Invasive Root System

cazsophieq2019 · May 2020

Hi there, for obvious reasons I'm now obsessed with my garden and all things related lol

I've been doing a lot of weeding recently and have come to the point where I'm now turning over a lot neglected overgrowth in one of my front garden borders to find a very stubborn and spreading root system, from it seem to be sprouting long oval leaves and this chunky root system (looks like something out of a sci fi horror movie) does anyone know what it might be, it seems to have invaded the entire border.

Thanks for your help 😊

Mrs-B3-Southampton,-Hants · May 2020

I saw the first pic and thought Bindweed but there's no scale shown.

If the other 2 pics are the same sort of plant then I'm stumped, sorry.

Digging-it · May 2020

I wondered if it’s lily of the valley which can become invasive, but there is no scale to tell how big the leaves and plant are.

cazsophieq2019 · May 2020

Digging-it said:

I wondered if it’s lily of the valley which can become invasive, but there is no scale to tell how big the leaves and plant are.

Hi thanks for responding, I've just looked up Lily of the Valley and unfortunately can confirm that it is.

This is of concern.

Posy · May 2020

I think it may be alstroemeria, with Lily of the valley growing through it. Don't dig it up yet, it could be fabulous!

cazsophieq2019 · May 2020

Posy said:

I think it may be alstroemeria, with Lily of the valley growing through it. Don't dig it up yet, it could be fabulous!

I wish it was that alstroemeria is beautiful.

josusa47 · May 2020

I'm not convinced - lily of the valley is in flower just now and you'd have known it straight away by the flowers - dainty white bells and famously fragrant. Your third picture shows some big single leaves that do look like lily of the valley, but some smaller ones in opposite pairs along a stem. That looks more like one of the many varieties of willowherb.

Whatever it is, if you want to get rid of it, you have two choices: spadework or glyphosate weedkiller applied to foliage. The latter takes, I believe, up to a month to work and may need more than one application.

If it is lily of the valley, you can probably give some away; plenty of people like it enough to buy it.

cazsophieq2019 · May 2020

josusa47 said:

I'm not convinced - lily of the valley is in flower just now and you'd have known it straight away by the flowers - dainty white bells and famously fragrant. Your third picture shows some big single leaves that do look like lily of the valley, but some smaller ones in opposite pairs along a stem. That looks more like one of the many varieties of willowherb.

Whatever it is, if you want to get rid of it, you have two choices: spadework or glyphosate weedkiller applied to foliage. The latter takes, I believe, up to a month to work and may need more than one application.

If it is lily of the valley, you can probably give some away; plenty of people like it enough to buy it.

Hi there, I'm pretty sure it is lily of the valley as there were little white bells on it when I initially started digging the border, I just thought they were a white variety of bluebell lol.

I think I'll stick with the digging option as I've already planted lavenders and a rose bush in the adjacent border and would be scared of spraying it with glyphosphate in error.

Thanks.