Garden Pigs: Worth the Oinking

The sun is moving higher in it's arc across the sky and that's good news for us gardeners. My own gardening time is limited now, but as I walk by the garden my mind is at work. What can I do with the half hour I have to share with my garden today? Some of the plants in my garden are plants that I call garden pigs. Plants that, years ago when we first made the garden, were just right for the place we put them are now, 6 years on, all over the place. Their piggy behavior, while tolerated when I had more time to garden, is just too much for me these days.

These piggy garden thugs are creeping all over the garden and I think the oinkers have to go. My beautiful summer garden phlox that I love are coming up everywhere, seeding and spreading out like they own the place. Euphorbia, lamium, and those great old garden mums are also popping up in any open space they can colonize. My daylily bed, already thinned just 2 years ago, is just too much daylily again. Now that I think of it the whole garden is just out of control!

The solution is obvious: start a new garden. Learn the lesson from my old over-grown garden and plant picky perennials. You know, plants I have to nurture and fuss over. These plants will not spread everywhere, they will have to be coaxed to grow. Never mind that they will look sickly and pale; at least they won't be taking over. Hm.

You know, on second thought,  I really do like those piggy plants. They are some of my favorites, and I like working in my garden even if it means ripping out buckets of spreading plants. So I guess in the end I will stick to the good news about the sun getting higher and tomorrow morning go out and enjoy the spring sunshine in the garden with a few extra buckets.