Tanacetum vulgare crispum , aka Tansy. http://www.illinoiswildflowers.info/weeds/plants/cm_tansy_cr.htm

in my world... cut to about 6 inches.. and spray with round up ... pull up dead stuff next spring ...

but if you plan on replanting something there.. then digging it out.. and loosening the soil for next years planting... is well worth the effort ...

tugging is hit or miss on perennials ... especially in your soil.. as you describe ... a lesson learned.. eh???

ken

This same thing happens to a lot people who bring this stuff to a
garden. The romance sours after seeing how it takes over & they end up evicting it. You're in good, abundant company on this particular path.

If it's just that small spot, digging it shouldn't be too hard if the ground isn't dry, you don't come across a big tree root. I'd choose a day after it rains if possible. The concrete at the bottom of a sidewalk sometimes flares out a bit, and can be uneven, and there's usually a layer of gravel under, a little wider than the concrete, difficult to dig against. Coming at it from the other side is usually easier, for the sidewalks I've dug near.

If one is going to use RU, spraying the foliage is how it works, absorbed by leaves & transported internally.
Cutting it first would cause it to be less effective & use
unnecessary time & effort. Then the dying doesn't happen overnight
and, as said, the dead material (hopefully) is what is left.

How about putting up a sign, "free Tansy plants, u dig?"

Haha! Free tansy! I find it hard to believe that anyone would willfully bring this stuff into their yard. I like it even less now that I read in the link provided by Carol that it is associated with death.

I think I'll avoid herbicide if I can, and pull out my tools. Do I have to get all the roots out for this to work? I'll opt for some sort of chemical treatment if it's back next year. It's right next to my pond, so I'd be afraid of some contamination in the water, where I plan to put some fish real soon now that I've FINALLY fixed my leak!

Other searches come up with several terms associated with this thing: "Noxious weed," "highly invasive," "toxic" etc. Besides, anything that "is generally found along roadsides, waste areas" is not something I think I want to adorn my yard with.

Found this also: http://www.mda.state.mn.us/plants/badplants/noxiouslist/~/media/Files/plants/weeds/commontansy.ashx

"Control and Management

Persistent hand-pulling and digging may be practical on small patches of common tansy. Removal of the rhizomes from the soil is crucial to preventing re-sprouting. Regular site check-ups will be required to ensure that re-sprouts and new seedlings are destroyed.

Mowing before flowering can reduce seed production. Repeated mowing throughout the season is required to keep the plants from re-sprouting and producing seeds. Mowing alone will not eliminate common tansy patches and in fact can actually increase their densities. Mowing can be beneficial when used several weeks prior to herbicide applications to increase herbicide contact with re-sprouting foliage."

If you have a garden fork (full length, not a hand fork) that would be the best tool for digging it out. You can loosen the soil and get in under the roots.

Wishing I were so well equipped!

I had to laugh at this post. I think one man's weed is another man's garden.

A older gardener gave me this plant I had no idea what it was and had never saw it in any garden. She told me a few things and I found other things on the net about the plant.

I did some research and I have found many uses for it so I keep it around. It has been in all my gardens for 25 yrs. The one comment I get when I have parties in the summer is I do not have mosquitoes. We can sit on my patio all night and not one comes around to ruin the fun. For that reason I am happy to have it because we have a problem with West Nile Virus in my area.

Tansy..........

Tansy, also known as mugwart, cow bitter,
bitter buttons and common tansy, is a perennial (meaning that it comes
back every year) flowering herb. It repels ants, flies, moths and other
flying insects that are harmful to fruit trees.

Other plants that are helped in one way or another by the close presence
of tansy include corn, squash, roses, beans and peppers, as well as
raspberries and various other kinds of fruit. Other insect species that
are deterred by the presence of tansy include squash bugs, striped
cucumber beetles, Japanese beetles, sugar ants, moths, Ichmeumoid wasps,
and fleas. Mice also tend to stay away from areas planted with tansy.
In addition, certain insects are deterred by tansy oil extracts,
including mosquitoes, greenhouse whiteflies, cabbage aphids, flour
beetles, and spider mites.

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It is pretty in my shade garden

I cut it so it does not flower. I do have small clumps all over the yard. On the patio I have small pots planted with tansy. Just pull some from the garden in the spring and put it around the areas you want to repel the bugs.

I agree your pic of it growing wild in a clump it is not attractive. I think you will be pleased if you incorporate it as part of your garden design and thin it out

Aww that makes sense. At my old house I had a small pond and no filter and I planted it around the pond too I also would pull leaves off and lay it on top of the pond and the mosquitos stayed away. It did the same job those dunks do so you do not have a pond mosquito breeding ground.

Looks good. When the other plants are in it will look like a fern in the group.

I have it planted in the front around roses and I get questions of what fern grows in full sun.

Well, in the end, after removing a bunch and seeing it resurface within a few days, I dug up the whole bunch, figuring that there would be some that would return by next year from stray roots. I planted a few things in the area, based on what I was given by a friend, and will reassess next year. It doesn't look like much now.

Basically, there's some creeping thyme between those two stepping stones on the bottom left, some lady's mantle along the walkway on the bottom right, up by the rocks on the edge of the pond there is some myosotis sylvatica, and that thing right in the middle is lobelia syphilitica. It's probably not going to look all that good next year, but it's better than nothing.

Great updates! It's all good. Even if you do ever get it like you envisioned, you'll then envision something else... Have a blast!

Yes, great update and it looks great too. Take care to deadhead the Lobelia as it will reseed prolifically. You can let some go to seed, just collect it before it disperses so that you can have more for this spot or other spots.

The Myosotis will reseed as well but the individual plants are short lived so reseeding is desirable. You have worked hard on this area and I do not want you to have any unwanted surprises.

Seeing the "free Tansy plants, u dig?" comment made me snicker, it just might have worked. Several years ago we drove past a house that had just been sold, it had been vacant for several years and the front yard, a BIG front yard, well, the whole yard was a solid stand of bamboo. In front of it was this sign "FREE BAMBOO U DIG". We drove by a day or two later and you'd think there was the garage sale to end all garage sales going on but the people had buckets, containers, sacks, you name it they were in there digging and prying and pulling. Two weeks later the ground was bare, driving past nowadays all you see is a green lawn. I wonder how many of those energetic souls are regretting the day they dug the freebies.

Annette

It depends if they were digging the bamboo to plant in their yard or to sell it on ebay. I see bamboo sold at a very high price on ebay. I do not know how it would sell in Canada but in the Us that stuff sells fast and at a high price.

I willfully planted it in my garden because I liked the smell of it. I soon realized how fast it spreads and got all of it before too much damage was done.Now it's relatives Erigeron,Solidago and Artemisia are getting revenge for it.The fork is a great idea and would work great for a lot of other thug plants as well.

Hey marquest,it looks like a nice setting you have with the Tansy blended in with Hosta,Heuchera and Iris.Do you have to go in there and root prune the tansy to keep it in bounds,or does periodically cutting it back deter it from spreading? Cool idea about using it to repel mosquitos,beats spending a lot on scented geraniums grown as annuals.Foreignlady, it's looking great.Very nice plant choices.What species of Hibiscus did you plant, if you don't mind me asking?