When to get rid of things, grape hyacinth edition

[haapai]

I have trouble getting rid of things that might be of some utility in the future, no matter how what the opportunity cost of holding onto them might be. 

The house that I bought eight years ago came with a little clump of grape hyacinths, plenty of violets, some scraggly and unpromising forsythia, two patches of honeysuckle, and some weird alliums.  I think that I have dealt quite well with everything on that list except the grape hyacinths. 

For some damn reason the grape hyacinth grabbed my heart and convinced me to transplant it all over the place even as I was actively and successfully eliminating the other plants that didn't need care, spread by themselves, and only looked good for three weeks of the year. 

Can any of you think of any reason why I should keep the grape hyacinths?  They may be a cheerful bunch while in flower but they look like hell the rest of the year.  At this latitude, they only go dormant in July and they re-emerge in September.  They stay greenish all winter but winter does a number on their foliage, which always looks untidy. 

Is there any trick that any of you know of to make these things look a little less wild.  Would mowing of weed-wacking them in the fall lead to more attractive foliage?  Would digging them up and ruthlessly discarding offset bulbs help any?  Would it help to collect the strongest bulbs and bury them really deep? 

Do any of you have any tricks to making grape hyacinths behave like ladies or should I just uproot the bunch of them and concentrate on cultivating snowdrops, squills, daffodils and early tulips? 

[dannylion]

You could dig up some of the grape hyacinths and plant them in large pots.  When the flowers are finished, plant annuals in the pot to cover up the unappealing grape hyacinth foliage.  The annuals will die over the winter, the grape hyacinths will emerge and bloom again in the spring, and you can plant new annuals when they are finished blooming.  This can go on as long as you care to continue it.  


Dig up and give away or throw away the remainder of the grape hyacinths.  If you have nearby woods or similar uninhabited space, you could toss them there and let them fend for themselves.  Some will probably take root (especially if you cover them soil) and brighten that spot.  

[Tennesseer]

Don't weed wack the hyacinth leaves when the reemerge in the fall.  The new foliage is what feeds the bulbs so they bloom again in the spring.

Plant some low growing perrenials around the hyacinths.  While the hyacinths go dormant for the late spring/summer, the low growing perrenials will emerge and cover the scraggy leaves.  When the  hyacinth leaves emerge in the fall, there greenery will blend in with the hyacinths.

[Sharon]

You can't get rid of grape hyacinths, it's impossible, I have been trying for over 20 years.  Until you get every single little bulb they will continue to come back. 

[haapai]

I'll give your suggestions some thought, especially the chucking into the woods idea.  I'm not so game on the pots and annuals suggestions though.  Where I live, grape hyacinths only go dormant for a few months of the hottest weather and suck up water and nutrients the rest of the year. I don't think that annuals planted in close proximity to to grape hyacinths would thrive, or even cover them up. 

If it makes you feel any better, the swamp that is on the route to work could probably use some lilies, day lilies, and irises, and since I usually start work at midnight, well... in a few years that might be a very pretty swamp during certain weeks of the year.  Chucking rhizomes into the drainage ditch might be much easier than trying to shake the dirt out of them before composting them or setting them out with the other yard waste. 

Tis pity that it's also a misdemeanor. 

[happyhoix]

No you can't get grape hyacinths to act like ladies. Mine multiply themselves and migrate willy nilly out into the lawn.

I don't mind them, though. In the spring they come up with the daffodils, in the same bed with the dwarf day lilies. When the daffodils and grape hyacinths finish flowering, the day lilies are just taking off around them, so their foliage gets overshadowed. The ones in the lawn get mowed, but they don't seem to care about that.

 

[Bonny]

Apr 24, 2019 22:01:22 GMT -5 haapai said:

I'll give your suggestions some thought, especially the chucking into the woods idea.  I'm not so game on the pots and annuals suggestions though.  Where I live, grape hyacinths only go dormant for a few months of the hottest weather and suck up water and nutrients the rest of the year. I don't think that annuals planted in close proximity to to grape hyacinths would thrive, or even cover them up. 

If it makes you feel any better, the swamp that is on the route to work could probably use some lilies, day lilies, and irises, and since I usually start work at midnight, well... in a few years that might be a very pretty swamp during certain weeks of the year.  Chucking rhizomes into the drainage ditch might be much easier than trying to shake the dirt out of them before composting them or setting them out with the other yard waste. 

Tis pity that it's also a misdemeanor. 

Be mindful if they are multiplying like crazy in your yard that you DON'T "chuck them into the woods". They are likely invasive exotics which can create chaos in your area.

Put them into the compost. The heat should kill any seeds. Composting is a kind of recycling and you're certainly not "wasting" anything.