How to get rid of a perennial bed to switch to annuals

14 years ago

I have several beds of perennials that I have neglected over the years (day lillies, phlox) and I want to convert some of them to annual beds. What is the best way to get rid of them? There are all mixed together. I have mowed in the past and did dig all the iris out of the bed but that just gave more room for the day lillies to take over.

Any help would be appreciated. I am looking at areas that are about 3 feet by 2 feet and some others are smaller.

Thanks. Deanna

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Comments (9)

deeje
14 years ago
If the largest area is only 3' x 2', get out your shovel and dig 'em up. Since it sounds as though you don't want to transplant any of the perennials, the digging should go fast.
oilpainter
14 years ago
I would keep one tall perennial-- whatever tall plant you fancy and put it in the middle of your beds. This makes it easy to weed around the one plant and cuts down on the planting in the spring. Something tall in the middle looks good with low growing annuals.

I have 3 raised bed planters in my yard and I have coral bells in the center and plant them with different varieties of yellow marigolds and easter basket--mauve--alyssum. The effect is stunning
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@ woody, my main complaint about the wedge beds is not how they affect or don't affect maintenance, but that they look bad. To have the arrowhead shape bed greeting you as you arrive into its space is not friendly and welcoming. It's not attractive in ground hugging 2-d design. If it's a 3-d shape, it's attractiveness lessens with every inch of height it gains. The shape is in contradiction to the growth patterns of almost any plant. Usually these beds are planted in contradiction to their true shape which helps lessen the mistake of their existence. How about offering a picture of any pointed bed that proves me wrong? @ growsveges, overall, I like the shape of the beds/lawn in your last picture. It's remarkably similar to my first suggestion with a couple of detail differences. The only part of it with which I take exception is completely confining the walkway to the front entrance with a planting bed. If what was planted in the bed in front of the entrance was very low, I don't think it would be horrible. If it was very low, colorful flowers that added a lot of cheer, it could even be good. Other than that, it seems to some degree a contradiction to have an expanse of green velvet carpet that leads to the front entrance and then as visitors actually get there, tell them to go elsewhere and enter a different way. Even if people won't actually access the entrance via the front lawn, the appearance that they could completes a thought process that seems logical and sensible. Being confined by foliage along a walk is not necessarily a pleasant experience.
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I know this is really old, but I just found it now. The pictured plants look nothing like the aegopodium I have in my yard, but I have the variegated version so might not be able to recognize the plain green one. An easy way to distinguish mine from QAL is the height (along with variegation). Aegopodium is quite short - 8" out of bloom, maybe 15" when blooming. Queen Anne's lace is TALL - I have 4 foot stalks and flowers in one of my perennial beds and they are one of the weeds wrecking it. It's fall now and they've gone to seed, so the seeds are sticking to my clothes like crazy. I have found NOTHING so far telling how to get it out of a flower bed. Hand pulling? Yeah, if you can recognize them when they're small. Herbicide? Not when they are in the middle of my irises and daylilies. Mowing? Uh... no. If I can yank them all out this fall - which would be tough because the only way is to dig up all the irises, daylilies and other plants in the bed - I suspect a pre-emergent herbicide might be the best thing, because undoubtedly a lot of seeds will fall into the soil while the plants are being removed. By the way, aegopodium can be controlled by putting metal edging underground around them, as it does spread by roots/rhizomes, but while the variegated variety is gorgeous, plain green would be deadly dull and boring.
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Lilyfinch z9a Murrieta Ca
14 years ago
Post an ad on craigslist or free cycle for free perrenials if you dig them yourself! Then you dont have to do any work and someone else can enjoy the plants!
ginny12
14 years ago
A woman in my town used to place an ad in the local paper every spring. She listed the perennials she had to give away and then said, "I point, You dig." I never went myself but always got a chuckle out her method.

Another idea is to donate the plants to your local garden club if they dig them up themselves. Most clubs have plant sales to raise money for town projects.
diggerdee zone 6 CT
14 years ago
My first thought was the same as Lilyfinch's - post an ad on craigslist or freecycle. The best of both worlds - you don't have to do the work and the plants go to a good home.

Ginny's idea of a donation to the local garden club is great too.

:)
Dee
deannabsd
Original Author
14 years ago
I have places to give them to but it seems like with those plants that it is just so hard to get all of them. I don't know if they have runners under the ground or what. I eventually got all of my chinese lanterns dug up I think. As much as I liked them the location was not right.

Thanks for all your suggestions. Deanna
buyorsell888
14 years ago
"I point, you dig" that is hilarious.

I have a friend who always wants divisions or seed grown new plants but never wants to come dig them. She expects me to pot them up too.
deeje
14 years ago
How is that working for your friend, buyorsell888?

Sheesh, if I had a friend asking me to basically provide free nursery service for her, I... I don't know what I'd say to her!
woodyoak zone 5 southern Ont., Canada
14 years ago
From the sounds of those daylilies, they are likely the orange 'ditch' daylilies...? If so, most people wouldn't want them. Dig them out - but you'll likely be digging out strays for a few years from roots you missed. Good luck.

How to get rid of a perennial bed to switch to annuals

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How to get rid of a perennial bed to switch to annuals

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