Trust me, if you want to get rid of this, dig up what you can and plant Pachysandra. It takes maybe three years to establish, but once it does NOTHING is growing through that. It spreads by a complex network of underground runners. I had it planted in both sun and shade, and with ample watering and fertilizing until it's established, it will do fine in either..for me it did very well in full sun, but I made sure the soil never dried out. It's NOT invasive, and you can contain it easily with a border, or pull it out if it spreads past an area you don't want it. The roots are shallow, easily removed if you decide to replace it later on.

Good luck!

Wow, Of the many assertive plants I have on my property, that one gives me no trouble. I have two old patches of it (my mom planted them eons ago) and we just mow around it and there is no difficulty. Of course I love my lilies of the valley, too. I was thinking just today that I should put some snow-on-the-mountain into a particular flower garden of mine to have some contrast with all the green, gray-green, and yellow plants there. My soil is very heavy clay, I think things spread less in it.

What I have trouble with is chocolate mint, scentless chamomile, boltonia, and aster ericoides (? the tiny slightly purple tiny white daisy flowers). I gave somebody seeds of the scentless chamomile seeds before I found out it was considered a noxious weed in some places.

Marcia