Bloodroot, woodruff, lily of the valley,etc ( photo / image / picture from Cayuga Morning's Garden ) Woodruff, lily of the valley, primrose, myrtle, etc ( photo / image / picture from Cayuga Morning's Garden ) Bleeding heart, myrtle, etc etc ( photo / image / picture from Cayuga Morning's Garden ) My garden beds keep getting out of control. Every year I have to rehab another plot. It feels like I am in a carnival 'Whack-a-Mole': just as I rehab one section of the garden, another morphs into the photos above. Any advice? I must have too many lusty spreaders. Anyone else have this problem?
I know someone with a garden like yours - my neighbours. It's a constant battle to stop everything spreading into ours. You have my sympathy trying to tackle that lot.
Well, What do you want there? if it smothers out the weeds there is a positive about it. You can just weed eat what you don't want and put down mulch then plant in it. Weeding by pulling looks to be fruitless. You could always peg down ground fabric that allows water to get through but not the weeds to come through. then put mulch on top of that.
Oh that would be a haven for snakes here. I don't start installing 'good plants' in any spot until it's free of weeds. Usually the weed in the way is grass, but smothering would kill all of that too. I didn't see anything I'd keep (in a pot or other location until the bed is under control,) except the bleeding hearts, some of the bloodroot, smother the rest until next spring. Then check to see of the LOV is dead, might not be yet. When I see a weed sprout, I pull it, but don't get many after the first spring except under trees - lots of tree sprouts. If weed sprouts are left alone, they mature and form seeds, which they drop and then the next year you have a whole patch of them.
These were all plants that were in that bed when we moved to this house almost 20 years ago. I have pulled out the woodruff countless times, only to have it grow back. I think I will take the proffered advice and just smother the whole thing with a weed barrier & mulch on top. There are a couple of hostas in there I will rescue first. Also the bloodroot. It has a lovely spring flower & isn't really invasive. Thanks all.
Maybe I am crazy, but I would work with what you have. The sweet woodruff keeps the lily of the valley looking tidy and both give you blooms. I am not familiar with the blood root, but it does have a nice texture. From the photo there doesn't appear to be any grassy weeds. I would clear only small areas to fit in more plants. Hellebore once established holds its own with sweet woodruff and provides early spring color and the foliage would be significantly larger. Your hostas if large leafed would also add another texture and does well with sweet woodruff. You might also think of adding an evergreen shrub. I know sweet woodruff likes to spread so I lay out cleared and barked paths to keep it contained within certain beds. It is easy to pull alongside paths if it begins to creep. I have found that the more densely packed my beds are the less I have to water, weed and mulch. If you ever have a problem with ivy coming in from a neighbors train it up onto a fence. A two or three foot cheap wire fence with metal stakes will provide the structure for an ivy hedge. You trim it once a year and you have a lovely evergreen barrier once the ivy is trained. It makes it really easy to see any runners starting to encroach onto your property and it seems to runner less. What is really nice is the weed free mulch you get by running over the ivy clipping with the lawn mower. I have found it to be superior...a good thing since our property is surrounded by ivy. lol So much for my two cents worth. What ever you decide I am sure will be lovely.
Thanks for your suggestions Jewell. What I don't like is the mishmash between the woodruff & the lily of the valley. Either one would be ok, but not both. I have tried to get rid of the woodruff by pulling, with no success. Do you think I could succeed in pulling the lily of the valley? All of this is growing under a star of magnolia tree. This tree apparently is very shallow rooted. I do have one large leaved hosta growing there, (for foliage contrast) but it does not do well, I think due to root interference. I appreciate your thoughts. This bed has been a thorn in my side.
From your bed preferences smothering it all and trying to start over might be best. I have been trying to get rid of lily of the valleys for years in a 2 square foot area under a blue berry. Been working at it for 20 years. I had only planted a couple of pips and started trying to remove all of the pips a year or so after planting. With sweet woodruff and lily of the valley you have a really tough combination to remove. Sweet woodruff is very shallow rooted. It is more easily smothered than bulbous plants like lily of the valley. If your soil is loamy I have found that after a heavy rain I can lift the sweet woodruff. It forms a mat. I get a edge pulled and then start rolling it up like sod. Might not work depending on your soil type. This is how I keep it contained and remove small areas using a cardboard/bark combination afterwards. This is also how I introduce new plants into beds of sweet woodruff. I am currently working on smothering sweet woodruff from what will be my squash bed using multiple layers of cardboard. I started last fall, but found I needed another heavy layer this spring. It will find any gaps or edges if you are not vigilant. How easy is removing the blood root and holding it over? Be forewarned sweet woodruff will most likely be in the root ball of any removed plants. (I accidentally moved some into a bed when I transplanted a fern). You might want to hold plants in pots until you are sure they are clean. The hosta probably needs more moisture than its competitors allow, especially with the tree roots. Since I just add more plants to my sweet woodruff beds here is a list of plants that are not out competed by it in my beds and help provide year round color, height and structure: our native evergreen sword ferns, hellebore, phlox, monkshood and columbine. I am sure there are others. (I have to pull the sweet woodruff from around the phlox in the spring.) Hopefully the lily of the valley aren't a solid mesh of pips. That poses more heavy work. Well I have rambled on way too much. Good luck with whatever you decide. Gardening any bed always has its challenges.