One look that I find very appealing is xeriscaping. Rock landscape, punctuated with potted plants or earth areas planted with shrubs can be very dramatic. If I didn't live in a strata property with strict guidelines that is the way I would go.

Peonies "don't like" to be moved. I think I'd build a bed around it.

but it's just too sad for you to give up your beloved flowers...

can you get help from some place like a high school agricultural or horticultural class?

There's got to be something that'll eat germander speedwell...

in the deep south, they rent goats to clean up kudzu!

I looked up xeriscapes. . . the pictures do look nice, and we certainly have rocks here. But I'm remembering what happened to the rock garden I created once upon a time (that weed again, plus others). Of course, my plants weren't in pots.

Sylvia, I've moved that peony twice already. :-) The first time it was little more than a leaf that I recognized. In its second or third year after being transplanted it produced 72 blooms! The son of the woman who originally planted it, then in his 80s, came to see it. It was quite an emotional experience for him.

The extension office said the only way to kill the speedwell is by a strict schedule of spraying. I remember it was something other than Roundup, because they said Roundup won't work. We do our best to control it in the vegetable gardens by digging and/or using a long-handled claw tool. The roots are fine, numerous, and tenacious.

I should mention that I live in a 150+-year-old farmhouse.

Oh my, what a situation you have.

First, for grasses that you cannot dig out, consider boiling water. I am in the midst of canning all kinds of things. However, it isn't every day so I don't reuse the water in the deep water bath for my pickles and such. I do carry it outside and pour it on places where I don't want anything to grow - like the cracks in the concrete drive! You kill everything tops and bottoms. If you want to just heat up a kettle and pour it where you need it, the process is simple.

I have three beds of peonies. Not much to take care of as far as I am concerned. Many folks would not like to have the shrub just being there after the flowers have gone. At the front of one of my beds, I have iris with peonies at the rear. I also have dill there, the Black Swallowtail butterflies love it. It self sows, so I don't have to do much in that bed, just a thorough clean up in the autumn.

That speedwell situation is a big problem. One cannot partly get rid of it. You gotta real work hard. Short of spraying a selective herbicide, I don't know what to do if it is in the lawn. If only in the flower beds, then the boiling water will work.

The missus and I have decided to call it quits in Illinois and move to Florida to a 55+ community. That will mean selling this house and wondering what might happen with the new owners and all the flowers beds and veggie garden. I would hope that anyone who wants to buy our home will be a gardener. If not a gardener, there will be many, many hours used to eradicate what I have planted. Finding and eliminating the spring bulbs would be a huge chore.

I have never tried a raised bed, so I cannot comment on that. However, lawn grass will figure out a way to get into any place you don't want it to be. A raised bed might help, I just don't know for sure. I had to move my clematis several years ago as the space ended up being too small. Then, I had to move it again because a tree that I planted was growing faster that I thought it would. I moved them again. This year, they finally called it quits; nothing more than 3' tall.

Mulch! It controls weeds. Preen works too. I got frustrated with an iris bed and dug out 6" of soil, turned in a 3 way mix of top/peat/manure, then planted just iris and topped with mulch. It's under control again. Now I'll tackle the next area. June grass is the biggest problem I have.(that area was an 8 hour job for DH & I....miserable! If I did the whole yard every year there is NO way I could keep up)

I've never tried lasagna gardening...using strips of wet newspaper to control weeds...that may be next.

Note: I tried corn gluten meal, the birds ate it until it molded. :0(

Would you consider hiring out the weeding? My neighbors have a guy who comes in for $10 per hour - cash only, no receipts - and pulls weeds.

I have a yard full of creeping charlie, so I know somewhat how you feel. And though I understand the opposition to chemicals, I would be looking at herbicides in this case.

You have my utter sympathy. Unfortunately, constructing a raised bed does nothing to prevent weed infestation.

I hate to even suggest trying with herbicides, but you'd need at least a couple of different chemicals. One must be a pre-emergent herbicide to be applied usually in the fall. The timing of the application is important.

