The lunatics have taken over the asylum?!!

Hello tuppence, Gorgeous cat Fluff .. I think sometimes we have to bite the bullet and split our plants, I had the Zebra grass in my front garden and left it to do its thing for a while, one day i decided to split it and couldn't get my spade in, it was like rock, all those bulbs multiplying, the Montbretia wer'e the same, when we redone the garden the huge digger done the job for me lol .. I like the firecracker in Michaels Patch tho, its lovely...if you can split/prune your overgrown plants now without too much hassle i would do it, would save all the hard work later on. Dee..

Thanks YDD ... Oh is it a good time now to split things? I suppose the recent rain has softened the ground anyway!

Yeah, if it were my garden, i would do it now, there toughie's anyway, you will be suprised how much planting room you will have hahaha..

What a lovely, humourous blog Fluff, I, too, have had this grass, and battled against it, and also Vinca, they are truly groundcover and a half, I just can't get rid of it!! I do wish sometimes they would put on the plant labels just how invasive some of them can be~it would lessen my grey hairs considerably!! LOL!

The Zebra grass is lovely. Like the frogs to. I hope there not too drunk after drinking the fosters lol. Your blog is lovely fluff. It made good reading.

The grass you have i have it but always keep it contained in pots.

Periwinkles, the dreaded firecracker, in fact almost all your plants should have a Government health warning on them, hang on, I'll just scroll up and check out your heading. Yep I thought so, very apt. You're a brave Lady, OK they're nice but I hope you don't tire of them as you've probably got them for life !!

Great blog Fluff. I love your sort of garden, home from home LOL :o)

Hi Floribunda ... thank you. I knew the periwinkle was invasive (my mum kept telling me!) but I wanted some ground cover as this patch of soil dries out very quickly & things kept dying...the vinca keeps it cool & moist & the granny bonnets can grow up thru' quite happily.

I love the zebra grass too great ... & the frogs are in charge of that patch! They are the management! Thanks for your lovely comments.

Hello Heron! Good to hear from you...not sure brave is quite the right word ... maybe reckless!

Hi Tulsa ... thank you ... do you mean the amount of weeds you've spotted in my photos or my total lack of gardening knowledge? Lol!!

That Zebra grass looks very nice, reminds me of my Gran's garden. Knowing about it's reputation I planted one in a pot......a crack-pot idea, literally lol

Hey hey ... that's good Heron! You can imagine in 10 year's time there'll be just a little patch of lawn left in the middle my garden with me sat on a deckchair surrounded by zebra grass!

Nice blog.
From being a gardener over the years I found that those plants are invasive also. So they are best used for big areas you want to cover. However when I realized they were taking over I dug them up and put some in pots so that when I'm designing a pot I can add a Zebra grass to the back of it, just keep it in its pot. Same goes for the Vinca or Periwinkle as it's more commonly known. They are nice plants but best used in pots.

Hi Angie ... thanks ... you're all right about the pots ... when I have to 'deal' with my invasion I'll keep it in pots too!

You have such a nice garden even though the plants seem to have taken over. I have loads of Knapweed? but as it just dies back after flowering I can keep on cutting it back, it is such a bonny blue.I also have russian vine but I just keep cutting that back as well,and most of my montbretia are in pots.

Thank you Mavis ... you live & learn ... I tend to garden with a mixture of books, advice & luck & it usually turns out ok! If things are taking over that's fine ... until they come in the house!

Looks like you've got some real hooligans taking over your garden Fluff.....ASBOs required all round I think! Some things just won't take no for an answer will they? I've fought and lost with DayLilies, Periwinkle and Crocosmia - eventually moved house instead! lol Lovely blog, hope you manage to show them who's boss soon. :o)))
Why don't we don't listen when people tell us not to plant these things...........

I remember having that Zebra grass in my prev garden. It became impossible so I got rid of it. I hope you can get some controll over your plants before they completely take over :O

hi fluff i had zebra grass and lost it in winter, your has gone mad, im a bit like you and i wanted instant look when i did my garden but a year on and its over crowded, but i love it, i will have to divided some of my plants though as some are getting hidden ;o)) casper says "hello phoebe your looking cute"

Why is it though that most of the invasive plants are easyish to grow and have lovely flowers. As you say Fluff you live and learn thats me as well, I am just learning about vine weevil and that Magpies chase cats when their fledlings are out and about.

Thank you all ... the one thing I do seem to have done right is kept my crocosmia in a pot! Actually the pot broke this winter & has fallen apart ... I think the plant's trying to get out!!

