Break it up!

10 years ago

Before we were inundated with a fresh dumping of snow, I went out and did a few garden chores. Mostly it was looking for any signs of life.

To my chagrin, I noticed those aggravating Campanula persicifolia seedlings were sprouting directly in my Coreopsis 'Sienna Sunset'. I absolutely loath it when this happens. Could be among my chief garden pet-peeves. Last time this happened was when some tenatious oregano cropped up in the very middle of a Helianthus. Grrrr.... I suppose it was my fault, since I didn't make time to deadhead the Campanula before the seed capsules popped.

I'm curious (as a person and also about this subject, lol), how do you remedy this problem in your own garden?

With the oregano/sunflower I had to dig the whole thing up to separate them. Other times I take the lazy-gardener approach and just keep yanking out the unwanted invader from the desired plant. Not sure this will work with my delicate Coreopsis though... I've been contemplating pulling the Camp out as best I can and then dropping a bit of vinegar onto the basal stem/root part (since those things never come out without leaving roots behind!), but fear that may kill the Coreopsis too.

Sigh...I suspect I will have to bite the bullet and simply dig/separate them come spring.
CMK

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Comments (4)

Nancy
10 years ago
I have that problem a lot too, & usually end up separating the bet I can as you have. One thing I do with plants when I can is let them grow & take cuttings- just in case. I don't have Sienna Sunset coreopsis, but most coreopis roots easily. i just break off a nice piece of stem in the spring, or several, & plant directly in the soil. Usually spring here is wet enough I don't have to think about it. It has worked very nicely with the threadleaf varieties, so I would think it would work well for you.
User
10 years ago
Um, yep....dandelions are a terrible offender and so are grasses. I obviously go for lazily tugging and yanking and even have a poke around with a daisy grubber.....but more often than not, it entails a complete digging and more or less bare-rooting. I too loathe this....and have lost several plants.

Oh yeah, the hateful centranthus, Jupiter's Beard or red valerian - gah, I don't even grow it - it comes from across the allotment and terrorises me with fat roots which fail to budge.
And mallow.

I am depressed now!
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ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5
10 years ago
i put 100% generic round up [which is 41%] .. into the very expensive applicator at the link ...

and drip single drips on offending leaves and/or crowns.. etc ..

and walk away ...

when they start to shrivel in a few days... you can rip them out if you wish.. and the desiccating roots will lose hold on the earth ...

the pure product can be returned to the labeled container... or marked appropriately.. and not stored by the hot dogs ... lol ..

somethings really has to be pissing me off.. to do this... but its surprising.. how many times it happens ... and its usually tree seedlings.. which are impossible to pull out.. by the time i see them a few years later .... snip at the ground and one drip on the cut stump ...

no one ever said.. round up can only be sprayed ...

ken

Here is a link that might be useful: link
christinmk z5b eastern WA
Original Author
10 years ago
Well then I guess this is an almost universal annoyance rather than just my personal pet-peeve, lol!

-ngraham, interesting about the TL coreopsis. Didn't know it was so easy to root from stem cuttings!

-campanula, kinda' depresses me too for some reason. Guess starting the season off by doing such disliked chores casts a bit of a gloom on it. Which reminds me I still have to divide those mammoth daylily clumps this year. I already loath the idea, lol! As you can tell, dividing (/digging up large plants in general) is not something I enjoy!

-Ken, cool. Glad to know that method of direct application of killer to the offending plant works without harming the other plant. Now all I need is a steady hand, lol.

Ha ha! This is totally OT, but your "hot dog" comment jogged my memory about a recent event.

Last week (when it was sunny AND snowless) I went for a long walk. I had rounded a corner and was looking at a large and garish house when I noticed they had a lot of little dogs including some wiener-dogs. The gate (which was conveniently open) had a sign which read "dogs bite". I quickly backtracked and took a different route, thinking that nothing would be worse than having "bitten by a wiener" on a medical report.

Well I think you found the worst one with your hot dog vendor scenario. An obituary saying "death by lethal wiener" would undoubtedly trump mine! LOL.
CMK