A Good Idea Gone Bad

Years ago I planted some trumpet vines on the north side of the yard against the wood fence. It seemed like a good idea at the time. I was still somewhat of a novice gardener and I thought they would fill some space and add such colorful interest to my summer garden. Well they did fill space, as well as take over everything else in the area. The vine covered the fence and every year the root system sends up hundreds of little sprouts EVERYWHERE within 6 feet of either side of the fence. The vine climbs the tree in front of the fence and even sent some vines high up into the blue spruce. The only thing that ever benefited from them were the bugs and maybe the folks at the garden center that sold them to me. (They were all probably laughing when I carried 5 of those babies out to my car!) As for the colorful interest - not so much. It was a project run amuck and today I decided they have got to go!

The gardening lesson I learned from this project: If the name of the plant or the description include the word "vine", DON"T DO IT!!! You will spend a lot of time chasing after those suckers when you could be doing more enjoyable garden chores, such as digging dandelions. I have asked Mark to please firmly tell me "NO!" if I ever again mention planting such things.

Here are some photos of the project I attacked today.

Before:

(Look at that - those aren't stems, they are trunks!)

2 trips to the dump later:

Look at that clean fence!

All that I need to do here is hit it with some Round-up or Kilz, mulch, and add some annuals to the planter.

I am beyond tired. I have to go back to work tomorrow so I can recover because Saturday is: Chain Saw Day!! The ornamental grasses are coming down. (Mark is so jazzed!)