The Bad Side of Gardening
POSTED BY Amy at 6:30 AM
Our neighbors have the most beautiful yard on the block. The landscaping is impeccable and they are always working on their lawn. I can see them slaving away while I sit in my little lawn chair in my garage...which is why they have an amazing lawn and I have a so-so lawn.
Last week, I headed over there to chat with them and saw them sitting in a huge pile of overturned dirt that they had dug up. They were sifting through the dirt for roots to a plant that had been planted there ten years ago. The family had hired a landscaper to come and do their landscaping and he had the perfect plant for the side of their house...something called the
Chameleon Plant (read another bloggers experience with it
here).
Over the years, this plant has taken over their beautiful yard so my neighbor searched on the internet to see if she could find out more about this plant. Guess what? It is one of the most invasive plants in the world. So invasive, in fact, that New Zealand has banned this plant from their country.
Desperate to remove this plant from their yard, she has been in contact back and forth with the New Zealand government and they recommended she do the best she could to remove it. The roots to this plant can be planted deeply though and so they are trying to find all of the roots and are burning them because they don't want to put them in the landfill.
When she was browsing at a flea market, this past summer, she noticed that same plant was being sold in buckets for $6.99. She went over and spoke to the person that was selling it and asked if they knew anything about the plant, "It is a great ground cover," they said. She promptly informed them just how wrong they were.
I have heard of other plants taking over people's lawns too. Have you ever had any plant that you have planted that you would tell someone NEVER to plant? What has been your experience with invasive plants? Now the good sides of gardening... Here are some great gardening reads to help you with your gardens this year:
Miles of Aisles of Chemicals- Except Now Their Green (@
Garden Rant)
BFP Garden Project: The $29 Kick-off (@
Blueprint for Financial Prosperity)
How Much Does a Garden Really Save? (@
Get Rich Slowly)
When Can I Harvest My Basil? (@
The Kitchn)
Free Mulch! (@
Frugal Upstate)
Garden Entertaining Tips (@
The Kitchn)
High Food Prices Lead to Growth in Backyard Gardens (@
ParentDish)
Focus on Garden Flowers (@
Chocolate on Cranium)
Food Gardening Is On The Rise (@
You Grow Girl)
Deck Makeover (@
CraftyPod)
Natural & Green Lawn Care (@
Nature Moms Blog)
Tips for Improving Your Garden Soil (@
Blissfully Domestic)
A Beginner's Guide to Organic Gardening (@
Mad About Martha)
Top 15 Frugal Gardening Tips (@
Thrifty Mommy)
The Makings of a Frugal Garden (@
Keeper of the Home)
Labels: Gardening, Green Living
12Comments:
Meredith
"How funny!
Except for things which would damage our native landscape, I tend to love the plants that spread without any work on my part!
To the frugal gardener, often the benefits of quick spreaders outweigh the work of pulling them out later, especially since the same spreading property means that so many of these can be started from free slips or cuttings.
Big clumps of mint? We'll just make more mint tea!
Melanpodium will come up everywhere? Great! I have a big bare patch and no money to fill it.
English ivy will take over the front beds so I don't have to plant any more annuals? Sure.
(I know, I know, all the garden purists are crying as they read this!)"
Jenn @ Frugal Upstate
"Great Roundup! Now I'm going to spend my morning reading instead of getting anything accomplished :)
I especially like the "cost of gardening" series on Get Rich Slowly".
Thanks for including my article on mulch-I hope it helps someone else. My church has an overgrown area they hope to reclaim and landscape, and I'm going to recommend that they get mulch for free too!"
Christi
"Oh, how I long for a beautiful yard... but oh, how I despise yardwork. Unfortunately, that's not a good combination."
