Banish These 6 Invasive Groundcovers Now – Winter Is Your Best Chance to Get Rid of Them
If your yard is over-run, you can save it before spring arrives
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When certain groundcover species (often non-natives) begin to dominate at the expense of others, then you can have a tricky scenario on your hands. If you’re asking yourself what happened to your favorite spring bulbs or where that lovely patch of cyclamen has disappeared to, then it may be time to take action and tackle those brutish dominators. Luckily, it is easier to remove them in wintertime.
One of the keys to success when it comes to taming overgrown invasive plants is to tackle them at the right time of year. In winter, when the majority of your perennials are dormant and spring bulbs have yet to flower, it can be easier to distinguish friend from foe in the garden and dig out groundcover that’s outstayed its welcome.
Here I’ve given the lowdown on six invasive groundcover plants that are simpler to dig up in winter, so that you can catch them now. It’s worth noting that not all of these plants are a problem in every region, so just keep a keen eye on them rather than rushing to pull them out if that makes more sense for you.
While in many areas bishop's hat can be a useful backyard plant, sometimes it can be unruly
1. Ground elder/goutweed (Aegopodium podagraria)
It's bad news if you have ground elder in the yard, so tackle it now
This is one aggressive customer and if you have it in your backyard, don’t delay in getting it out.
Originally introduced as ornamental groundcover, ground elder thrives in damp areas of dappled shade and spreads speedily via underground rhizomes to form dense colonies of plants that smother pretty much anything.
What’s worse is it can regrow from one tiny piece of rhizome or root, so you need to be particularly diligent and thorough.
This deciduous plant starts to sprout in late winter, sending up bright green leaves on hollow pink-tinged stems, which are easy to spot.
Carefully dig over the ground with a spading fork, like this one from Walmart, picking out every piece of white stem – and remember not to add them to your compost heap or you could end up reintroducing ground elder to your garden. Leave the soil for a week or two, then come back and check for new shoots.
2. Winter heliotrope (Petasites fragrans)
Winter heliotrope flowers early in the season, so remove it now before it has a chance to set seed
Its heart-shaped leaves and, in spring, clusters of vanilla-scented flowers are quite pretty, but this perennial spreads on a dense network of fleshy rhizomes to quickly colonise areas of rough ground in sun or shade.
The flowers of winter heliotrope are a good source of early-season nectar for pollinators, so it’s worth holding on to a small patch if you don’t mind monitoring it and keeping it in check.
If it’s unmanageable, then tackle it now. The flower stems appear before the leaves in late winter, so dig out the plant as these stems appear, but before they flower and set seed.
Again, don’t dispose of anything you dig up on your compost heap as it can end up resprouting and coming back to haunt you.
3. English Ivy (Hedera helix)
Although its flowers provide useful fall nectar for pollinators, fast-growing ivy can be an enthusiastic grower
While there’s nothing wrong with a bit of ivy in the right place (and that place is tricky dry shade as far as I'm concerned), ivy is well known for romping away enthusiastically, horizontally and vertically, drowning everything in its wake.
Ivy is one of the best plants to support butterflies, providing vital habitat and late-season nectar, so do leave a little if you can.
To remove it, you’ll need protection for your hands, like these claw fingered gloves from Lowe’s, and a sturdy garden fork to dig and tease out sections that have rooted to form dense groundcover.
Being evergreen, you’ll spot ivy easily in winter, when it’s easier to pull out and separate from other nearby plants you may want to keep.
These pruning shears from Amazon, and loppers, also from Amazon are helpful tools.
4. Epimedium (Bishop’s hat)
The spring flowers of this shade-tolerant groundcover plant are pretty, but epimediums can get out of hand
These low-growing shade-happy plants have beautiful heart-shaped leaves that turn gorgeous shades of copper and red in fall.
The nodding, bonnet-like spring flowers, usually yellow, white or pink, are held on delicate wiry stems, sometimes obscured a little by all that foliage. They’re definitely a useful plant in shady situations, and they cope well in dry shade under deciduous trees.
Many varieties are fairly slow growing, however others, such as the evergreen Epimedium x versicolor ‘Sulphureum’ can be brutish and spread quickly by underground rhizomes.
Winter is the best time to thin or get rid of unwanted epimedium plants, before they flower and set seed in early spring. Simply split large clumps with a gardening spade like this one from Ace Hardware, dig up the clumps and pass them on to your neighbors (with the friendly caveat that they can spread).
5. Greater periwinkle (Vinca major)
The blue flowers of periwinkle are lovely, but very soon you could have little else in your yard
Like ivy’s more glamorous, purple-flowered cousin, the low-growing perennial periwinkle can be a joy at first.
And then it can get a little over-enthusiastic, sending out long shoots that weave their way over and through all your favourite backyard plants, rooting when they touch the soil. I’ve seen backyards that are literally all periwinkle and no lawn.
Its long, trailing stems of evergreen, sometimes variegated foliage are easy to spot all year round, and if they have made their way among your flower borders, use a hand weeder like this one from Amazon to help you remove each section.
Take care to dispose of plant matter where it won’t take root again. If it’s in your lawn, dig out the biggest clumps, then mow regularly, which should weaken the plant enough to eventually kill it.
6. Three-Cornered Leek (Allium triquetrum)
It's edible, but once three-cornered leek spreads, you'll find it hard to get through it all
This rather pretty, edible Mediterranean plant can spread like wildfire, via both bulbs and seeds, choking anything around it.
In fact, it’s such a problem in the UK that it’s illegal to plant or dispose of it in the wild. Its triangular stems (hence the name) and strap-like vibrant green leaves appear in fall and last all through winter, before it flowers in spring, looking a little like a white bluebell, but with an unmistakably garlicky aroma.
When the soil is wet and neighboring garden plants are dormant you’ll have a better chance of successfully removing the bulbs.
Do this by careful digging, making sure you get them all. You may need to dig up the whole area and replant any shrubs and perennials that you want to keep.
If the task of removing these invasive plants seems overwhelming, keep the end result in mind. Once you’ve freed your backyard from these invasive groundcover bullies, you’ll have made space for any number of beautiful and useful perennials, shrubs and bulbs you can plant in spring. It’ll be worth the effort.
