i've mostly posted pretty pictures so far, and that is unfair. there's a lot that isn't pretty when making over a house, even a great little house like ours. we were hoping to plant new things in the foundation beds this year after cutting down the prickly barberry bushes...
but when i went for the ground cover i quickly realized that we've got a problem. after identifying it as the alien invasive houttuynia cordata, or chameleon plant, by its strong scent (which i find downright sickening) i came across this website full of other gardeners' horror stories. i dug a little deeper to investigate. sure enough, our chameleon has grown into the asphalt and fully under a 4' concrete walk, and the roots break too easily for us to cleanly pull out 100% of the offender. since each tiny bit of root can become another rapidly spreading plant, we can't win this battle quickly.
so after a lot of research and discussions with mom, here's the plan.
1. spray with round-up (the plant thought this step was a cute joke, it had a good chuckle and sent up new leaves immediately)
2. remove concrete walk, which in all honesty we wanted to do anyway. this was the perfect excuse to spend the $$
3. dig up as much of the plant as possible and cart away all the removed soil to eliminate maybe 90% of the roots and pieces, if we're lucky
4. fill hole with soil and mulch and wait for the inevitable regrowth
5. check each week for new growth and spray with poison ivy killer to exhaust the roots
6. definitely won't plant anything new until spring, so i can do another round of chemicals when it emerges
7. after planting in spring, if possible, continue to pull up every little leaf that pops out of the beds so that maybe, in 10 years, the roots will run out of energy
if you think i'm exaggerating, start googling chameleon plant. and see these photos of how much it grew in one season in our front yard.
here's april - note all the other lovely plants in the garden, living in peace:
here's july - the chameleon plant has gobbled up everything in its path and is starting to take on the nearby grass:
kind of pretty, right? until i realized how fast it's growing and how much it would cost to have it dug up and carted out of my life, i thought so too. now i have nightmares about it growing into the house through the chimney....beware the dread plant houttuynia!
 |
| barberry bushes - hate the color with our brick facade |
 |
| barberry bushes - destroyed! yay! |
but when i went for the ground cover i quickly realized that we've got a problem. after identifying it as the alien invasive houttuynia cordata, or chameleon plant, by its strong scent (which i find downright sickening) i came across this website full of other gardeners' horror stories. i dug a little deeper to investigate. sure enough, our chameleon has grown into the asphalt and fully under a 4' concrete walk, and the roots break too easily for us to cleanly pull out 100% of the offender. since each tiny bit of root can become another rapidly spreading plant, we can't win this battle quickly.
so after a lot of research and discussions with mom, here's the plan.
1. spray with round-up (the plant thought this step was a cute joke, it had a good chuckle and sent up new leaves immediately)
2. remove concrete walk, which in all honesty we wanted to do anyway. this was the perfect excuse to spend the $$
3. dig up as much of the plant as possible and cart away all the removed soil to eliminate maybe 90% of the roots and pieces, if we're lucky
4. fill hole with soil and mulch and wait for the inevitable regrowth
5. check each week for new growth and spray with poison ivy killer to exhaust the roots
6. definitely won't plant anything new until spring, so i can do another round of chemicals when it emerges
7. after planting in spring, if possible, continue to pull up every little leaf that pops out of the beds so that maybe, in 10 years, the roots will run out of energy
if you think i'm exaggerating, start googling chameleon plant. and see these photos of how much it grew in one season in our front yard.
here's april - note all the other lovely plants in the garden, living in peace:
here's july - the chameleon plant has gobbled up everything in its path and is starting to take on the nearby grass:
