bushwhacking

Lots of growing things that were planted years ago have somehow transformed  from desireables into kudzu while I was being inattentive. I thought I wanted English ivy, and even though my mom warned me that I did not, it got started anyway: it takes several applications of Round-up to get it under control. And as I am digging out there, getting past years of leaf mulch, I see the vines still in place, so I don't know if it is actually in it's death throes, or just incubating like something in a cheezy B movie, waiting for unsupecting victims to stroll by.

I also have rampant forysthia, that even though it is advertised on Craig's List for $3 for a bare-rooted plant, I have been telling anyone I encounter that I will not only Give it to them, but I will Dig for them, and Deliver. Probably due to guilt over the fact that if it does not find a good caring home, it will suffer the same fate as the ivy. When I accepted the forysthia as a gift, I did not know it also turns into kudzu: spreading like the old-fashioned formosa azlaea. When the branches get tall enough to droop over, they will take root after they hit the ground, and spread, drooping and rooting, drooping and rooting into a huge unmanageable clump. Then all sorts of other seedlings, sneaky volunteers will find their way into the tangle, and other stuff comes up in the middle where it takes on a life of its' own (more alien life-forms!)

Then there are those fifty-year-old azaleas I have been trying to give away for years: advertising on Craig's List, GA Dept. of Ag. Market Bulleting, local classifieds. Everyone gets fired up when they see 'FREE!', then come by and look, saying: 'uuuhhhh, I'll come back next week...' and never do when they see how big these things are. Honestly, it would take either a backhoe or several strong-backed teenagers to get them out of the ground. Not that they are difficult to dig, as they are very shallow rooted, but have been there so long, out under the trees, that all the tree roots are snugly nestled in with the azaleas, and reluctant to release them to anyone who comes along.

I've been out there, pulling the volunteers, sawing the mother plant down to a nub, painting with full strength brush killer to try to stop them from coming back... inching along on my backside in the dirt, rooting them out one at the time. So if you know anyone who wants FREE! forsythia, or some ginormous azaleas (with the qualifier that they have to bring dirt to fill the holes), please send them my way....