They have invaded my flower beds.
They are driving me crazy.
They are ferns…
Ferns (maybe the "bracken" variety?) which showed up last year unannounced and uninvited. Unfortunately, we just didn’t have the time to deal with them at the time (Will had no regular schedule till he was well over a year old and last year’s yard-work was often limited to a quick grass cutting). So left unattended, they multiplied…and then like bunnies – multiplied some more.
“But ferns are so lovely.” you might say.
Sadly, you would be wrong. (note that this is only my opinion - many folks do love the fern)
If you love ferns or wish you had some in your yard; I wish you’d been at our place earlier this evening. I would have merrily given you as many as you would have been willing to take.
I know that I should appreciate all of God’s creation….and I do. But some of it, I appreciate LESS when it is poking up between my Hostas.
I’d honestly forgotten about the ferns, until I was weeding over the weekend and came across some dried fronds from last year. Once the dried out bits were cleared, the little bulb-y thing that sits atop the soil was revealed. I yanked on that one, and quickly found that the root system was fairly massive. Yuck. When I had pulled up quite a bit of that first one’s roots…I soon discovered it was connected to the next one etc. It’s like they have their own evil-fern subway system.
I gave up for that day. I needed to regroup and figure out a better plan of attack.
Tonight I returned with a shovel and a wheel barrow. I dug out as many as I could. With each bulb-y thing (no idea what the technical term is) lumps of soil and long tendrils of root came with it. I pulled and yanked on those till I couldn’t find any more. My wheel barrow was over half full when I finished.
I might have missed a few, but I can be patient. I can be vigilant. I will overcome!
I’ll go back tomorrow night to see if I can find any survivors. Mark my words - they won’t survive for long if I have anything to say about it.
They are driving me crazy.
They are ferns…
Ferns (maybe the "bracken" variety?) which showed up last year unannounced and uninvited. Unfortunately, we just didn’t have the time to deal with them at the time (Will had no regular schedule till he was well over a year old and last year’s yard-work was often limited to a quick grass cutting). So left unattended, they multiplied…and then like bunnies – multiplied some more.
“But ferns are so lovely.” you might say.
Sadly, you would be wrong. (note that this is only my opinion - many folks do love the fern)
If you love ferns or wish you had some in your yard; I wish you’d been at our place earlier this evening. I would have merrily given you as many as you would have been willing to take.
I know that I should appreciate all of God’s creation….and I do. But some of it, I appreciate LESS when it is poking up between my Hostas.
I’d honestly forgotten about the ferns, until I was weeding over the weekend and came across some dried fronds from last year. Once the dried out bits were cleared, the little bulb-y thing that sits atop the soil was revealed. I yanked on that one, and quickly found that the root system was fairly massive. Yuck. When I had pulled up quite a bit of that first one’s roots…I soon discovered it was connected to the next one etc. It’s like they have their own evil-fern subway system.
I gave up for that day. I needed to regroup and figure out a better plan of attack.
Tonight I returned with a shovel and a wheel barrow. I dug out as many as I could. With each bulb-y thing (no idea what the technical term is) lumps of soil and long tendrils of root came with it. I pulled and yanked on those till I couldn’t find any more. My wheel barrow was over half full when I finished.
I might have missed a few, but I can be patient. I can be vigilant. I will overcome!
I’ll go back tomorrow night to see if I can find any survivors. Mark my words - they won’t survive for long if I have anything to say about it.
I feel your pain. I have some places where I've planted my grandmother's Lady Fern, and some birds have seen fit to spread Polypody Fern near them. UGH. I can't stand the Polypody, so understand you wanting them out, and I looked too and yours do look like the Bracken. The spores on the underside of the leaves make it almost impossible to root out, since they happily spread these spores indiscriminately. Nuts.
ReplyDeleteOh my goodness! I have the exactsame problem. With Fern and with Ladys Mantle! The Ladys mantle is the worst, its just everywhere, in every corner of the garden and theres no way to get rid.
ReplyDeleteAAGGHHH!!!!!
Well Ladies, I guess we have our work cut our for us don't we? :)
ReplyDelete