is it even POSSIBLE to weed bed full of rhizomes?

14 years ago

haven't been here in a long time, but sure am hoping someone might be able to help me! my "main" [largest, of course...] garden over the past coupla years has been totally populated by ONE single little plant! don't have the tag any longer - and have had brain surgeries [hence my disabilities...] - but am pretty sure i remember right that it was a DIANTHUS of all things - but unlike any i've ever seen or can find on a websearch. b4 i pulled everything - above ground, anyway - the other day, that one tiny plant had filled a bed that has to be at least 12 x 20!! the 'front' of the garden i'd actually put in several roses & added perennials each year as i could - and the 'back' of the garden [separated only by a wooden path, nothing in the ground as a divider *sigh*], being much more shaded, i left to the dianthus. many things kinda just 'escape' my addled brain, tbh, and b4 i knew it, the back was filled with a moderately attractive VERY tall [4-6 ft] 'groundcover' that was (have suddenly forgotten the word completely - ooh! i HATE that!) stalky, with cream-colored edges - but as i kinda lost whatever 'health' i'd had left, got to be real neglected, and there was also some sort of weed that was AS tall, but spiny - but at least they were [or seemed] easy to pull!

ANYway...to get to my question/problem! as i said, i started doing just 'regular' weeding, but then decided to yank the dianthus out as well, since it just ... won't stop! once i got down to bare-ish ground, and started digging whenever i had difficulty with a clean pull, i ran into a seemingly localized [like, RIGHT under the stem of one of the dianthus stalks] grouping of roots. not huge, but not small either. at first, i thought i might've just run into some far-reaching tree roots, as the property line and various trees were only 6-7 feet away...but then i kept on running into those groupings of 'roots'

i vaguely seemed to recall the word rhizome, but thought it had to do with vines and very specific plants. all i can really say about the original planting is that i don't THINK i would have planted anything that indicated it would spread like it has OR that would spread by what i always called 'runners'.

i've pulled up a number of those 'root groupings' but then i just kinda felt like i was probly wasting my time, and i was sweating like the proverbial pig in this humidity! i've read "The weed that can't be killed..." in the great lakes gardening forum - mostly about gout- and bindweeds. not sure if it was applicable but is doesn't sound at ALL hopeful to even TRY to 'clean up' under the soil, so i can plant some flowers and not have to weed every day! the sad thing is, wresting that garden out of the yard, of what folks around here call 'field grass' [aka some grass and lots of weeds...!] many years years ago, was a task i still can't believe i took on with no help. i used the lasagna- gardening method, and it really seemed to work.

i have the sneaking feeling i really messed up by planting that one 'innocent' TEENY tiny little plant in my then new garden!

i also have a feeling that i'm going to learn that there's really not much of ANYthing i can do to clean this up, huh?

appreciate anything anyone can tell me. if it's gonna take a lot of 'ooomph' it's gonna take me ... years. *shudder*

thanx, all!

sherry jones =^..^= aka momcat

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Comments (2)

postal_blonde
14 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
i am not real sure it is dianthus....kinda soubds like snow on the mountain. that is a runner. It grows then lays down roots. 4-6 feet is a pretty tall ground cover. If you don't want to work that hard to get it out. Mow where you can and use round up, that way you are not spraying higher up and hitting you other plants. make a cone over the spray head so you are not accidently getting drift also.
Or you can take newspaper layers and lay them as a weed block. onced laid get them wet and put a thin layer of mulch on them. nothing will grow through it. the first yr i used the paper and didn't have to weed for 3 yrs lol. one of my gardens is 12 x 39 bed
athenainwi
14 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
Use Round up. There's no point in trying to pull a weed like that. Even newspaper or cardboard over it often won't work since the roots have a lot of stored energy.
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is it even POSSIBLE to weed bed full of rhizomes?

Comments (2)

postal_blonde

athenainwi

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