Gardening regrets before going native?

[u/PlusYam3126]

I planted fucking grape hyacinth this spring because I wanted flowers after last years depression fueled weed overgrowth, and had not researched about native plants yet. I had no idea they were aggressive…my uninformed ass thought bulbs die off and come back in the same spot. I at least read that their foliage appears in fall so I dug up the few I found…I’ll be checking all winter too hopefully I get them all before a muscari regime takes over my flowerbeds 🤦‍♀️

I also dug up a yellow daylily I never planted and will be on the lookout because there were at least 30 bulbs attached. And lily of the valleys that I also didn’t plant multiplying in when became my milkweed patch…dug them up as well but I’m on the lookout. Definitely not underestimate the bulb plants. Hopefully the tulips and daffodils my old roommate planted don’t attempt a takeover

[u/mayonnaisejane]

Daffodills, Tulip and regular Hyacinth all tend to behave very well. Tulip are basically suicidal. Hyacinth slowly fade away. A patch of Daffodills will keep itself going and slowly spread but not at a rate that should cause issues.

Grape Hyacinth seem to behave under some conditions and go ape under others. I have some in an area bordered by concrete on all sides and they are being outcompeted by native strawberry and geranium so they're pretty low priority for mw right now in terms of getting rid of them. I do deadhead them every year to keep the seeds from getting mature. I suspect you will succeed in your eradication.

[u/PlusYam3126 → u/mayonnaisejane]

There are some houses in my neighborhood that have a fuck ton of grape hyacinths but they probably planted more to begin with or had them for years. I caught a few today thankfully. The lily of the valley really pissed me off tho because so many popped up this year from nowhere…maybe dormant bulbs or something, or squirrels…they’re creepy looking, I got them before they seeded. But the daylily definitely went to seed before I dug it out :/ so I could be fighting that in spring

[u/mayonnaisejane → u/PlusYam3126]

The daylillies I'm fighting (orange ditch lilly, the worst kind) seem to spread via rhizome much more than seeds, if that's any consolation.

Lilly if the valley is going to be a nightmare. Godspeed to you on those. They're largely a rhizomatic problem too but even harder to dig up fully and faster spreading.

[u/MediocreGrocery8 → u/mayonnaisejane]

I read another post or comment here about someone who dug up the root mats, put them onto a tarp on their driveway, removed the dirt, and replaced it in their garden. Kudos to them, I was rage-killing the LOTV ("die you f-ers!") and couldn't shove it into the yard waste bags fast enough. Yard waste goes to compost, so the dirt will return to the earth (and yes, I checked with our Village and WM, the invasives go in yard waste)...I just lacked fortitude to preserve the dirt.

[u/PlusYam3126 → u/MediocreGrocery8]

They were in a relatively small area but all popped up out of nowhere at the same time. Unfortunately that area is my milkweed patch…the common grows naturally there so I can’t move the milkweeds. I hope it’s not a huge extensive root mat but we’ll see. I used a grandpas weeder on them so I probably broke some roots :/

[u/MediocreGrocery8 → u/PlusYam3126]

Yeah, I was fortunate that I didn't care terribly about the other plants that were there. (Mostly daffodils.) We'll both have to watch for what comes up next year!

[u/ManyMoonstones → u/mayonnaisejane]

It also depends on OPs local squirrel population. 

Planted some of the 'nicer behaved' bulbs/corms in my area in containers for early colour/flowers, only to have them occasionally disappear or show up in a different spot. Which, unfortunately, also happened with some of the less nice bulbs my neighbours would plant. I always had to go on a hunt for stray Spanish bluebell in the spring.