Amateur and professional gardeners alike know the frustration of an invasive plant infiltrating their carefully curated lawns and gardens. It can be maddening to find that no amount of cutting, digging, or pruning seems to make a meaningful dent in the problem.
One such frustrated gardener recently took to Reddit to ask for advice from the online community.
In a series of pictures, the user showed how oregano plants have encroached on more than half of their yard. They vented their frustration in a lengthy caption accompanying the pictures, saying: "It spreads more than … anything I've ever dealt with."
The poster also explained that many people claim oregano is not invasive, but their efforts to stop its spread have failed: "Each year I cut it back as much as I can and it grows into this abundant field."
They admitted that they are torn on the proper way to get rid of it, as the plants attract bees, but they want to also enjoy other varieties of native plants instead of the overabundance of oregano.
Native plant lawns continue to gain in popularity because of their many benefits to homeowners. Native plants are cheaper to maintain and require less water, which leads to significant savings on your water bills.
The environmental benefits are also tremendous and go beyond just saving water and not having to shell out cash for expensive fertilizers. Native plants attract pollinators — animals such as bees, birds, and bats that help plants reproduce. They are essential to maintaining the health of our ecosystems and, ultimately, our food supply.
Even partially replacing your traditional lawn can be beneficial. Native plants, clover, buffalo grass, and xeriscaping are just some of the attractive options available.
Commenters on the original post tried to offer some advice.
"It self seeds, so you will want to cut it down before it flowers. Consistently. Or it will keep popping up forever," one said.
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Not enough time ⏳ Another suggested being even more aggressive: "If you want to get rid of it, you will need to cut it to the ground, solarize the trimmed portions with plastic for weeks at a time in the heat of summer, AND dig up as many plants as you can, roots and all."
"Get an electric garden tiller and go over the area twice at 90 degree offset. Pull out all the roots you find. I got rid of some remnant bamboo that way. Worked great," a third suggested, revealing a plastic-free solution to the problem.
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