The other type of herbicide category might be one of the selective, post emergent chemicals like MSM (metsulfuron).

The problem with herbicidal products is that they are very hazardous to the applicator, wildlife, soil microorganisms, water, etc. They are also dependent upon accurate application rates and timing. Some of the post emergents benefit greatly from the addition of surfactants, yet another product that requires careful measurement.

Can you invest in professional services to get it under control and then you take over the pre-emergent applications?

Gosh, It sounds like you've had some real rough patches and it's understandable as to why you lost interest. I'm so sorry you've got this mess on your hands. From what I've gathered newspaper is a more effective option than Preen, to be honest, it was expensive and didn't work for us at all. We're in a similar boat with over grown weeds and when we're ready to tackle the next bed, I plan on spending time in the weeds forum. Have you been over there yet?

Do as much boiling water as possible. Layer upon layer upon layer of brown cardboard and newspapers. It will smother everything under it. I don't like chemicals either but you may have to in some areas. If you have any areas that you don't mind killing everything for a while you can mix salt water and vinegar but be careful not to get it on areas you don't want to sterilize. Drastic weeds call for drastic measures some time.

Thanks, everyone, for your helpful advice and concern. It hadn't occurred to me to attack the existing weeds; I thought I'd have to start over. But if I use the old peony as a starting point, working on the weeds surrounding it and gradually adding other plants, I might be able to create a small, manageable garden.

I've never tried boiling water (I'll start tomorrow!), but fortunately I've had a lot of experience with cardboard. The second vegetable garden is only a few years old, and I've relied on cardboard to smother weeds and make it possible to grow beans and squash. I frequently fill my Outback with cardboard--the bigger the better, and am good friends with Steve in the Receiving Dept. of Home Depot! :-)

I used it, too, when I was growing the sunflowers and zinnias. In that patch, I covered the cardboard with grass clippings until the plants grew big enough to hide it.

Nah, I can't afford to hire out anything. There was a time when I could, but back then I had the energy to do it all myself. :-)

The speedwell is in the lawn, but that's one place where I actually don't mind it. I'm not a "lawnmeister." As long as it's green, I'm happy.

As for chemicals, we use Roundup on the poison ivy. I'm anti-Roundup and anti-Monsanto, but nothing else has worked. We try to keep treatment to a minimum, and hope the stuff doesn't get into our water.

Does the boiling water require multiple treatments?

Thanks again. I really appreciate this. I've been feeling rather overwhelmed about the situation--not helped by the fact that I got pretty sick from this summer's tick bites and felt incapable of much of anything for weeks. But I'm starting to feel better, and you've given me good ideas and encouragement.

One of my favorite sayings is, "Energy comes from knowing what to do."

Yes, tell us more about this boiling water technique. Does it work for the grass and weeds that come up between paving stones as well? and does newspaper have to be put down over that or just the boiling water.

Personally I LOVE the boiling water approach. It works even on bermuda grass. Susan, start slow. Around your peony. Make sure, it does NOT flow to the peony. Yes, flow. You need to use plenty. The boiling water from the canning is used by me for weed control, and to keep a stretch bermuda grass clear between my flowers and my grass.

I don't say lawn, cause it's just grass and weeds. Like yours, it is green. ;)

Let us know, how it goes.

Moni

Alisande,

I don't have any tips to offer. I wish I did. It sounds like your gardens were very special. If you have any pictures of them from the "good ol' days" I would love to see them. We've been slowly adding flower gardens but I'm such a newbie that I'm lacking in the creativity department. I'd love some inspiration from you!

I think this link will work, AMJ. Most are pics of individual flowers--I wish I'd taken more long shots. But I hope they inspire you. I uploaded resized pics to Flidkr, and in some cases they display them way too large, ruining the resolution. Clicking on them will display a smaller version. Also, if you hover your mouse over a photo, you'll see my caption--usually the name of the variety.

My Flower Album on Flickr

My cousin Terry knew a lot more than I about garden design, and gardening in general. I took these pictures after she died, unexpectedly, following an equally unexpected emergency liver transplant in 2008. I'm sure they'll provide true inspiration.

