I have no idea what this plant is. It has taken over half of one of my flower beds by our driveway. I had been keeping it in check. But the last two summers I have not been able to. One summer it was my knee and then the next was caring for my Mom. Anyway, I am back at it. So far I have spent 2 days on the first bed which wasn't to bad. The second bed is a disaster. Over half of it was over run by this horrible plant. It spreads by underground runners and grows so thick it crowds everything else out. It does bloom. But the flower is very unnoticeable. I HATE IT. Can anyone ID it. Thank you.
It reminds me of snow on the mountain, but that is usually variegated. I haven't seen it in solid green before, but that doesn't mean it doesn't come in solid green.
Definitely Goutweed. It is going to be hard to control ... it spreads by underground runners. You will have to carefully dig up and follow each root and remove. Each piece left behind will root again.
OH NO! Netty I was thinking it is something really bad. Thank you for the great ID. I had it growing in one of my front flower beds but have been able to keep it under control. This poor flower bed had really been invaded. I will keep you posted on the development. I was actually thinking of applying Round-up on the leaves so the roots die. I hate using that stuff. But in light of this horrible plant I just might do that. I have actually had to dig out some Phlox and throw it away as I could not get all the roots from the Goutweed. Oh well, tomorrow is another day of dig, dig, swear, dig.
I thought I would check back with you and see how your managing with this plant. I try to be organic also but with something that spreads that bad I have taken a paint bush and painted round-up on the leaves.
It looks like the plant I know as "zevenblad". I learned the English name, "Ground Elder" for this beast of a weed. It is a yearly battle between me and the plant. I remove quite a bit of foliage, but I take up kilometers of root. I can only keep it contained, I can never completely get rid if it. I CAN keep it out of patches though. It is a nasty piece of work this one. BTW what exactly does the flower look like?
Yes--That is the flower that I suspected. This is indeed a nasty adversary. I hope that you are having success dealing with it.
Hi all. I have an update on the flower bed in the flower garden post. I am so glad it is finally finished.
Toots--I have the variegated form of goutweed & have been battling it for years. I now let it grow in a 2X3 foot patch.....where I can keep a close on eye on it. Congrats on your success!
Cayuga-I have both kinds in my yard. The variegated is under a tree where I can also keep and eye on it. The lawn mower does a good job controlling it there.
