One year, I had a pile of cuttings from a friend of different MINT. "What beautiful smelling stuff" I thought. So I planted it EVERYWHERE (we have a huge garden). Five years later, I had to employ someone to come and hoe the stuff up, the entire garden was left almost empty. The mint just went crazy and smothered almost everything else. Even now, years after that, when I am working the soil, I can still smell mint waft up through the air, so there must STILL be a few roots down there somewhere, waiting to rear up when I am not paying close enough attention.

MORAL: Plant mint in pots. Sink pots in garden or keep on patio.

I think I must be about the only person who can kill mint! I can't get it to grow. Now that's sad!!!!

Hi Liatris,
Mint is one of the few herbs that actually like a very moist soil...could this be where you are going wrong?
Dee.

Nah,Liatris. My daughter manages to kill a lot of stuff and the mint was under a tap!! My worst was planting Californian Poppw, the Yellow one, in Perth and spent the next year trying to get rid of these huge plants which had seeded everywhere. I have some here, but it's not as rampant and not huge plants.

periwinkle oh! heavens the very name makes my toes curl. Ghastly stuff and pink evening primrose - 17 years later "I'mmmmm Backkkkkkk".
Not contented with those fiasco's I then planted ribbon plant in the garden. It still pops up now and then. AND why would I have taken pity on that horrid fern (hate it so much I've forgotten it's name) florist's use it - think it's asparagus fern. Anyway that little pathetic effort cost me five years of garden work. The hole to dig it out was nigh on a metre deep. I'm not telling you what my husband told me of my gardening efforts, he was on the end of the shovel at the time.
Come to think of it none of them were fun at all!

Hi all,
I think the worst thing I ever planted was two clumps of Pampas grass (what can I say..it was the fashion in the '70s.) It was the worst thing in the world to dig out. My husband and I were both cut and scratched on every square inch of bare flesh! It is vicious stuff. I swore then never to plant anything just because it was "in". Mind you I did get a lot of mileage out of the plumes for myself and friends for dried floral arrangements.
Dee.

Last year I ran out of garden stakes for my tomato plants, and seeing as how I only needed 9 I thought I would cut some long straight sticks from my mulbery tree. Would you believe 6 of the 9 started growing? Not a problem though, I finished up giving most of them away (after the tomato crop was finished).

Bazza

Love in the mist eeeeek can't get rid of the stuff, it sprouts between pavers, as well as the rest of the garden, despite constant vigilance that any plants that sprout don't survive long enough to set seed. It might not be so bad if they were decent looking plants, but they're all weedy, stunted looking things from the moment they start out!!

Pampas Grass in Melbourne what a disaster same problem as Dee and forgetmeknots.
Now here in Brissie its Marigolds and last Autumn I decided to pull up lots of my Canna Lilies as they were taking over two of the garden beds, so I decided to cut them up in small pieces and compost them, only trouble was they did not compost enough and of course the compost got put into the veggie garden beds and around the friut trees so I had Canna's coming up everywhere last Spring I am still digging them out.
Up in Townsville it took me years to get rid of one punnet of Celosia, and Vinca so no more Annuals for me, they seed like crazy in the warmer climates.
MM.

Everything that was EVER 'in' has been planted in our current garden (and not by me!). Have to give away - lots of wandering jew, asparagus fern, mondo grass, fishbone fern ......... if there's not a pampas hiding out there waiting to pop up at the first opportunity I'll be amazed!

All of the above but forget me not was rampent & when it set seeds my little dog (maltese) had a long coat at the time & found the plants inviting the seeds stuck to her coat in her eyes just all over her I had to get her all cut off I moved after that & I will not have them in this garden
Jan.

Rule 1: Never put an ash tree through your chipper and then use it as mulch through the entire garden.

Rule 2: Never forget Rule 1.

In one exciting afternoon with a chipper (and it was fun!), I gave myself more than a year's work picking out the little ash tree seedlings from every garden bed.

Salvia,
I bought a punnet of these things because after a dull winter.A bit of red was what I thought i needed.
Well they didn't do so good in the garden but in the cracks in the concrete of my neighbors drive way, my lawn the gaps in the pavers out the back ,places where nothing else would grow.Calendulas can be a bit like that too.
I pride my self on preventing the wanton planting of a couple of rubber tree plants that had outgrown their pots.
I convinced the little old lady that I would find new "homes" for them and bought her some beautiful roses instead.!!!! hehe hehe!

I have planted at any one time at least one of all of everyone's 'weed disaster's'. I think that means we are all of similar vintage to have gone through the 'IN' plants of the time.
Thankyou very, very much (not) I thought I'd forgotten about those nightmares until now. Pampas - lordy lord I had a monster of a thing that we hacked and burned and hacked for years. That decision to remove being made after bandaging umpteen cut fingers on crying children. Eventually my dear one got it all out by sitting down and chipping away at the burnt stump with an axe. Marigolds, marigolds, marigolds - they won, I moved. Wandering Jew, well I didn't have to wonder any longer to find out what a stupid mistake that was in the gardening process.............
Baby's tears, maiden fern and Giant Bracken are fast joining the think again bracket to.

It is funny MrsB how differently people think. To me, baby tears is a welcome addition in my garden. I love it! The only place it is not welcome is the veggie garden, but that is easily taken care of. Perhaps it is more rampant in SA? The same can be said for maidenhair ferns. I cannot grow it in the ground for love nor money! The only success I have with it is in pots...must be a climate thing.
Dee.

Some of the above and ....Crocosmia. Celosia spicata I can remember that too - one cute little plant that self-seeded, probably mutated and grew everywhere to a height of about 3 feet.

Johny Jump ups - they grew rampantly 2 gardens ago, and despite my vigilance 1 single solitary plant emigrated to the new garden with us. There it was quiet and gentle - non invasive, so earnt a reprieve, and i din't think about it on the next shift. Here it is threatening to be invasive again. We left behind the dreaded pink evening primrose, and a rampantly suckering passionfruit rootstock. I discovered a suckering passionfruit here, and had the bulk of the plant ripped out by day 2 at the new house. Garden first, unpacking second!
The suckers had been "rounded up" by the end of the week.
One mans weed is another mans passion!
Another garden disaster - not caused by me - the previous owners of my current garden had been busily (and lovingly) emptying their wood ashes on the red rhododendron cherished by the woman of the house. She had obviously heard something about rhodies and ashes - LOL
Well same day as the passionfruit exorcism, I scraped off all the ash from the poor rhodie, fed it with camelia and azalea feed, and watered it well. It started to pick up, and has since been moved and is doing well.

Funny really, I would just love some of your disasters to grow in my garden.
I even like the Vincas I have growing as they at least have flowers all year round and it is interesting to see the different colours that are starting to come through from the plane ppink one I started with.

The things I would gladly do without but can't because of the shade they give are the 5 Torelliana Trees that were planted here before us.
I have been pulling out young ones from every pot that is near them and the little nuts are very hard on the shins when mowing. I THINK THEY ARE THE WORST THING EVER.
I din't mean to shout then, just hit the caps lock.
Marion