The next entries on my what went wrong, and what to do instead list sound oddly familiar: to work (yet again) on eradicating a ground cover planted years ago that turned out to be a thug; to reclaim overgrown pathways; and to take a firm hand to the beds that have grown misshapen.
I vow to tackle these issues in the growing season ahead. But for now, while the garden alternates between uninviting bouts of ice and muck, I will simply give voice to the casualties, to my shortcomings and to possible remedies and yes, to remind myself of what went right.
We spend the first years of garden-making waiting for things to grow in, and the following ones pushing them back when they have overdone it.
It is easier to keep turning a blind eye as certain plants pursue a doctrine of Manifest Destiny than it is to be the enforcer. But I have looked away long enough.
Many long-popular garden perennials considered to be ground covers are nonnatives. They promised to be helpers to tie together our gardens and simplify maintenance, with less weeding and rarely any mulch required but theyve gone rogue.
Miles of real estate have been consumed by culprits like vinca, Japanese pachysandra and English ivy. These plants are still available to buy, although theyre now listed as noxious weeds or invasives in a growing number of states, where they have romped into natural woodlands, choking out native vegetation. (The ivy, Hedera helix, is capable of climbing and strangling large trees.)
Even if they merely run across our backyards, a ground cover like this has little to offer pollinators and other beneficial insects. Let it go? In this instance, happily.read more
It’s a New Year in the Garden, Too: Time for Some Resolutions
