Ostrich ferns.
They spread. And spread. And spread.
The previous owners planted them. I try to relocate and re-home as many as I can. They are pretty, they are just crazy about spreading. I eventually gave up this summer already and started hacking some of them down that were growing right in the middle of some hostas so I couldn't relocate them without tearing up the hosta.

Lawn seed.

Don B.

good reason to get rid of the lawn don

ken

Damn right, Ken.

Don B.

This post was edited by Don_in_Colorado on Tue, Jul 8, 14 at 16:54

Damn right, Don and Ken.

Karen

Annie we have a solution for your thug it's called zone 4 winter.

However even in MN, Lamiastrum Jade Frost Archangel is a very strong wanderer in the shade.

Paul

Perennial salvia. Grrrr!

I put up a 12" high fence around it and it found any openings in the fence to grow through and overhang the geraniums, hostas, etc. in front of them. Yesterday I got sick of the spent iris leaves and perennial salvia hiding what's in front of them and took revenge. Fired up the car and headed for Home Depot. Brought home some bird netting and some of those 3' green plastic coated metal stakes they sell. I strung up some bird netting (because it's nearly invisible and wouldn't ruin the look of the garden) across those stakes, securing it to the stakes with small cable ties, and tucked all the invasive salvia and iris leaves behind it. Wow! For the first time in weeks, I could clearly see some of my mini-snaps, geraniums, Grand Prize hosta, etc.

Damn right, Don, Ken and Karen!

-Babka

Annie: you're right about the begonia. I bought one, I said one, last year. Finally saw it start to emerge this year (very late to emerge) and now I have little ones everywhere! Absolutely will not let it go to seed. Will see if I like it this year, before deciding to pull it all out.

There have been a few. Cleome is finally gone and feverfew has all but been eradicated. I have a rhizomatous campanula that is starting to get away. Opal basil shows up absolutely everywhere in my yard, but it looks so good with my 'Little Honey' hydrangea that I can't wipe it out completely.

If it kept that color in the shade it might go well with a number of hosta, but alas, it is a sickly brownish green in the shade.

tj

Japanese Giant Butterbur.....Literally the runners are going out 10-15 feet into my lawn.

Vinca Minor for me, I'm on 3 or 4 years now trying to clean out a patch that I've made into a hosta bed.

Ditch lily and Bishops Weed/ Goutweed/ Snow on the Mountain that I inherited when we bought the place. I have just about conquered the Snow on the Mountain after a four year battle.

Ajuga, that I planted. Took a few years, but it's gone now.

Lastly, the weed 'ground ivy'.

multi flora rose. used by the pioneers as a natural fence.

that was before Epee and foil â¦

ditto don, ken, babka et al bob, ted, carol and alice

dave

Sedum saramentosum or stringy sedum was a HUGE mistake. i have many sedums, under roses, in a rock garden, among daylily and clematis. This sedum may not even be a plant, i think its a weapon of grass destruction. Every bit of ground it ever touches wham-o 100 new plants. Its only goal, like a virus, is to reproduce. i am so careful when i find it, to get all of it and not leave the tiniest leaflet or root anywhere, Dont throw it on the driveway, it will steal your car.

did someone say ditchlily?..I love em...I have clay as soil..its one of the few that will grow very well in the clay..but ive seen it grow in rock piles...I have about 200 planted on a knoll that I couldn't do anything with...so wala..nice ground cover with blooms

the one I hate is English ivy

Don't ever plant fig ivy. Ever.

Vinca minor,to be sure. It grows wild all over my woods,and impossible to control. Only vigorous hosta will grow in there. But,wait a minute! Isn't Begonia an annual? At least they are in my zone! Phil

Wild violets. My neighbor dug up one from a wooded area near here many years ago. Now they are everywhere. They come up in pots, in the grass, in the sun, in the shade...everywhere.

bk

Hosta freak - begonia grandis, common name hardy begonia, is unique among begonias in that it is hardy to zones 6 or 7. But the problem is the self-sowing capacity, not the hardiness. As for the vinca minor, I Googled, and learned. The advice was to plant only next to lawns and concrete, but not adjacent to natural areas.

DD - I also have a problem patch of spreading liriope. I'm going to have to dig up the whole bed to get rid of it. It's the green and white variegated one, and when I got it I thought all liriope were clumpers. Some plants need to come with warning labels.

To all who replied, this was an interesting list of regrettable plants, and don't we all learn by our mistakes.

I didn't plant it, but was left a thriving goutweed farm from the last owner. They mulched it all under to hide it while showing the house...(sigh). Three years later I have it mostly under control and that's only after I went against my principles and used agricultural Round-up (sparingly).

Now my neighbour's Japanese Knotweed is coming over.

I'm now very sensitive to invasive potential. I would characterize an invasive as something impossible to pull out (goutweed, knotweed) and an enthusiast as something prolific that's easy to pull out.

Any 'groundcover' which after get their roots developed will take over the land. This year with more rain, all kind of weeds pop up, growing rapidly.

Peppermint
I think it is gong to come through the front door soon. It is everywhere.

Does anyone know how to get rid of this pest?

Goutweed aka snow on the mountain! Almost impossible to get rid of!

I can just agree with many of you.

I have inherited violets which grow everywhere. I sprayed some in the lawn with Weed B Gone. They absorbed it like liquid fertilizer and grew bigger.

Trailing vinca which escaped from a pot and rooted (listen Ken!) in cracks in the driveway. I keep ripping it out, but each spring it reappears.

Spider Wort is my fault. I actually like it and planted it. And transplanted seedlings. Then one year, it seemed like a million seeds germinated everywhere.

Labrador Violets were another of my bright ideas. These self seed like crazy. They sprout with very dark leaves that you can't see in the mulch.

I won't even mention Creeping Charlie which was deliberately imported from Europe by some genius...