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helena2013_gw

Getting rid of Houttuynia cordata 'Chameleon'

Helena2013
10 years ago

I discovered this horrible pest in the garden I just purchased. I know it by reputation and realize that the faster I get rid of it the better!

Normally I avoid chemicals but for certain plants I believe it's warranted. I've read that every bit of root left in the soil will produce new plants.. soooo... is RoundUp (or something similar) my best shot at getting rid of it for good?

Comments (21)

  • ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5
    10 years ago

    see link.. just so you understand.. you are not alone..

    therein.. i said:

    roundup will take care of it ....

    and just like poison ivy.. you have to respray it.. EVERY TIME it releafs.. 3 to 5 times per year ... until it is gone ...

    you just have to be more aggressive than it is in reapplication ...

    trust me.. been there .. done that ...

    the PI took me 3 years to kill ...

    ken

    ==>>> above.. i went the drip method.. rather than the spray suggested here ...

    Here is a link that might be useful: link

  • morz8 - Washington Coast
    10 years ago

    How wide is the spread, do you have a clump or is it everywhere? I'd pull/dig it, then treat any bits that resprout from missed roots with roundup....That's worked for me on bishops weed, and I'm doing it now for ivy, false lily of the valley (Maianthemum dilatatum). The roots of the maianthemum are very similar, meaning they look like a bowl of spaghetti underground.

  • Helena2013
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    morz8, so far I have found it in two separate planting beds. One is a raised bed and the other is ground level.

    I say "so far" because the sellers apparantly never pulled a single weed after I signed the contract to purchase, back in late March. Therefore when I finally got possession of the house in mid-July all of the beds were choked with weeds. I've been working my way through the beds as time, weather and health permit, but there are still some that I just haven't been able to get to.

    To give you an idea of what else I have to deal with, invasives-wise, in addition to the 'Chameleon' there are multliple stands of tiger lilies, multiple large groups of the roadside orange daylilies, multiple stands of rudbeckia, and large sections of pachysandra and vinca (both of which are okay, since they do suppress weeds).

    There are also about a half dozen rose of sharon (some are HUGE) which is probably my least favorite shrub/tree because of the bees it attracts and the gazillion seedlings, which are, of course, all over the lawn areas.

    Weedwise, I have so far found:
    Bindweed, smilax, crabgrass, quackgrass, ragweed, horseweed, a few groundsels and sowthistles, chickweed, lambs quarters, TONS of copperleaf and smartweed, pokeweed, ground ivy in one section, and oxalis EVERYWHERE.

    There is also that PITA bramble with the prickly stems which I have always called The ShrubWeed From Hell.

    And if that wasn't enough, there is a Chinese wisteria climbing up one side of an arbor, and on the other side there is something that looks frighteningly like Campsis. :-/
    I seem to recall the former owner bragging about his "hummingbird vine".

    At least I have SO FAR not found the bane of my existence in my current garden, which is wild garlic. But it may be there and just dormant. Brrrrrrr.

  • Helena2013
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    ken, I love your "expensive drip applicator", LOL !!

    I'm going to use that method for the wisteria mentioned above, too.

  • ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5
    10 years ago

    took you long enough.. i figured i was going to have to come back and harass you for ignoring me ....

    but you take the cake with this description.. no matter the plant:

    ===>>>> The ShrubWeed From Hell.

    full strength RU... BTW i use generic .... is LABELED as a stump killer at 100% ....

    with your new handy applicator.... there are a myriad of things you can kill in the garden .... shrubs.. trees... all cut to the ground and treated ...

    ken

  • Helena2013
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    I see they have a 50% RoundUp now:
    http://www.amazon.com/Roundup-Pro-50-2-Concentrate-2-5/dp/B001NDI3R0

    Might try to find that one. Stronger can't hurt, in this case, LOL

    Have you ever run into the "expired product" glitch mentioned in one of the reviews? (" Check the expiration date to make sure that it doesn't expire before you use it. The last one I bought expired in sixty days. ")

  • ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5
    10 years ago

    how much of this horrible plant do you have.. that you need 2.5 gallons ...

    i buy generic at tractor supply .... i think it was 49.99 for 2.5 gals....of 41% ..... i have no clue why you need to pay for the name... nor the extra power ...

    you know.. i fill that applicator once a season.. and rarely need to refill it.. the use is so low... 2.5 gals would last you an eternity.. or three.. crikey ...

    see link

    ken

    Here is a link that might be useful: yep.. there you go.. farm works .... will you be willing to send me the other 150 you would have spent on the RU ??? .... lol.....

  • Helena2013
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    LOL, I have a feeling that I may only have scratched the surface of what I need to remove. :-( The ShrubWeed From Hell is something that I know will take multiple applications all by itself, as will the Wild-Eyed Wisteria and the Campsis With Territorial Ambitions.

