All ground covers look like a good idea in the beginning. Like this Creeping Jenny–they have pretty leaves, They’re evergreen and always described with those seductive words, easy to grow.
And maybe if you have a red clay bank that’s eroding away, a ground cover is a good idea. But that’s a big MAYBE.
Because in all the years I’ve gardened here in Wake County (NC) not one ground cover has ever worked out for me. Not one.
In fact, all my ground cover experiments have turned on me like ungrateful children– racing for the sun, smothering perennial beds, leaping fences into my neighbor’s woods and flinging themselves about the lawn.
Don’t plant it. I wish someone had told me that a long time ago, and I wish had been smart enough to listen.
Fortunately, winter is a great time to fix those trial and error garden lessons.
A cart load of Creeping Jenny for the town to pick up...
Case in point: The Creeping Jenny I just eradicated from a bed of rain lilies and irises. I did this by digging up the whole bed, sorting the good plants from the bad and carrying the ground cover to the street.
Do not compost ground covers. They are the living dead of the plant world and will claw their way back into your garden.
Rain lilies saved from a rampant ground cover--
Yes, it can grueling to correct your mistakes, but that’s the way most of us learn to garden.
Even our dog,Tralee found this job exhausting
Anyone else with garden regrets to share (and make me feel better about mine)?
10 comments
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February 4, 2012 at 12:20 am
Jill Page
Some how was unlucky enough to end up with 3. they’ve now met in the backyard. ugh.
February 4, 2012 at 8:14 pm
christineramsey
I once spent and entire winter digging out perriwinkle with a bread knife…now everytime I see those glossy green leaves, I run for a weapon.
Good luck with that backyard. Sooner or later you will have to tackle it, or move.
February 4, 2012 at 12:30 pm
kathy
I’m seriously regretting planting Mexican Petunas. Wish I had read “considered invasive in Fla.” before I planted them. They are beautiful but they will take over. Same with Jasmine. Had to irradicate them both.
February 4, 2012 at 8:20 pm
christineramsey
Thanks for the comment, Kathy. I’m hoping our frost will keep mexican petunas in check since I just planted them for the first time last year. Blog partner Melissa is very high on this heat-loving flower, but that Fla climate changes everything. I’ve never gardened in a frost-free zone. Do your annuals like cleome and zinnias set seed and die? Or do they just keep getting bigger and bigger like Mexican Petuna?
February 4, 2012 at 2:56 pm
margie
I have some Creeping Jenny in a pot on the walkway. I was intending to transplant some to a new bed we began in the Fall. Thanks for the warning. Mine will stay right where it is!
Margie
February 4, 2012 at 8:26 pm
christineramsey
It is pretty. I pair Creeping Jenny with impatients in my shady hanging baskets. Since they are suspended about 6 feet off the ground, I don’t the Jenny will spread.
But I wouldn’t let it in the garden again. My goal is to banish ALL the invasive plants before I get too old to grub around on my hands and knees.
February 13, 2012 at 10:40 pm
Allison Dickens East
If you ask my husband, it’d be the monkey grass but I love the stuff and move it everywhere. What I can’t stand is the centipede grass. It forces itself everywhere including in the cement in my brick steps.
February 14, 2012 at 3:53 am
christineramsey
Sorry, Allison but I HATE monkey grass–all the more so because years after I banished it from the garden, I’m still digging it out with a grapefruit knife. Meanwhile, my neighbor who has a very steep slope is planting it along his drive. Sounds a little like the Duke/Carolina thing–husband vs wife, neighbor vs neighbor.
Have you tried pouring boiling water on the centipede grass? Try water then white vinegar. Good luck with that. C
February 14, 2012 at 12:06 am
smallpuppy
What about Sweet Woodruff? Or the Chamomile that smells like apples when you step on it? Should I really just not do it?
February 14, 2012 at 3:33 am
christineramsey
Sweet woodruff did not like my woods–too dry I guess. I lost it over time. Wish I had it again. So plant it.
The chamomile is not a plant I know. But I ‘ve never heard of run away chamomile. I did have run away garlic chives. but my biggest offenders are Ivys, creeping jenny, monkey grass, yellow archangle and periwinkle. Sweet names for some garden thugs. Let us know how the chamolile and wooddruff do. Hope this helps. And thanks for the intersting question.