Why on earth would anyone plant.....

Sycamore trees. The farmer who owns the land next to my house actively encourages them and they exude sap all over my car and garden. At least he dug up the Leylandi he once planted. I had some Californian poppy growing in my front garden and scattered the seeds in my back garden as nothing grows there because of the shade from the trees. Big mistake…

AmberGran

^Slightly off topic: is it true that anyone growing Pampas grass is inclined towards Swinger parties?^

A bit doubtful. It may have been planted by swingers 20+ years ago but I think many have inherited it. My neighbour has a huge plant in the middle of his lawn from when he bought his bungalow that he really wants to get rid of but over the years has been quoted some hefty charges to get it taken out.

I think the best way is to burn it out? Thats what we did & it seemed to work.

Jaxjacky

Definitely borage NS easy to pull up, but kept appearing.

How annoying - but probably better as a problem than the other! 😬

Slightly off topic: is it true that anyone growing Pampas grass is inclined towards Swinger parties?

A bit doubtful. It may have been planted by swingers 20+ years ago but I think many have inherited it. My neighbour has a huge plant in the middle of his lawn from when he bought his bungalow that he really wants to get rid of but over the years has been quoted some hefty charges to get it taken out.

Casdon

Montbretia. The bulbs seems to weld together, and trying to dig into them to reduce the size of a clump is like putting your spade into concrete.

Monbretia seems to be fairly unstoppable.

Slightly off topic: is it true that anyone growing Pampas grass is inclined towards Swinger parties?

Really? I've heard that one going around a few times, but the very elderly couple at the end of our Close have a ton of the stuff incorporated into their hedge and somehow I think it's probably just because they like it.

My next door neighbour planted a giant hogweed, which is an invasive species with dangerous sap that causes the skin to blister in sunshine. It's illegal to allow it to escape into the countryside.
Fortunately there was an outcry from neighbours and the offending plant soon made a foul smelling bonfire.

Grape Hyacinths another nightmare here, pulled/dug up thousands over the years and still they appear. Also self seeded Evergreen clematis keep appearing.

I have Bamboo but it's in a large pot. Also have Acanthus but don't allow it to spread, dig some out each year and have managed to keep it to one small area.

Definitely borage NS easy to pull up, but kept appearing.

Could your borage actually be Green Alkanet?
Borage has shallow weak roots but green alkanet is a thug.

Borage, I know it’s pretty/used in Pimms/makes good liquid compost, but it spreads everywhere it’s not wanted.

The people before us in this house planted bamboo.
It grows half a dozen weedy shoots - all short. It's been here 20 plus years!

I have actually planted some of the "invasive" plants above and with the exception of toadflax (which is a blow-in) the only invasive species in my garden is sycamore!

My bamboo is in an old galvanized dustbin which I inherited when I moved in here. I like the bit of privacy it gives me.

My husband loves purple toadflax!

We have it in many pots at the front of our house and he's reluctant to pull it out!

Linarea purpurea. (Purple toadflax) It seeds itself all over my gravel garden and takes over pots if not removed as soon as it’s spotted. 😡

I think I've eradicated the Japanese anemones from my back garden. I read somewhere that the white version, which is what I had, are less invasive than the pink, though.

M0nica

Add Japanese anenomes. The previous owner of our house did and then let the garden run wild, The roots grew up between the cement plinth along one side of our house and the brick house wall forcing a gap at the top so that when it rained the water ran between plinth and wall causing a damp problem indoors. It is costing an awful lot of money to remedy the situation.

I wish I’d never planted the wretch things - I hadn’t realised that they were so invasive! They’ve been popping up in the lawn for a while now.

One plan for the autumn, though, is to dig the whole lot up (a smallish bed next to the patio) and find something else that doesn’t mind shade for a good part of the day.

Acanthus is beautiful if you have a large border or want something dramatic in half shade near (say) a woodland patch.

I think the problem is in small gardens or where you need to keep passing it!

I'm loathe to dig ours out because it's really fabulous in bloom... but it really IS in the wrong place and our garden doesn't have a better one to move it to - it is a long and narrow garden with wiggly paths.

Pampas grass! I really loath the plant. I read the other day that Alan Titchmarsh also dislikes them so I am in good company.
It is nothing to do with the rumour that it represents a property where 'swinging' takes place.

Phlomis that a landscape gardener planted in huge clumps that were overwhelming. I removed it several years ago but it still keeps reappearing and spreading. I agree about Vinca. Also Phygelia which runs underground and throws up new plants. Never grow Sedges unless you want your garden colonised, and some Euphorbias also constantly reappear all over the place. I have zero tolerance for all of these.

Allium triquetrum, also known as three cornered leek by wild food foragers.

A pretty little white allium which self seeds prolifically as well as multiplying via its bulbs. I’ve been trying to eliminate it for some 20 years. (I didn’t plant it, it came with the garden). Hybrid bluebells come a close second.

Begonias. I just don’t like them.

Perennial geranium. It self seeds everywhere and while it’s very pretty, it’s a complete thug and is taking over my garden. The more I yank it out, the faster it grows!

The acanthus I've been trying to remove today was planted by a previous owner. It's right next to my driveway and is about 5 ft tall, making reversing out a nightmare. Weed killer doesn't work because it just runs off the glossy leaves. Digging it out is such hard work and so time consuming because the roots break off so easily and it regrows from the tiniest bit left in the ground. I'm busy tomorrow and Tuesday, so round two will commence on Wednesday.

Montbretia. The bulbs seems to weld together, and trying to dig into them to reduce the size of a clump is like putting your spade into concrete.

My bamboo is in a large pot so.is contained.