April 30, 2015

Give Me Victory, or Give Me... Oh Well... Live You Rotten Weed!

"What is a weed? A plant whose virtues have never been discovered." - Ralph Waldo Emerson

Trust me, dichondra has few, if any, virtues.

For years, I have been fighting the spread of this weed in my yard and flower beds. Just about the time I get it under control in one area, twice as much pops up in another area.   The most annoying thing about this weed is that it spreads by runners that are just under the surface of the soil. That should make it easier, right? But no, the runners are so thin that they break off at the slightest tug and every break turns into a new plant that sends out more runners.  It's like splashing water on a gremlin.



Years ago at a plant exchange (where everyone brings plants from their yard to swap with people who have different plants), a man brought little pots of dichondra that he wanted to trade for nursery quality flowers and shrubs.  He was so proud of his ground cover.  When no one was willing to make that trade, he foisted them upon everyone before he left.  Until he was out of sight, we stood in silence, each with a little pot of dichondra held at arms length, and then one person giggled, then another, until we were all laughing as we unceremoniously dumped the weeds in the nearest trash can.

So you can imagine my surprise when I came across this at Home Depot.



I have heard that gardeners in California try to grow Dichondra in place of grass, with mixed results.  I guess one state's weed is another state's ground cover.

But I will continue to fight it in my lawn and flower beds, and let it fight it out with the fragrant bedstraw and chickweed in my out of control xeriscape areas.  And one day, if I live that long, I'll do battle with the surviving weed.

And since I began with a quote about weeds, I'll end with one because it is so very, very true.

"Plant and your spouse plants with you; weed and you weed alone." -Jean Jacques Rousseau


6 comments:

  1. Seriously, this stuff is legitimately marketed and actually sold? Yikes! I've been fighting it for years, too. It's called bind weed in my area.

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    1. We have a bind weed too, but it's much larger than Dichondra. Our bindweed grows tall and it's vine is tough as twine. It grows up other plants and chokes them to death. So in comparison, I guess this one isn't all that bad. lol

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  2. I feel your pain, my friend! We have a version here in New Zealand that keeps me on my toes.

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  3. I once heard a plant expert say that a weed is any plant in a place you don't want it. I agree with that and have struggled with many "weeds."

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  4. I love that last quote, it is oh so true around here! Good luck with your weed battles.

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  5. It's good to know that I'm not the only one fighting weeds. My biggest nemesis is native Bermuda grass. that finds its way into every flowerbed. weedinwaterinwatchin.com



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