Use some patience and persistence when fighting off creeping bellflower

Isolating the area and repeated spraying may help conquer this resilient weed

Q I am at my wits’ end about this incredibly invasive weed, the creeping bellflower. I emailed you about it several years ago when it first came in from the alley under a concrete wall at the end of the back yard. I dug that entire bed out two feet deep, but unfortunately tried to save soil by sieving it through fine mesh. A few atoms must have survived, because it eventually took hold again. It’s now rampant in all my back beds, except the parts covered by lily of the valley and elephant ears. In the last five years I have tried hitting it with undiluted Roundup in the spring since it comes up before most other plants. That set it back in the beds, but then it moved into the lawn. I’ve tried cutting it and pulling it mercilessly on the theory that it does ultimately need leaves to survive, but I missed most of last season visiting my mom back east and it is back with a vengeance. I’ve continued to cut and pull, but it seems futile. It’s everywhere. I am now thinking my only option is to nuke the entire backyard, either with Roundup or black tarps, or both. I would be very sad to lose my perennials. I have beautiful old peonies, astrantias, bleeding hearts, iris, lilies, ligularias, a barberry my mom gave me, volunteer squill, veronica strum, snakeroot and forget-me-nots and brunnera. I know I can’t dig the perennials up and hope to replant. I tried that with some forget-menots a few years ago — dug them up, rinsed the roots bare and replanted in a container with new bagged soil. They managed to hang on, although totally traumatized, but so did the creeping bellflower somehow. Do you have any advice at this point?

A I have nothing but sympathy for you, as I had to deal with this ridiculously persistent weed several years ago. Mine was a

relatively small area and I was able to contain the problem by constant pulling and digging, but your problem has gone much farther than that. I gave your question some serious thought and not surprisingly there are not many alternatives on how to eradicate this thing.

Roundup is the only thing that will work because it not only kills the top of the plant but goes right down into the rhizomes. The only way to kill it all is to kill the rhizomes. The problem is that you will have to reapply the Roundup many times in order to fully kill the rhizomes. By using this method you may be able to save your perennials.

Using the tarp method would mean having to sacrifice your perennials to kill the bellflower. You are correct in that if you dig up the perennials you will more than likely take some of the bellflower rhizome as well.

You don’t have to use undiluted Roundup. The diluted version will work just as well.

One word — patience. Every time you see a new one pop up hit it with the spray. As for your lawn, you will have to sacrifice

the portion of the lawn that has the bellflower in it. If it were me, I would dig a trough around the area of the lawn that has the bellflower in it to create a barrier so the weed cannot progress further.

Dig down two feet. Yes, I know that’s a lot, but that’s how deep this zombie weed can go.

Once you isolate it spray that area as well and just keep spraying. Best of luck!

Q Can you tell me if there is anything I can put on my lawn to kill dandelions that won’t harm pets or children?

A Unfortunately, no. I suggest pulling the weeds by hand or using one of the new types of weed pullers. These new generation weed pullers allow you to pull the weed while standing.

This saves a lot of backache. They do work. Good luck and happy gardening!