    I've never seen any brand of generic RoundUp in any stores here, but then again we're talking a NYC suburb so that may be why. I will give your source a call on Monday and see what the shipping would be if I order theirs online. I'll also doublecheck a couple of local places just in case, but if memory serves they only carry the brand names.

    The 2.5 gal was what came up in my google for 41% RoundUp, LOL...not that I was looking for that particular amount. :-)

  • Helena2013
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    Well, on closer inspection it appears that even RoundUp will be an exercise in futility.... because the plant has invaded the neighbor's property on the other side of the fence and is acting as a ground cover under a bunch of thickly planted large conifers. So even if I succeed in getting rid of it on my side of the fence (which will not be easy, given the shrubs and trees on my side of said fence) it will just keep re-invading from the neighbor's side.

    I don't think it originated with them, because the plant is also in separate raised beds elsewhere in my garden. Most likely it traveled in the other direction (mine to theirs). Neighbor's property is not 'landscaped' in the traditional sense (basically it's trees and dirt and some grass, plus a few foundation plantings) so they are probably delighted to have something there that doesn't need to be mowed. :-/

    So I guess I should simply try to learn to love this thing? *sigh* Life's too short to fight battles that are lost from the get-go!

  • ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5
    10 years ago

    well??? ... nothing like giving up.. before trying..

    you draw the proverbial line in the sand.. and kill anything that crosses it ...

    and when you succeed in your garden..

    you offer the very expensive applicator to the neighbor ...

    ya know.. i too grew up in suburbia .... very limited products available... then i moved to the country.. and discovered place like tractor supply ... man these farmer types.. have so many options ... when you move away from bigboxstore ....

    ken

  • Helena2013
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    Oh, I'll try.... but with focusing on "control" instead of "eradication". I've had too many experiences with failed eradication of plants (wild garlic, lythrum, ivy, wisteria, nd Rubus calycinoides come immediately to mind). You think you've won and then WHAMMO you discover you've been outflanked, LOL

  • mad_gallica (z5 Eastern NY)
    10 years ago

    There is this very, very useful tool called a lawnmower. The ignorant think it is just for manicuring grass. The enlightened know it as one the easiest, most efficient destroyer of truly horrible weeds commonly available. It is amazing what will rather die than be kept at three inches tall. The number of trees I have killed must be measured in the thousands by now.

  • Helena2013
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    LOL, yes, I discovered that the former owner used that very method to control the bazillions of Rose of Sharon seedlings trying to colonize the backyard. (said Roses of Sharon will be severely pruned and possibly entirely removed under the new management ;-) !)

    Trouble is, the houttynia in the ground-level bed is well and truly woven in between, betwixt and behind several layers of shrubs and other (desirable) perennials... thus the Lawnmower Method is too non-selective in this case.

    (That said, it has been my experience that wild garlic laughs at lawnmower blades, however low and repeititive, and simply throws yet another bulbil-propagation party underground afterward.)

  • tomashmore35
    7 years ago

    Someone needs to tell Ken... for the love of god... please... please... PLEASE... stop using full stops... you know... to represent breaks in speech... Your comments are barely... readable... It's analogous to listening to a radio station that comes in and out of frequency... or a CD that skips....

  • Kaillean (zone 8, Vancouver)
    7 years ago

    Lighten up dude, this isn't the grammar forum. If you don't like Ken's posts, don't read them. I ... for one... enjoy them and learn a lot...to each his own and all that. : )

  • agardenstateof_mind
    7 years ago

    I have to agree with tomashmore35; the breaks are very distracting. As Kaillean suggested, for this very reason I usually just pass over Ken's posts without reading them, which is truly unfortunate because of the good information and humor they contain.

  • texasranger2
    7 years ago

    there is.......i believe........the zen way........of writing............about gardening

    Or the Biblical way.

    The foolish man planteth Houyttuynia. He shall reap that which he soweth. Woe to thee who giveth way to folly but repenteth not with thy shovel. Thy children shalt curse thee and thy wife shalt gnash her teeth in despair.

    or just writing the regular way that has no philosophical or religious tone.

    The only way to get rid of Houyttunia is to dig it up.

  • Isabella G
    3 years ago

    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.

  • Buzz Anderson
    3 years ago

    Omg this plant is actually a cure for covid and you’re killing it! https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/18479853/

  • Kara Sherk
    2 years ago
    last modified: 2 years ago

    It kills Covid---that just shows how toxic this plant is!

    Last year we tried smothering it with cardboard and mulch, but it came back.

    This year we are covering it with black fabric.

    We never resort to chemicals, but next year who knows?