"I have 3 plants that I consider invasive...the first I think were actually planted intentionally-Yucca plants-what an appropriate name! The roots for these are huge and when you pull one up another pops up right next to it. The second is a type of ivy that snuck in with another plant. Not sure of the type, it has dark green shiny oval leaves and bluish purple flowers. The third is honeysuckle, I'm convinced a bird "planted" this in my blackberry patch. I would love to cut this down and burn the roots but I'm sure it would damage my blackberry plants.
Great topic! Thank for the links!"
Amy
"Meredith- I am all about the perrenials and stuff spreading too. I just felt bad for the people who actually love working on their lawn and have it going to pot because of one spreading plant. Like I said, I am that lady who sits in her lawn chair :) That is the kind of gardener I am ;)
Stephanie- My neighbor told me that Yucca plants can even overturn gravestones because their root system is that powerful. I had never heard that before or about her plant so I thought this would be a great topic of discussion!! Thanks for sharing about your experience- I am sure you will help someone else!!"
Shannon
"ENGLISH IVY!!!! It was here when we moved in, and we have pulled it up, dug it out, sprayed it with various chemicals, and it just keeps coming back stronger than ever. Just a side note (my husbands a farmer), Round-Up takes two weeks for complete burn down, keep that in mind if you are using it."
TJ
"Thanks for all of the links! I see seeds in the store all the time and think "Why would anyone plant that?"
We have something that has taken over our backyard. Some type of an herb, smells minty, but it's not just mint. I used to try to destroy it, but now with big dumb dog, it, the yarrow and a few columbines are the only things in the bed to live. The phlox and chicks and hens are surviving in the safety of the rock border.
Most of my seeds this year were 10 cents a packet at the dollar store. So it's pretty hard to go wrong there."
CC
"We have oodles of blue bells in our yard. I HATE them. I hear of others loving them. They can come to my yard and take as many as they want. Every year I try to get out as many as I can. Every year they still proliferate!"
Amy
"CC- Ok, I was going to steal some blue bells from my best friend, but maybe not.... :) They started popping up everywhere in her yard and I thought that would be perfect under my tree in my front. Well...at least they are pretty!! :)
Shannon- English Ivy- I have heard that from a lot of people. It is funny though because I was just reading a Cottage Living Magazine and these people put this in their yard instead of grass "to make it feel more cottage-y :) Isn't it funny what is one person's "weed" is another person's "flower" ? :)"
Veggiemomof2
"Our neighbor across the street planted mimosa trees on a windy day & now we have a few that pop up every year in our front hedge. My husband (the home groundskeeper) is NOT amused that this is one of the few reoccuring plants in our yard!"
Mimi
"I love the look of morning glories, but I've spent the last 2 years pulling out vines that pop up and try to choke my other plants. Bad, bad, mornig glory!"
"The ones I can think of, morning glories- they can take over an entire yard; 4-O'Clocks- they drop their own seeds and the plants keep coming back until they overtake everything; spearmint- don't plant this unless you want it everywhere- if you want some of it- plant it in a container;Lily of the Valley- though wonderful plant and the flowers exquisite- it will take over and spread profusely; holly trees- they will spread their seeds all over the place and you'll have holly trees everywhere in your yard- we cut 3 down over 30 years ago and we still have seedling coming up everywhere.Our local garden expert says if you really want to plant something and keep it under control- plant it in a container!"
Our neighbors have the most beautiful yard on the block. The landscaping is impeccable and they are always working on their lawn. I can see them slaving away while I sit in my little lawn chair in my garage...which is why they have an amazing lawn and I have a so-so lawn.
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It's DELICIOUS
Except for things which would damage our native landscape, I tend to love the plants that spread without any work on my part!
To the frugal gardener, often the benefits of quick spreaders outweigh the work of pulling them out later, especially since the same spreading property means that so many of these can be started from free slips or cuttings.
Big clumps of mint? We'll just make more mint tea!
Melanpodium will come up everywhere? Great! I have a big bare patch and no money to fill it.
English ivy will take over the front beds so I don't have to plant any more annuals? Sure.
(I know, I know, all the garden purists are crying as they read this!)"