There are some plants that are so aggressive in the way that they spread in a garden bed that they are called over-zealous and invasive.
Sometimes they are passed on to novice gardeners by well-meaning, though uninformed, gardening friends. At first, they seem to be nice plants, and then they start to spread and eventually take over a whole bed.
If you prefer not to use strong pesticides, there are other ways to get rid of those unwanted plants that are invasive. Of course, you can dig each one individually by hand, but this is very time-consuming and hard work, and rarely does one get rid of them all.
I prefer an easier method if you have a large area that is affected.
1. First, use a weed eater to cut the top growth to the ground and go over the area multiple times.
2. Then cover the area with a thick layer of wet newspapers or a sheet of plastic or some other impenetrable substance that smothers the plants.
3. Then spread a deep layer of mulch or soil on top of the entire area. Leave this in place for a long period of time, and the longer the better.
For example, from one summer until the end of the next spring to smother all the vegetation that is unwanted for as long and as completely as possible. Remember that smothering works best if the cover is deep and even across the surface area, and if the gardener is very patient.
This is Moya Andrews, and today we focused on zealous spreaders.
