why won’t this plant die? houttuynia cordata, the chameleon plant
I HAVE KILLED MANY PLANTS in my gardening career, most of them unintentional and many of them regrettable. So why can’t I kill Houttuynia cordata, the so-called chameleon plant, despite years and years of trying?
I bought the plant more than a decade ago, for the showiness of its (then) variegated red, green and yellow foliage and its touted use as a groundcover in moist shade (including plunged right in a pot in water, apparently). Certain that I had acquired a treasure, I was terribly upset when it didn’t return from underground after its first winter with me. Dead, I reported in my newspaper garden column at the time. Gone.
It was another year before the chameleon turned on me again, and resurfaced. Its resurrection was cause for celebration. Not dead, not gone!
I guess you know the rest of the story if you’ve ever grown an invasive: It behaved for a moment or two, charming me thoroughly as if my latest gem, then proceeded to get thuggish (and lose its variegation, reverting to the stronger-willed green version).
Oh, no, I said, not on your life, as it overran pulmonarias and Hylomecon, goldenseal and trilliums at a gallop. Oh, no you don’t. Out came the fork and shovel, and after the seeming bulk was uprooted and sent to the trash, out came the sheets of heavy black plastic, weighted down with stones all summer long, as I tried to bake the remainder to death (called tarping; with clear plastic, it would be called solarizing).
By springtime: not gone, and a year later (by then two years beneath black plastic), still not gone. Four years of this treatment has done nothing but encourage it to travel farther and farther sideways underground.
Even if I wanted to use the herbicide glyphosate to stop it, I could not in this situation: The Houttuynia was growing under a big magnolia with fleshy surface roots, which would have taken up the chemical, too.
I am repeatedly forking out everything beneath there now, bagging and trashing it for fear of spreading snippets of the chameleon’s roots, and even tried turning the area to lawn. Mowing for a decade or so will probably kill whatever re-sprouts, right? Or not. I went back to plastic as of 2015, and dig it twice a year besides, but …
And so I ask you again: Why won’t this plant die? (Oh, and any botched murder attempts to confess?)
I may have commented here in years past but I am in the middle of my semiannual battle with the houtyynia the former owner of my house planted, a master gardener no less! At first it was pretty until I realized that it was taking over everything. It is in the front and back gardens and is slowly creeping into the grass. I have used all the things and even dug down 12 inches after 2 large shrubs and a large holly had been removed and gave me an opening. The roots were everywhere even a foot deep in clay soil. That held it off for about 2 years but then it was back with a vengeance. It currently is growing under landscape fabric that I put down a few years ago, pops out at any opening, and has spread even further. I can’t do chemical warfare as I live on a watershed that feeds into the water source for this area. I love this house but would literally sell it tomorrow to get away from this stuff, just can’t get the husband to agree.
Even if no one reads my rant I feel better talking smack about this plant!
(To the tune of Hakuna matata from the Lion King)
houttuynia cordata,it’s an invasive weed,
houttuynia cordata it doesn’t grow from seed,
if you plant it you’ll weed the rest of your days,
its troublesome, it smells fishy,
houttuynia cordata
Like so many plants that are so good for us in so many ways, such as chamomile, plantain, dandelions and so forth, chameleon plant has medicinal uses and grows prolifically. The problem is, most citizens of the US do not understand this about plants. We buy drugs from the pharmacy that have negative side effects but no nothing about the beneficial growing all around us. That said, I understand the problem. We started with just a few leaves and now we have a complete ground cover around our roses and other perennials. I’m debating whether it’s worth trying to eradicate it. It would take a long time to reach any of our neighbors so that would not be a motivation for us.
we’ve battled it for 6 years now
took over our entire front garden n strangling yuccas n hostas
called someone to remove everything but afraid roots will come under lawn
My neighbour received one as a gift. By the time she realized what it was, it was everywhere and had spread to my garden. The only place along the fence where it hadn’t come in was where I had a patch of gooseneck loosestrife. So I planted more of that, all along the fence. Probably not the best idea, in retrospect, but it worked. My neighbour dug up the bed where her’s was growing and laid down turf, which she mowed religiously. Neither of us had seen this wretched plant in four years. Now that neighbour is gone and the new neighbours have not been careful about mowing. IT’S BACK!! After four years. Found six plants in my raspberry patch today and I can see it proliferating next door. Unbelievable.
My mother in law planted this around the back side of her home. We tried everything.. No luck!!
It grew sideways down the rest of the garden around the rose bushes. It has never killed them. Around 2 hydrangeas it has not killed.
over 11 years I’d say it moved sideways 8 feet. Im crossing my fingers it does not seap into the grass when it reaches the end. We have a brick sidewalk in-between it and the grass now but not on the side. I hated it so much and just decided to get over it. Saves money on mulch haha…
I’ve treated this with a combo of glyphosate, speedzone in concentration recommended and a few ounces of horticultural vinegar per gallon, for the better good