Horseradish

Horseradish, I agree!

Yep! Mystery solved! :-) Boy, and I do believe I have a bunch of it!

Now, all I have to do is figure out how to keep it contained! lol!

Thanks guys! I'm sure I'll be back with more "new" old garden mystery plants!

merlcat

You may want to become familiar with recipes for cocktail sauce.

tj

True, that, tj! :-)

listen to me .... at my first house.. i kept everything.. for the history of the house ... big mistake ...

if you have no use for it.. get rid of it ...

if you have use for a little bit.. get rid of most of it ...

etc ...

the happiest garden day at my first house.. was the day i got rid of the last nightmare.. the prior owners planted... unfortunately.. it took me 5 years to gain that wisdom ... lol ...

ken

Yes, I have many of these thoughts in my mind. I do know from seeing this house in unseasonably warm Fall/winter weather that there are many, many peonies, a few very mature roses, (which are my passion, and i will finally have more sun!!) as well as grapes and currant bushes. There are hostas, daisies, and other things I can identify, as well as the mystery things and empty spaces that I know had died down before we saw the house.

The children of the past owners gave me some rundown of what was out there, and much of it was well attended to, though the yard itself is hard to navigate and cut up by too many square beds and fences, which is not my taste.

There is a nice herb bed, which I think can be saved. Basically the existing plants are going to be moved (except for the roses... they will be intermixed with mine) and the whole yard will be redone by removing and reorienting hairpin fencing, changing brick walkways and trying to soften the straight flagstone, brick and concrete pathways. We have an old, old, greenhouse that needs renovating in the middle of the yard, but it will stay. Lovely brick floor in the front portion and cement in the second room, which will be a studio space. Needs glass in many spots as well as the roof, which I guess due to time and age of the owner was eventually covered. The original wood rails that held the glass are there, so these will act as a template to help us rebuild.

It is going to be the job of the century for us on a shoestring, but I am up to the challenge.

Months before ever looking for a house, I began moving my roses and other plants to my parents yard, who graciously allowed me to dig up many new spaces. My last garden was another project of the century at an apartment that had been neglected for many years. I put a ton of work into it, and think the current tenants will enjoy and save some of the work I did, as well as divide plants for me when the season is appropriate. We built new raised veggie beds there together just last spring, and I shared many of my plants over the years with neighbors, so I think I can do the same here, as well as get some of my favorites back through division from past people I shared with.

I totally agree that trying to save a past garden is a hard thing to do. And changes to suit ones tastes are so important. But, I think that during the time spent at my apartment taught me it was worth it, where I unearthed a rock garden that had seen way better days but still had winter and spring bloomers that came up every year. The rocks were buried below the ground in most spots from mowing over them and general yard neglect, but I like that I was able to revive some of the original owners intent.

I was working most recently with a great woman who had moved in last winter and started working with me, moving and dividing plants through the yard and building new beds, and I think she has an interest in saving some of my old garden, where we had begun mixing our plants together. We only live a couple/few blocks apart right now, so I think I will be sharing the plants here with her and my new gardening neighbor across the street, and hopefully everyone will get a little bit of everything once the time is right.

We have a ton of renovation inside and out to do here, but I have pots and pots of plants that I brought, and divided plants living at parents and friends places, so hopefully one day I'll have the vision I'm looking for, as well as many plants I have been struggling to grow for years at my old, less than full sun spot, that will now thrive! :-) All exciting prospects! Even the horseradish is exciting! Lol!

I totally will heed your advice, ken_arian, as I do agree and know that things here are not at all well placed and need softer lines and paths. But hopefully come early spring I'll have tons of new stuff to share with everyone! (and willing helpers I've been helpful and generous to with their gardens and plants to do some digging and construction, LOL!)

Merlcat

Well, I once dug up lemon balm that a roommate planted the following year, followed that clear around the neighbors garage ito her yard!

I got rid of a yard full of goutweed, dug and followed every runner, even through old tree roots! I waged war on Pinella Ternata which was hell, but accomplished quite a bit over the years before the move.

I know that FOR SURE, I will be inspecting every plant that comes in to this yard for pinella, thats for sure!

As far as the horseradish, I will be up for the challenge. I have a square yard of mint growing here, too that has to go. Mint in pot, okay. Mint in ground... no. Just, No. lol

If anyone has hints about the horseradish removal, feel free to share...

Horseradish roots go deep IME and will break off when dug, after which each little piece that remains will sprout. They don't like shade, however, so covering sprouts with metal buckets which you can take off to remove any leaves that have sprouted may take care of the problem eventually by starving them out.

Okay, thanks for the tip, NH. I'll keep it in mind!

Ken, have you ever tried to get rid of horseradish?

==>>> nope... but can it be any worse than yucca... lol ... persistence.. and my little bottle of generic round will take care of it ... and perhaps 3 or 4 seasons ... lol

ken