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HELP Grape Hyacinth

(42 Posts)
jeanie99 Sun 21-Oct-18 18:57:54

I am loosing the battle to get rid of this plant which is everywhere.
It grows through plants and the more I try and dig out the bulbs the more seem to sprout up.
Does anyone have experience of clearly this plant out of their garden.

BBbevan Sun 21-Oct-18 19:32:52

Nope. My DH hates the little b----rs. Good luck

annsixty Sun 21-Oct-18 19:43:06

We have had them for years with nothing working, suddenly they disappeared spontaneously.
Has anyone else had this happen?
We ended up with millions of leaves and few flowers.
So pleased to be rid of them.

cornergran Sun 21-Oct-18 19:45:41

Same here ann, leaves, leaves and more leaves. Flowers? Nope hmm

BlueBelle Sun 21-Oct-18 20:17:25

But they re a lovely little plant dig the bulbs up and give them away that’s what I ve done with my Montbrezia had so many they stopped flowering dug them all up and gave them away

merlotgran Sun 21-Oct-18 20:55:40

Plants will stop flowering if they are overcrowded. I love grape hyacinths and am thrilled if they spread because we're a dry garden and they like some moisture.

Digging them up will just leave space for those left behind.

There are worse invasive plants.

NfkDumpling Sun 21-Oct-18 21:58:59

I think I may be winning against the grape hyacinths by digging up perennials they’ve got into, turning the plants upside and winkling out all the horrible little bulbs from the roots and then replanting them. At present I’m waging war against violets, they have similar sneaky habits and more pernicious roots.

I’ve had a lovely display of grape hyacinths this year -in pots.

Jane10 Sun 21-Oct-18 22:00:32

Oh but violets! I love them so much. You're so lucky nfk!

jeanie99 Sun 21-Oct-18 22:07:05

Would it be better do you think if I allowed the plants to go larger and then did dig them out.
The problem I am having with the small growth is they detach from the bulb when I try to dig them out.
In addition they are growing through my other plants which I don't want to have to dig out and replant because there are so many.

NfkDumpling Sun 21-Oct-18 22:20:50

I’ll send you some Jane, they swamp everything. The advantage is they also swamp weeds!

It’s taken a year or two Jeanie to slim down the grape hyacinths, and I had to dig out the perennials as I said to get to the bulbs. I have to say though none of the plants they got into seem to suffer from cohabiting. You could just leave them.

My next challenge is lily of the valley!

BlueBelle Sun 21-Oct-18 22:30:54

I have a garden full of violets too Nfk love them
I love things that just look after the self and produce
I too have loads and loads of lily of the valley my neighbour just asked me for some and cowslips by the dozens I have never wanted a ‘planted’ garden I love things that spring up and grow

merlotgran Sun 21-Oct-18 22:34:03

Funny how one woman's nurtured plant is another woman's weed. I can't get Lily of the Valley to thrive either.

But..Borage anyone??

Jalima1108 Sun 21-Oct-18 23:04:55

annsixty my grape hyacinths have disappeared too.

In fact I thought that this thread would be about them disappearing, not about trying to get rid of them!
The lily of the valley won't grow here either.

Someone gave me an ajuga plant once and said they were good ground cover - yes they are, can't get rid of them!

Jane10 Mon 22-Oct-18 07:43:03

Thanks for the kind offer nfk but we don't have a garden. We'll we do but it's the one for our whole block of flats. We have an excellent gardener and (naturally!) a gardening committee so I couldn't possibly presume to plant anything myself!

NfkDumpling Mon 22-Oct-18 07:56:28

Ooo, go on - a bit of guerilla gardening is such fun! wink

Greyduster Mon 22-Oct-18 08:51:02

Jalima, I have to ‘have a go’ at ajuga reptans soon or I will lose my rockery wall to them!! Trouble is, when they are in flower they look so handsome. As for grape hyacinths, we did battle with them in our last garden, and yes, eventually they just disappeared. So, unfortunately, did my lily of the valley ☹️.

jeanie99 Mon 22-Oct-18 10:07:36

I don't even know how they got into my garden I never planted them, it's a complete mystery.
They are even now in the back garden.

annodomini Mon 22-Oct-18 10:42:14

Grape hyacinths proliferated in my last garden to the extent of becoming a nuisance, but those I planted in my present garden have mostly disappeared. I wonder if the squirrels have been digging them up.
I do agree about ajuga reptans. It resists all my efforts to get rid of it, though it's easy enough to up-root. Lily of the valley doesn't like me. I've tried it in three different gardens over the years and it has never taken even though I often tell it how much I love it. Hellebores, on the other hand, seed themselves madly in my garden.

NfkDumpling Mon 22-Oct-18 10:45:56

It looks as if Lily of the Valley doesn’t get on with Ajuga Reptans! I actually planted some but it died within a couple of years.

jusnoneed Mon 22-Oct-18 11:13:01

I wish they would disappear from my garden, have dug up hundreds of the bulbs trying to get rid over years. They seem to thrive on weed killer, and you only have to miss one teeny little bulb and you have a clump next year!
I always say that they are the ideal thing to give to someone you don't like lol.

Jalima1108 Mon 22-Oct-18 12:04:35

I planted the grape hyacinths in the first place but only noticed earlier this year that they had all disappeared.

I wonder if the squirrels have been digging them up.
Our squirrels dug out all the tulip bulbs I had planted in pots, just when they had started sprouting.

NfkDumpling Mon 22-Oct-18 12:32:51

Aha, so that’s where our tulips went!!

Jalima1108 Mon 22-Oct-18 15:15:04

Cyril Squirell obviously heard that 'greens are good for you'.

Jalima1108 Mon 22-Oct-18 15:15:28

Squirrel - typo!

felice Mon 22-Oct-18 16:06:06

I would have them, I have planted loads over the last six years but the Bluebells which I cannot get rid off just seem to crowd them out.