How to eradicate houttuynia cordata (chameleon plant) What I did when Houttuynia cordata took over my garden beds. I was one of those unsuspecting persons who thought this was a lovely groundcover and brought a couple home. For a couple of years due to my job, I did not have much time as I would have liked to tend my garden. I did not know what this plant was going to do. When it was in bloom, the little white flowers seemed to add a sparkle to my landscaping. And then it happened. The penalty I paid for admiring this plant and letting it spread was that my beds ended up completely smothered and taken over by this plant. In my yard, the chameleon plant behaved like fairy sized kudzu. In July 2019 I began researching online and was thrown into a panic. The prospects did not look good for getting rid of it. I found out this plant is on the list of globally invasive problem plants. I was stressed. I am going to tell you what I did after reading everything I could uncover on the internet about trying to get rid of this plant. I have never knowingly put any chemicals in my yard. I do not like them and I do not want to harm any wildlife or the ecosystem. However, in this instance, seeing how aggressive this plant was and having read that it can even spread under a driveway, I made a personal decision to use Ortho Poison Ivy Spray. It was not a decision made lightly. I did not want this plant taking over anymore of my property, spreading to my neighbors’ yards, or escaping into the wild areas where I live. From July to early September, I carefully applied the spray. The container it comes in has a very narrow stream, so I was able to be careful and not lose any plants I didn’t want to. After this application during the hottest months in Memphis, TN, the offending plant began to look dead. But from my research I knew it is a zombie that would return come Spring. My next step was sheet mulching. My beds needed to be re-done anyway, so in my case, I just dug up plants that I absolutely needed to save and moved them and with a few – like my Baptisia that have long taproots and can’t be transplanted, I worked around. 1. In September my partner and I got a lot of cardboard. My source was behind stores like TJ Maxx. After they unpack clothing etc….they put all of the cardboard behind the retail establishments. The cardboard was clean. I removed any tape. I had purchased a large supply of landscape pins. I used the sheet mulching method. Heavy layer of cardboard, then wet it and had humus and triple milled hardwood mulch delivered and applied on top of the cardboard. The beds stayed like this until March when I began putting in new plants and shrubs. 2. Spring 2020. A silver lining to Covid Times, I worked from home through the Spring. This enabled me (with the help of my partner) to re-do my front garden beds and tend them everyday. After planting all of my new plants and shrubs and mulching with pine straw I checked every morning for any reappearing houttuynia leaves. Whenever one sprouts up, I zap it with poison Ivy spray. Yes, there have been a few that have popped up. I still do not like using poison. I am still getting rid of the plant, but honestly, so far the reemergence has been very easy to handle. Mostly because I have checked it everyday. I know I will have to keep on this, but I feel like I have it under control. I just hope I can continue to be vigilant next Spring when I will be at work. Meanwhile, my new landscaping is settling in. I planted a lot of natives, and my garden is humming with pollinators. Don’t give up.

Ken, I put the link below to my original post about the hosta move. I sent you a separate email but I just wanted to give you a HUGE HOSTA HUG here too - you are absolutely unbelievable in your generosity. No, I was not able to save my Scooter hosta nor my Paradigm, which was her first gift to me when we became friends. They are #1 and #2 on my shopping list for next Spring! (Along with lots of blues, LOL!!) I think the one I miss SEEING the most is my Lakeside Black Satin. That was sooo beautiful. And the Brenda's Beauty... and the Fried Green Tomatoes I received in a trade once... Ohhh... I am getting misty here! I think the other perennial I miss most is my purple Wisteria that a GardenWeb trader sent me several years back. It was soooo beautiful. But way too big to move! You know what? I just remembered something GOOD. I still have all of Scooty's metal ID tags that were scattered all around her gardens. I should do something "garden artsy" with them as a memorial. That could be neato!! I just thought of something else too. I need to sort through the plethora of photos I have of all the hosta and stick them up on a web page on my site. That would be a good way to remember them. And a great winter project too! I want to thank each of you who has sent a note to me, it means a LOT. My husband doesn't get my grief over these plants, bless his heart. He isn't a gardener. He keeps telling me, "But look at everything you have here now" and he's right. I have 5 beautiful wooded acres and some previous owner long ago did lots of landscaping with nice perennials like iris, liriope, yucca, and daylilies. So yes I am grateful of course BUT I still miss MY babies!! It is nice to talk about it with people who "get" it. Thank you!! Here is a link that might be useful: My Original Post About Moving The Hosta

One thing that jumped out to me about your proposal is the power unit. I had the Dirt Devil version of the Vacuflo FC650 power unit when my home was built. Vacuflo built it for Dirt Devil. It's a very powerful unit but it's not truly cyclonic. There's a cartridge filter that must be replaced every year and cleaned each time you empty the bin. I was religious about this but our unit died within 3 years of owning the home. We replaced it with a bagged unit from MD which was significantly cleaner and easier to maintain. The MD unit is quieter too. As of now, it is almost 5 years old and still going strong. That being said, if you want bagless get a true cyclonic Vacuflo unit if possible. In regards to the powerhead for rugs, we orginially had the Turbocat and it does work fine for area rugs and very, very low pile carpeting. However, I never felt like it was deeply cleaning any wall to wall carpeting. They now make something called the Volt or CX1000 battery-powered powerhead for central vacs. Its base is a Riccar/Simplicity upright but instead of having a bag there's a wand where you attach your hose. It cleans the carpets and rugs really nicely. Apparently they now have a cheaper battery powerhead from Cen-tec. It looks like my old L-shaped Electrolux powernozzle. I would try the Turbocat but know you have options down the road. The Chameleon hose seems similar to the old socked hoses from HAH. I think the difference is that the wall outlet is a little smaller. I'll admit our HAH outlet is fairly large like a 3 switch light plate turned on its side. Nobody has ever pointed it out but it's not exactly discreet. All in all, I think you'll be happy with the system. It certainly makes cleaning a less painful task.

Rouge have you looked into micro clover? The seed is more expensive but I think it's supposed to have a 'neater' look with its smaller foliage and a shorter height. I was going to give it a try but it seemed silly to kill off all the clover I have just to plant more. And I'm not all that into my lawn either lol. I think it works best in a lawn kept short, but I really don't have any experience with it personally.