well this is one of those plants that you either love or hate. It has taken me 5yrs to get any to establish. whilst i know others have to wage war on them. Dig out what you can or use a weed killer that has glycophosphate in it eg roundup.

we are not all as lucky, I cant get them to grow in mine.

Mine are very thuggish, Elizabeth. I dig them up as much as I can, and if a stray shoot appears where I've missed a bit, I use weedkiller on it - from a watering can, very carefully - not a spray, so as not to kill off other plants near it. I do this in early spring, having chopped the blighters down hard in late autumn. It's an on-going battle, I'm afraid.

One shoot decided to appear in the middle of a new obelisk - the weedkiller worked there. Harharhar. (evil laugh!)

Good luck - keep digging!

I still love my J anemones, but do know some have had probs with them.You could use weed killer painted on the leaves with a small paintbrush. I used this on Rhus when it began sprouting all over the lawn, after our neighbour cut his down.I find it is very effective, takes a few days to wilt but saves a lot of work.
If you begin when they start to emerge in spring you should keep on top of it.

You did mean Anemones, not Azaleas, Aster, did you? LOL.

Thanks Spritz I always get those two mixed up :) Just edited

I knew what you meant....had to tease you! :-)))) I can't imagine Jap. 'Azaleas' being thugs, really.

Even Roundup takes a long time t get rid. I have been painting it on one patch for 5 years now and still the odd leaf appears.

I think the Roundup purchased from garden centres has already been diluted to some degree. If you can afford to buy it by the gallon from Agricultural stores it should be a very much stronger mix.

Never bought it anywhere else, but our loacal Farm supplies. It still does not kill off Anemone.

Not a lot does! It's a case of perseverance, I think. I will not be beaten, though! ;-))

Tougher than Bracken then, never realized Anemone was that bad, surprised anyone would want to grow it

Im on the other side of the fence. I am over the moon that I have over the last couple of days just seen new shoots a few inches away from the main plant.
Glad that it is starting to spread.

Anyway with all my excess plants that spread and try and take over, I dig them up pot them on and either sell at car boots or pass on to friends.

If you lived closer I would come and take some off your hands.

You could if you could get a decent whole piece out, T&t, you mean! I dig quite deep down - and the roots seem to go to Australia - they are like very long parsnips in shape and size, and the pieces I get out don't seem to want to grow in pots.

Stephen, I inherited these - I've since planted much more well-behaved cultivars like 'Whirlwind' and 'Pamina'. I don't know the thugs' cultivar name, obviously, but they are very tall, single flowered, and pink.

Could these be planted in a very large pot and sunk in the ground -like mint with the rim just above soil level ? Has anyone tried it ?

Sorry Barbara, I wasn't suggesting you had planted them, just talking in general terms really. So glad I've never had to experience the problems with them as I'm forever moving things around :0)

We did not plant them either, some clumps were here already and others have seeded themselves exactly where we do not want them AND, the hardest to get rid of are the smallest weediest flowering ones, The white Honorine whatserface, has just stayed as a nice clump.

Aster - remember that the roots are very large, so the pot would have to be 'ginormous' lol - I suppose it might be possible, but I would imagine you'd be better off choosing a well-behaved cultivar and planting it in the soil.

A much easier solution Spritz. Wouldn't it be good if it warned us on the plant label if it was a thuggish plant ? There must be someone somewhere who likes thugs lol :)) The rest of us could leave well alone :)

If you go to a garden and they are selling lots of a plant, you know it's either a) a rampant spreader or b) a prolific self-sower

LOL. Good thinking, Andrew!

Aster - they should indeed. Then you'd be aware of what you were letting yourself in for. I would never, never advise anyone to buy Phuopsis stylosa - but I've seen it on sale with pretty pictures! No advice about its thuggishness, though. (Google it, or look at it in 'my garden' if you don't know this one!!)

Thanks Spritz I'll try to remember that one.Looks pretty though.
Andrew, I don't suppose it's in a garden centres interest to tell us anyway,a proper little money spinner eh ?

I have to smile when I see small pots of Erigeron karvinskianus at the GCs - they charge anything up to £5 - and there they are in my garden seeding themselves all over the place - almost like weeds! I could be a millionaire. :-)))

No - they don't warn you on the label either!

QVC were selling plug plants of Saponaria officinalis flore plena for 11.95 plus p&p some time back. We have been trying to eradicate this thug for 14 years. And no we did not plant it either.
Mind I find Comfrey to be as big a thug as anything and they sell that and people ask for it all the time.

Well, you know that I agree that Comfrey is one of the worst thugs ever! I haven't managed to get rid of it .....yet. Why on earth our predecessors planted it all round the garden I shall never know.

Saponaria? Mine isn't a thug - I can't get it to thrive at all! :-((

Perhaps we need a 'Thugs' section on goypedia then no one can say we haven't been warned.
I'll make a list of these and take it with me when the GC calls ! :)

I think you're right, Aster. The only problem with that is that as you can see above, some plants are thugs in some people's gardens - but not in others! A word of warning on GOY would be good, though.

Mmm i suppose some just have ideal conditions,like Owdboggy's Saponaria lol!