I know there will come a time when I'll have to tackle the zebra grass & I won't find it too easy ...I think it sucks the moisture out of the lawn in front of it too as that's gone all dry & cracked & we haven't had that much sun! Hubby hasn't noticed yet but when he does I'll blame the barbecue!
Phoebe's gone all coy now San ... :o))

Lovely plants,Fluff,and invasive or not,I like them too...I love grasses full stop,they just seem to complement and soften the other planting...:o))

I couldn't agree more, Bloomer, I think grasses add a lot to a planting design, plus you have movement too which adds so much to a garden border :~))

Guess who hasn't kepted her Crocosmia restricted in a pot or two??? Yep, you guessed right lol! It seems Fluff, that you are far from alone, my friend, and if the Zebra grass gets too invasive, call us and we shall machete you out of your jungle over in Dorset, we shall send the boys in to do a rescue mission!! Goy Rescue on standby!! :~))

Your blog brought back memories! I had a similar battle with the grass although I did like it - it was just to rampant for my small garden. Your flower beds may be giving you hassle but your lawn looks very trim :)

Thanks Bloomer ... I do too ... I have that black one ... is it Niger something(?) ,,, in a pot & it's gorgeous ... I should seperate some & put elsewhere but I'm a bit scared of fiddling with plants that have been there for ages! They might not like it!

Flori ... I'll bear your offer in mind ... I can hear the Thunderbirds music already!You're not far from me ... I work in Warminster ... so if you hear a manic banging on your door one evening you know I've been overcome!

Hello Gee ... good to see your little bird again (is it a lovebird?).
Thank you ... the lawn used to be a field & has behaved as such ever since we moved in! Buttercups, moss, daisies, clover, groundsel ... you name it, it grew up thru' the newly laid turf. I have been having a running battle with my husband about using weedkiller on the lawn as it now has brown patches everywhere & frankly I'd rather have the weeds ... at least they are green & alive! It looks good when it's mown tho' & that is one thing he does with my blessing! ... think I'll just lock him in the shed with his 'Weedoff' or whatever it's called!! ;o)

Never mind ,fluff,it will improve soon,given some rain...You made me smile ,about locking Hubby in the shed...we know the feeling..but there are probably lots of men who would like to do the same with their wives....naming no names,of course...I think I had better hide the key,just in case Lol.

For sure Bloomer ... keep a key on you at all times! Lol!!!

Very entertaining blog, Fluff! I have been laughing for the past ten minutes!

As I only garden in pots, & have done so for more than 30 years, it makes be laugh the problems you people have with invasive plants! There are definite advantages to not having a "proper" garden!

In the allotment though I'm finding out just what you mean. What with Bindweed & Dandelions & Nettles & Horseradish! I'm no longer laughing!

Ha! You have your comeuppance then Balcony for laughing at us!
I must admit I sometimes think it would be easier & tidier to have all pots as a friend of mine has.
I love blue pots & am always spending my money on them ... you can never have too many!!
Can you eat the horseradish?

Sorry, but I have no idea what can be done with it! We need a lorry to cart it all away - after a JCB has dug them up!!!

I cut down dozens of plants yesterday, I put the leave on the compost heap! I don't have time now to try & dig up the roots, they go far too deep. We will have to cultivate around them & then dig them up during the winter.

We have dug out some though. The tomato bed had many plants in it & I dug them all out. Nevertheless I've seen a few shoots coming up since putting in the tomatoes, the watering I suppose has stimulated them into growth.

Sounds like a right gremlin! Hope you like roast beef!

I dug up a few more plants yesterday from a bed that I have half filled with transplanted Raspberry canes. I don't know if they will all survive but Gerry wanted to put the new greenhouse there & he would probably dug them up & thrown them away. :-( I didn't actually ask him what he wanted to do with them but his tone of voice when talking about putting the greenhouse on part of the Raspberry plot gave me the impression he wasn't thinking of transplanting them.

If they survive & grow all good & well. If they do die then I know it won't be because I didn't try & they would have been thrown away earlier.

Other halves can be single - minded when it comes to building something in the garden!
Mine wanted to get rid of the greenhouse & build a 'bike shed' & if I don't use the greenhouse much one year he sighs a lot!

well i wish my garden wud just get on wth it lol .u must b doing sum thing right. better to go mad than not at all lol x

Great blog Fluff, I have to admit we are more menaced by the insects than the plants!!

That's very true Cristina ... very true!! I'll send you some Dorset air to get your garden going mad too!!
Thanks Pip ... I must say I don't have many insect problems other then the odd leaf miner or mozzy!

I love the exuberance of your garden (though not the leylandii!). Your firecracker fiend looks great - what is it?

Enjoyed your blog Fluff, it never ceases to amaze me how fast everything grows if you turn your back for a minute:-)

Thanks Sarah ... the firecracker is a Lysimachia ... if I've spelt it right! It spreads like fire too so be warned!! Easy to pull up but very persistent.

Bornagain ... thank you too! I'm sure it's all conspiring to engulf me!!

I saw lysimachia fire cracker years ago at a yellow book garden and it was in sort of little sprays, it looked so elegant.......that's the plant for me I thought and brought one home. This year following makeover, i think I've eradicated it yay! It sure does run and I have no idea how the people in the original garden kept it so restrained, unless they kept it in pots or something:-)

I just keep pulling it up from the places where I don't want it ... for instance around Michaels's patch it can completely hide the frogs & beer can etc so just pull right from the bottom & it comes up root & all.
It's quite tall too so is fine at the back of a bed but looks messy at the front. Really the flowers are pretty but small & a bit pathetic ... I like it for the foliage colour.