09/03/2026
SEPTEMBER IN ELSONG GARDENS
Not much is happening right now in the garden for us. We have bumped up watering for some pots of color daily, and we have repotted seasonal plants as we have been able to. One of our main projects at the moment is the never-ending battle against w**ds.
Top Five Most Irritating Weeds at The Biedenharn Museum & Gardens
1) POISON IVY – This is not our most prolific w**d, but it is ranked number one because it is one of the most irritating if you are allergic to its oil, urushiol. We try to eradicate it with a spray specific for poison ivy and other “hard to kill” vines.
2) CROSSVINE - our second most irritating w**d in the garden, is our most prolific w**d in the garden. It is incredibly difficult to control. It will engulf a shrub in no time, smothering out the shrub’s leaves so that it can not survive. There are sprays, but the trouble is that this vine is often in shrubs and can not be sprayed willy-nilly. You could paint its leaves with an herbicide, but I would be dead before I could get to all the leaves in this garden. Crossvine has a network of roots lurking just under our soil surface that could circle the earth, maybe the sun and earth combined, three times. This root network sends up vines wherever it pleases. Don’t stand still too long, because you may get covered too!
3) YELLOW SEDGE AND PURPLE SEDGE - also known as nutgrass, rank number three. You can pick this all you want, but you will rarely get the nut that keeps it going. Hopefully, it is in a place you can spray it with an appropriate herbicide if you go that route.
4) VIRGINIA CREEPER - is rather prolific also. One of its more irritating characteristics is that it is often mistaken for poison ivy, which understandably scares people from hand-pulling it.
5) CHAMBERBITTER, also appropriately known as gripew**d. It’s ranked number 5 because, though it is one of our most prolific, it pulls up easily, so it is obnoxious, but there are worse w**ds out there. To some, the smell of sunscreen reminds them of summer. For me, the smell of freshly pulled chamberbitter says popsicles poolside.
*Rankings are based solely on the opinion of the gardener making the list. Please consult your local garden center for recommendations on herbicides and their use.
