It was a long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away…at least it seems like it. I thought it was a good idea to plant ivy along with our foundation plantings. NOT! Unfortunately, its even worse than that. Take a look at the picture and you just have to say “yuchh”. I had also planted houttuynia, (chameleon plant). In my defense, I was a novice (a.k.a. gullible) gardener. So much so that when the garden center helper said that houttuynia “might” survive in our zone 5, I believed her. Sucker! The reality is that It doesn’t get worse than ivy and houttuynia when it comes to invasive. Think predator (oops – wrong movie.).
It started out well, but then doesn’t every trek to the dark side. Look how cute the “hout” is and how seemingly well thought out the area is.
The invaders had to go. Mike finally took matters into his own hands last fall, and I joined in with a vengeance. It was “Do or do not. There is no try.” We opted for “Do”. He chopped away at it all, and once it was to the ground it was my turn. Cardboard covered by landscape fabric everywhere.
It was grueling. I had to become one with the force. If only I had droids. But no, it was me crawling under bushes, chopping and pulling more roots, adding the cardboard and landscape fabric, and redoing the rock border that you couldn’t even tell was there. I look happy in the photo but it was really hard work.
This spring, we covered it all in pine bark, not mulch. We aren’t planning to plant more in the area so I am so very not interested in mulch as it does eventually break down. The pine bark is much more long lasting. Powerful we have become. It took 20 bags, but its done, and it will be done for a long time. Hello low maintenance!
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