Notice

ATTENTION!!! Please do not steal my content! ALL of the content on this page is property of Tootsie Time is not to be copied and used elsewhere unless with the expressed permission of Tootsie! There have been a lot of my photos found on various websites and none have permission. Removing the watermark is not permitted under any circumstances. My work is MINE to share, and should never be seen with someone else's name attached to it. That is stealing!

:)

Tuesday, June 9, 2009

Pinky's Question....Invasive Trailing Rhizome Roots!

A little while ago Pinky left me a comment on Fertilizer Friday. Today I will help her try to figure out what she can do to stop an invasive plant from taking over her garden!

Pinky has left a new comment on your post "Fertilizer Friday! Who wants to Play?": HI Tootsie! I am so glad I found your blog and I just became a "follower"! I do have one question right off the bat: we have something in our yard that a "friend?" gave me and it is HORRIBLY invasive and we want to get rid of it. It is called hootintania, I think that is how you spell it. It runs on underground roots so we have sprayed and sprayed to no avail. We even dug up an entire BIG bed, went through it by hand and THOUGHT we got it all...........we didn't. So.....any suggestions!???? I am in awe of your gardens and FLOWERS!!!!!!!! I wish so much I could come visit you to see how you do all this! Til later....hugs, Pinky PS, if I post my flowers on RMS can I link them to your blog? I do that for Susan's at Between naps on the porch. Thanks! Posted by Pinky to TOOTSIE TIME at Saturday, May 16, 2009 7:57:00 AMHi Pinky!!! I have no real visual idea of what the plant you are describing looks like...I have never heard of it...but the root system sounds like a trailing rhizome. Trailing rhizomes are common root systems to the grass family such as quack grass and the like. They are very invasive and grow at the speed of light! I would take a small sponge paint brush and a container of round up, and go to work painting the leaves on the plants that you do not want...but be careful...you don't want to get any on the plants you do want to keep. I have also heard that if you dig down and expose the roots to the hot dry summer sunshine for about a week or so, that it will kill of much of the plant. I don't have the patience for this.
If you were to try to put in a garden border to contain your "gifted" plant...you would have to put something in that runs much deeper than the root system of your problem plants. This could be hard. It also is not a guarantee that you will not have them adapt to the barrier and go underneath, or seed themselves to increase their numbers.
There are a lot of plants that are like this, that seem to have been popular at one time or another. Gout Weed, Goats Foot, Snow on the Mountain, Buck wheat, Lily of the valley etc...I just kept digging them out when they appeared and finally go them under control. It is a huge undertaking to try to get every root..I wish you luck!
As for linking to my blog....ABSOLUTELY!!! I would love that!
Have a wonderful week friend, and I hope I helped! If anyone has any other suggestions...leave them in the comment box. I am sure Pinky would love all the help she can get!

10 comments:

pammiejo said...

'A weed is just a plant that you don't want "there".'- that's from a Master Gardener I know and it's so true. I actually have cultivated "Hootenanny" to grow in our pond streams. I like it and think its colors are beautiful - it can be invasive, I know, but so far it does just fine at staying in-bounds for me. I think you just keep pulling and pulling to get rid of it and plants like it. PAM

Domestic Designer said...

Thanks for the info. There are a few plants in my garden that I need to "take care of". Have a great week!

Unknown said...

Good tip Tootsie!

Amelia said...

Hey punk! Great tip....Will my Gout weed drown out all the flowers you gave me that I planted in the back yard? I have been doing some thinning but will the roots suck out all the good from the other plants?
Colby is exchanging his glasses today at the bower mall...wanna come pick out some frames?
Lilsista.

Chrissy...The Apothecary Shop said...

If I rid of all my weeds I would have a bare garden!!! (SHHH) don;t tell anyone else that! Hope your doing good out there at the other end of the country, talk soon Chrissy

Catherine@AGardenerinProgress said...

I haven't heard of that plant, but I've got a couple that spread the same way. Even after hand picking every piece of root from Lady Bells (adenophora) and hours of digging it's still back. I think patience and persistence are the main way to get rid of those roots.
Bishop's Weed is another one that is impossible to get rid of but I see it in nurseries all the time. I think they need to put warning labels on some plants :)

Jill said...

Listen I know I have told you this before but you really, really need to take this talent of your to the next level. You could be in a magazine, radio talk show.. you name it. You are ready girl.. Do it!

momstheword said...

Yeah, I have some rhizome roots and they are a pain! You think you get everything, but you don't.....little stinkers.

Oh, and you can print your new list anytime you want. Then I will add the new link on Saturday. So anytime between now and Friday is fine!

janet said...

HI TOOTSIE, THINGS ARE BUSY AROUND OUR HOUSE THIS TIME OF YEAR, KIDS WITH ASSIGNMENTS, EXAMS AND I HAVE A GRADE 12 GRAD, NOT MUCH TIME FOR BLOGGING BUT IM TAKING A DAY TO JUST PLAY AND STOP BY TO SAY HI AND SEE WHAT YOU ARE UP TO. HOPE ALL IS GOOD IN YOUR PART OF CANADA MY FRIEND.
HUGS
JANET

Anonymous said...

Hi Tootsie! Oh, that poor gal! I don't know what that plant is, but I have had some that were like that.
Do you have any idea why my knockout roses aren't blooming? I thought they were supposed to be easy
Be a sweetie,
Shelia ;)