I've never grown it and I appreciate all the comments from those who have. I just don't want to deal with a plant that has no manners at all in the garden!

Make that a hearty second from here! This grass is bad enough.

"No manners at all in the garden!" --

I am having a terrible problem with creeping bellflower in my flower beds. I have no idea how it got there (probably seeds in the wind), but it has been very difficult to get rid of. It sends down these tuberous type root deep into the the soil, so you have to do some deep digging to get all the roots or it will come right back and overrun everything. It has a pretty blue flower that the hummers seem to like but it's not worth it.

I can sympathize with you ken. I deal with greenbrier here and it cannot be killed by anything outside of a biblical event. The roots go deeper in the ground than I can dig and it comes up in everything. It has vicious thorns and is a bane to my existence in the garden. It is also called saw brier because if an unsuspecting human crosses the path of a low growing brier you will feel like you have had your ankle sawn in two. Why were these created... also why were mosquitoes created..... also why were, well, you know....

The invasive we struggle with is Japanese Knotweed. I cut it of at the soil line to deprive it of photosynthesis. That has worked better than any home remedy. Vinegar, salt, bleach....none of that works. Cutting continuously for the past 5 years has knocked out 95% of it. We also hot chipped it a few times. It likes sun and I have planted my evergreen garden in its spot, so the darker the area gets, the less the Knotweed likes it.

If you have a plant you just can't weed out, try cutting it with a steak knife, right at the soil level and keep doing it.

That is what I do most of the time or even digging most of the tap root out. Thank you Linnea

We struggle with morning glory,. It has a lot of other names too - bindweed is one. And we beat back the poison oak from the garden , but it's nearly impossible to do more than that. Our land is covered in it. However, I heard a botanist talk the other day on our local public radio station, and her subject was poison oak - she pointed out that it's food for birds, etc. and not a total baddie.

Birds eat that stuff? Wow, I would have never thought it was beneficial for ANY creature!

Poison oak is also excellent at holding hillsides.. and I hate bindweed (Convolvulus).. but not nearly as bad as Euphorbia cyparissias which I got from Western Hills Nursery many years ago. The sweet flowers and soft, needled foliaged lured me... Now it's growing in everything.. Last winter I made a concentrated effort when it was dormant to dig it up, but like Bishop's Weed, every little piece of root that's left will grow. I made good progress, but unless I keep after it.......
You can see it growing at the base of 'Hello Darkness' and through all the other iris... (before I took the spading fork to it)



Euphorbia robbiae is the other one I wish I'd never planted... I was hoping it would be a gopher barrier, but I got was sap in my eye and a visit to Urgent care, with probably the worst pain I've had since childbirth. Beware the Euphorbias!

Thanks for the warning on euphorbias, Sherry !

(it does look attractive with that dark iris though !)

That reminds me of trumpet vine. You can't kill it! I made the mistake of planting it and then moving it a couple of years later. It still grows in the original spot. I have tried to kill it there every year since. Still there...Growing

my neighbor planted trumpet vine, I fight it off the oaks all year long. Those roots run underground for fifty feet to get to my oaks and it makes them look awful. I have one neighbor that is going to plant mimosa trees so I guess the woods will be full of them next. At least they are not a long lived tree. And wisteria, don't even get me started!

I am constantly pulling out new African Iris's, Jupiters Beard, Palm trees and Sweet Alyssum's. They sprout up everywhere! Don't even get me started on mint...ugh you can't get rid it!

In my field, I'm constantly pulling out new baby Oak, Olive, and Walnut trees. Not to mention the ones the squirrels help plant in my garden and in my pots.

A multitude of Sweet Gum trees and a few hickory trees. The little redbuds get pulled and potted for the spring plant sale. One thing I do like to see pop up is Rose Campion and Vervena-on-a-stick. I don't know the proper names but they are a treat. They only come up in late spring and you can always either pull them and toss, transplant or let them grow. Another volunteer I have had is the blue balloon flower. It comes up in other plants pots. It like company I guess.

Well, cold winters have their advantage. The invasives are less invasive. The only tree I detest, because it drops big branches and the neighbors don't always cut theirs, is the Norway Maple. It is fast growing, junk wood. It makes babies everywhere. I have had some ash trees grow where they shouldn't, but a craigslist ad takes care of those.

I had a much loved ash tree too close to the house and creating shade over the veggie garden. In less than 10 years it was over 30 feet high. It has been made into poles for after we jack up some beams in the cellar. I let the ones on the northwest property line grow. Maybe I will bonsai another ash so it doesn't get too tall. I feel sad killing ash trees.

I agree, the Norway maple is very invasive. My land has a lot of them. They do grow fast, but I have little seedling coming up all over the place. They produce millions of seeds, and it seems like they all grow.

The Ash tree Linnea, is that the Rowan tree from Scotland.... mountain ash here?

Same with my Cedar Elm.

Bonnie there is a version of Mountain Ash that is the Rowan. My parents had one growing on our hill back in Michigan.