Terry's Garden

Are there any plants you could move into large containers? I have roses, azaleas, lavender, geraniums, ferns, sage and bougainvillea growing in large containers on the patio and around the house. Some of the pots are on rolling platforms, and I can move them around as the weather and sunlight change. Your irises would probably do well in containers.

I love the idea of containers. A friend posted a picture of her garden on Facebook yesterday, and it was all containers. All lush and abundant.

Have you grown iris in them, Tally? The info I've read (possibly at the Iris Forum) says they don't do well.

I sure do feel for you, Susan. Flowers are such a source of joy and to see them killed by that noxious weed must be very painful. I'm lately battling morning glory that must have been started by a bird dropping seed, as there are none around me. (I wrote about this earlier, so sorry for the repeat.) So far, it's in one bed that used to contain a spa and deck that we removed, and that now has three blueberry bushes and some green beans; if need be, I don't mind taking out the blueberries to get this weed gone! (The beans will be finished soon.) I am using a vinegar/salt/Dawn mixture that I read about, but I've had to reapply several times and I see they're green again. :( If applied when the weather is hot, they dry and fry immediately.....but in a week they're back again. I know I'm poisoning the soil and intend to replace the soil, if necessary. My patch is manageable so far, but we shall see if continuous sprayings will eradicate.

Do you think your kids might be able to help you rent goats? Or would the weed spring back as soon as they leave? I'm sorry you're having to deal with this!

I have raised beds up in my veggie garden. When I broke my hip in 2009 they went to He!!. I couldn't get to them for close to a year or more. They totally got filled with a super invasive weed a lot like speedwell and it had spread everywhere. I tried to pull it out but it was like a dense mat. I heard about covering the bed with black plastic and sealing the edges so it cooks the weeds. Leave it on till the soil is sterile. Remove any plants you want to save first. Worked for me and got rid of it in the raised beds but seeds blow from somewhere so I have to keep pulling it before it gets going again. There is lots of information about it on the web.

Ailsande ~ your flower photos are worthy of a magazine or book -- simply stunning! And your cousin's gardens are inspiring; I have just copied that link into my Favorite Places on my computer for future enjoyment and reference. I especially like the way she edged her beds with a mulch border -- so clean and orderly. I would like very much to do that with mine, if I can find the energy in my old age, lol.

Thanks, Roxanna. I remember when Terry and her husband first created those beds. They're all raised, I think, and stone was involved. The two of them mixed up vast quantities of soil with amendments--it was quite a project. They had a lovely vegetable garden too. The property was on a garden tour for years, the last time the summer after she died, which was when I took those pictures.

Thank you for the photo links. They are lovely! I will be using the links for reference.

Alisande, I have lilies in containers and they bloom every year. Never tried Irises, but if you google irises in containers you will find lots of info. You need big pots, and a place to store them in the winter out of the freeze. Check out the info on google. BTW, your photos are breathtaking.

It's amazing what a few growing zones can do. Your weed is a well behaved small clump in my garden that I wish would spread. It's the first thing to bloom in February here.

If I were you, I would absolutely decide where a garden would make me the happiest. In that spot, I would lay out a good deal of cardboard covered in some imported (and hopefully not full of weed seeds) sandy loam and plant my favorites there. Cover with mulch and be done. Maybe this would be the place where the beloved peony is or maybe you could create a small garden around it since it resents being moved.

Is there a local garden club that could sponsor a work day to dig the other valuable plants that you won't be keeping in return for filling in the holes with soil? Top the old planting beds with sod and hire a gardening crew to mow and blow every week.

I use the boiling water method. You may have to repeat the process a couple of times, but I usually get good results. It weakens Bermuda grass that does come back so if you're diligent, you don't have to use poison. We have fire ants everywhere. I use the boiling water in my veggie areas to keep the poison out.

Boiling water kills everything including good microbes so it may take a little while to get stuff to grow back.

I get my 'boiling' water from my coffee pot. It's fastest and easiest or me.