Nuisance trees,shrubs, and plants

[robint]

Hi

Have you had a nuisances in your garden that had been planted deliberately but became a nuisance (so that rules out weeds like sycamore and ash for example which propagate as weeds dare i mention japanese knotweed aka triffid)

My example

Staghorn Sumac (Rhus Typhina

It was planted close to a lawn border and it kept sprouting aerial shoots up through the lawn for a circle of around 3m, made a real mess of the lawn. Also the branches are very fragile and a medium gust of wind would snap the larger branches quickly ruining the appearance of the tree (3m tall). Although it looked attractive at first but it became a nuisance and i cut it down, but the sprouts kept coming back every spring.


Another one

Hornbeam tree, which was planted too close to a house rear addition - about 3 m away. The roots seriously damaged the foundations and the rear addition had to be demolished and soil with roots removed

Lime tree planted on the roadside verge outside my house, I could not park any vehicle under it because the tree dropped little gobbets of sticky juice which were difficult to remove if left to dry and would quickly corrode the paintwork.

A neighbour planted a hedge of leylandii after 6 years it was thick and twenty foot tall blocking out all the south facing aspect putting my entire garden in the shade. He refused to trim the hedge back to a reasonable height of 2 m and I moved house.

Forsythia is a devil if left to get out of hand, I have one at the moment that is very unweildy and need a savage pruning soon.

How about you guys?

[aeshna5]

Allium triquetrum is an attractive looking plant but can be highly invasive both from seed + bulb division. Acanthus mollis is another thug I've had.

[Fuzzy-felt bloke]

Hi Robint

My house backs on to a river and I get invaded by Japanese Knotweed and Himalayan Balsam.

Hornbeam tree, which was planted too close to a house rear addition - about 3 m away. The roots seriously damaged the foundations and the rear addition had to be demolished and soil with roots removed

Without knowing the standard of construction for the extension I doubt the Hornbeam could have produced large enough roots to destroy a house foundation at that distance.

Lime tree planted on the roadside verge outside my house, I could not park any vehicle under it because the tree dropped little gobbets of sticky juice which were difficult to remove if left to dry and would quickly corrode the paintwork.

It’s actually the aphids on the tree leaves, which drop the sticky substance as excrement.

Fuzzy-Felt Bloke

[solus]

Yucca.
Lovely to look at especially when mature and in flower, vicious spines on the ends of the leaves which attack you and try to poke your eyes out and hellish to get rid of as they grow back from quite small pieces of root and are rooted halfway to Australia!

I've got Allium triquetrum and don't mind it too much (yet!) except why does it (and a lot of other stuff!) prefer growing out of gravel paths and between paving rather than in its designated place! Geraniums can also be invasive after a number of years but are dug out fairly easily.

I'm sure there have been other plants I have wished I'd never planted when the time came to get rid of them but offhand I can't remember which. There was a fancy Euphorbia many years ago which spread itself far and wide and had to be dug out and some Yellow Flag Iris which proved somewhat thuggish but I think my biggest "mistakes" have been in the pond. Water Mint comes to mind as having wound itself round and round several times before I got to it and duckweed which was introduced with some plants from my cousin and is an on-going nuisance - I suppose she thought as it was in her pond I should have some of the problem too.

[Jennie]

Pink Jasmine. Forms new plants wherever the stems touch the ground. Difficult to remove, has long roots which will regrow if enough is left.

Now have a Yellow Jasmine, a much better behaved plant!

[tom00_uk]

a lot of the streets in Bristol are lined with Lime trees. All ways makes me smile seeing the expensive cars on these streets being caked in residue

[Amoeba]

No plant is a nuisance, the only nuisance exists in the human perception of the plant. Real nuisances are deliberately trying to be nuisances, plants aren't capable of that.

I am appalled at the way people speak of plants in this thread, as mere ornaments to get rid of when you get fed up of them or when they start to become more than a slight difficulty to take care of. Reminds me of certain pet owners.

[robint]

WOW what song was that "I talk to the trees............."

Cant agree with you, in fact try presenting your opinion to an aggreived householder whose foundations have been damaged by a neighbours tree (willow, polar, sycamore etc) which has been allowed to grow out of control and where he refuses to have it cut down.

My local council environment officer knows all about the costs of nuisance trees - sycamore and ash are a particular problem in our area.

One area I lived in Somerset, the whole of the riverside had been allowed to grow wild for years because it was under the privatised water company. They refused to deal with the rampant sycamores which grew to a great height and ruined any vestiges of riverside recreation, quite an ugly mess - even the Muscuvy ducks wouldnt go there. Vandals would fly tip rubbish matresses etc and the water company ignored complaints, council could do nothing

Perhaps you would prefer our allotments to remain an overgrown midden which attracts fly-tippers rather than to be cleared and maintained for public benefit.

Dont tell me bracken has feelings too ROTFLOL


BTW Fuzzy Bloke
Thanx for the tip, I dint knwo it was an aphids problem, certainly lime trees are an attractive tree, just dont picnic under them

So I suppose if a tree was sprayed with a mix of soapy water and veg oil

Aphids: 9 Natural Tips For Removal | DoItYourself.com

course difficult with a big tree


The original proposition was more in the line of "things I would not plant again" rather than any vandalistic urge

[Gill Catton]

A riverside left to grow wild sounds like a fantastic thing to me! Far better for wildlife! A neat and tidy riverbank is far less likely to be of value.

Plus though I can see that there are times when plants are un unhelpful places but lime trees for example are essentially a massive bird table for breeding birds being stuffed full of aphids - and probabaly are what keep families of sparrows and blue tits in an area. I'd hate to see them chopped down foor the sake of someone's paintwork which can after all be washed. And washing the car gives the car owner more excersize which is possibly a good thing too!

get rid of the aphids = get rid of the birds essentially.

You cant have a world of neat and tidy well behaved plants and a thriving wildlife community the two thing just don't particularly go together.

[Fuzzy-felt bloke]

Of course nuisance trees have an impact on our garden cities, where councils will no longer plant large trees due to size constraints nor will they plant Cherries due to shallow rooting breaking through tarmac and fallen blossoms on the pavement and of course Limes. The plantings tend to be small easily to manage trees such as Silver Birch, and the old trees still standing such as London Plane receives some serious pruning.

Yet my city council calls it sustainable tree management.

Fuzzy-Felt Bloke