Gooseneck Loosestrife - Attack!

If we are ever invaded by a foreign army, I have no worries. My gooseneck loosestrife can easily fend them off and keep our home safe.

I transplanted 12 modest twigs of loosestrife from my MIL's garden in Fall 2007. One of the twigs was mowed down by a bunny, and another mysteriously disappeared in the night.



I was amazed by how much the plants had filled in the following Spring.



This Spring, I am a little fearful for my yard, as not only has the loosestrife multiplied again, but they are breaking out of their containment area in what looks like an attempt to dominate the neighborhood. I should warn the neighbors. I have little doubt that they could take the cul de sac with minimal effort.



My intention was for these plants to fill in this area with a thick lush blanket, and I am overjoyed to see my plan come to fruition in such a short period. If you enjoy the delicate curving heads of gooseneck loosestrife, but fear for your yard's safety, simply cut the bottom out of a large plastic pot, plunge the pot into the ground and plant the loosestrife in that containment area. It will probably keep the plants from spreading ... mostly. Loosestrife is certainly not deterred by poor soil either, so plant it anywhere!



I have noticed some people landing on my blog in search of a way to remove gooseneck loosestrife. My suggestion is to dig it up. You would need to completely cultivate the entire area down to 18" to ensure you get all the roots. You won't get them all, but this will be a good start. As you see little baby heads poking back up, plunge your spade deep into the ground around it and extract that bad boy and his roots. I suggest this method over using Round Up although chemicals would be much easier. Please only use chemicals as a last resort. They make the earth cry.

In other news, these pink tulips that are interplanted with the loosestrife turned white this year!



I suspected that the reason is due to the hybrid bulbs reverting back to their parental form, and my horticulturist / landscape architect / master gardener friend Hillary confirmed that to be true. Pretty cool stuff.

Gooseneck Loosestrife

Gooseneck Loosestrife earned its common name from its elegant arches of white flowers thought to resemble a gooseneck. When planted en masse, the numerous plants appear as a gaggle of geese, with each "gooseneck" pointing in the same direction.



Gooseneck Loosestrife is very easy to grow. It is hardy in zones 3-8, tolerates any soil type (including soil with poor drainage and heavy clay), and will thrive in a full sun or partial shade environment. The white blooms generally appear in mid-Summer and last through late-Summer, but my plants began blooming in late Spring. The plants will reach up to 3' in height, and the green foliage turns a lovely shade of bronze in the Winter. The plants do eventually die back in Winter but re-emerge in early Spring.

This plant is most effective in mass plantings, and since Gooseneck Loosestrife multiplies very rapidly, it is difficult to deter a mass planting from occurring whether planned or not. Since this plant reproduces primarily by running roots, it can be planted in a large pot that is plunged into the ground to help control its invasive tendencies. Moist soil is the catalyst for rapid spreading, so a drier soil should inhibit spreading a bit.

Since Gooseneck Loosestrife multiples so rapidly, it is the perfect perennial to transplant from a friend's garden in early Fall. This bed was created from twelve transplants I took from my MIL's garden last September. Each plant has produced at least three more plants in that time and will be ready to divide next Fall. It is fun to grow plants that can be shared with others!



You can tell by this photo of the original transplants that not only does this plant multiply quickly, but it also grows beautifully. When I dug these from my MIL's yard, I didn't bother with getting much dirt around the roots, but pretty much just yanked them from the ground bareroot. I transplanted them into this heavy clay area that has very poor drainage, but they persisted through the Winter and emerged happily in Spring.



We all have those areas of the yard that we want to fill in quickly and don't necessarily care to fuss with throughout the year. Gooseneck Loosestrife is an excellent choice for a low maintenance solution.

Gooseneck Loosestrife Transplants

Last Fall I transplanted 13 twigs of gooseneck loosestrife from my MIL's garden into my newly created Hydrangea garden. Here is the view in September.



I never thought those spindly little twigs would make it through the Fall let alone re-emerge the next year, but they did! I was surprised to see new growth emerging from the ground in March! At first I thought it must be a weed, but then realized it was the gooseneck loosestrife.



Altogether, 11 of the 13 plants made it through the Winter. I know a bunny chomped one completely down to the ground, but I don't know what the 13th ones problem is - LOL! I have heard that this plant is hardy, but wow! They werent' kidding!

I sprinkled some 5-10-5 fertilizer around them and am enjoying watching them grow! There are tulips currently crowding out that bed, but I'll post pictures as they grow this Summer.