The Virtues of Bishop’s Weeds

My mom lives in Idaho and had this all around her trees and up against her house. I loved it so I bought some. I completely disagree with everyone who hates this plant. It has been wonderful as a ground cover and has stayed right where I put it. I cut the flowers off as they grow and every year it comes back lovely and green and covers up the bare ugly ground and keeps the weeds out! I absolutely hate to work in the yard or garden, so this plant is wonderful for those of us who just want something to look pretty with minimal care needed and don’t want to hassel with growing, pulling weeds, watering, fertilizing, or caring about our yards. Yes, there are some of us out there!

Jane you are welcome to come to Illinois where I live and help yourself to all of the bishop weed that you want! I carried some of this “weed” home from my daughter’s garden…..it has jumped and spread everywhere, I have given up trying to rid my garden of it. I maintain it to the best of my ability, actually as I thin it out from the landscape it adds interest to the garden, but if left on it’s own it will invade the entire garden. May suggestion is don’t even think of this feature in you planting scheme.

Please help with a problem that I ALWAYS experience with “Snow on the Mountain”, aka Bishop’s weed. It looks absolutely lovely in the late spring and early summer here in northern Illinois where I live, but in the early autumn, parts of it begin to look brown and “rusty”. I can’t stand this look, and would like to know how to prevent it. Of course, I can cut it back, but still, it would help to know how to control this problem.

Let me know what you find out about the brown and dead look it gets around this time. I hate it as well. What can I do?

Bishop’s weed is a pest plain and simple. My entire neighborhood is cursed with it because one foolish soul planted in their garden years ago. It crept under a fence into my yard and we’ve been fighting it ever since. Nothing kills it. Really. (One neighbor claims that if brush Roundup ON EVERY SINGLE LEAF you might be able to knock it back!!!) I’m resigned to it but my wife insists on spending hundreds of dollars a year to yard care folks to keep it in check. Despite what advocates claim, it will invade sparse grassy areas that are in deep shade.

I also have the dreaded Bishops Weed in my veggie garden…I hate it with a passion as it creeps into my planting area. I would very much like to eradicate this weed from this area and would like to do it without harsh chemicals (round-up). I’m thinking of a weed torch. Does anyone have experience getting rid of this plant from their garden using a weed torch or any other method??

Yesterday after I wrote on this post, I came across advice on using boiling water to eradicate weeds. Because the area in which I have the bishops weed is large, I will use a combination of solarizing (again…I did this last year), boiling water and just digging the young plants up. Hopefully with much persistence I can finally get some control of it. And on a more positive note, this plant is good for digestive problems, ie: belching…just in case I get a bout of this while in the garden, I will know where to turn!?
Thank you for the advice Hanna.

I have a couple of areas with Bishop’s weed and I really like it. But it is in an area that I would now like to plant a hydrangea. I’ve read postings here where it grown under trees . . .would it kill off a plant like a hydrangea? Help please

I am SO glad I read this!! Just a few days ago, I was admiring some Bishop’s Weed in a garden center and had decided that this was the groundcover I wanted to plant along the side of the house where nothing but quack grass will grow. Thank you, Hanna, for rescuing me from gardening disaster!

I brought it to my new house by accident in transplants from my father’s house. It was nice in an area where nothing else would grow but as I started tending more and better gardens I wanted it GONE. I was able to almost completely get rid of it by digging every last bit of root. but it must have already migrated under the fence because now it is coming back a lttle at a time – I just have to keep after it and try to keep it in check. It does have it’s uses as a ground cover where you will not have other plants. IT will choke out almost all other weeds.

My mother always had “snow on the mountain” or Bishop’s Weed in our garden with plenty of other plants growing through it. We had mostly bulbs that would come up: tulips, daffodils and crocus plants that would bloom up through. The Bishop’s weed was contained to an area of garden that was “pavement bound” – a border garden between our neighbor’s driveway and our own. This worked great since the roots couldn’t spread past the asphalt. I’ve since grown up and bought my own house. There is a large patch of dirt, with nothing growing in it, between my driveway and my neighbor’s house. I’ve planted some Bishops Weed because I don’t want to fuss with the 3-foot wide strip of dirt, and I want something that will maintain itself without a lot of work. I think this plant does certainly have some virtues if you’re prepared to carefully consider where you plant it.

HI
I have been fighting for the last 3 years with Field Bind Weed. The best method (including chemicals) that I have found for fighting it is old carpeting that people are throwing away. I spread it over the patch to be weeded in the spring, and leave it on all summer; the plants try to grow under it, but with no light, they all eventually die off. It should work for Bishop’s weed as well. And no chemicals. One word of warning; not all carpets completely block the light. If the plants are still green under the carpet after 3 weeks, find another one.

When I moved into my house almost 14 years ago, there was Goutweed in the front garden bed – about a 3′ X 4′ patch. I don’t like to use chemicals of any kind as I’ve always had a dog and my neighbour has outdoor cats. I am happy to say that after 12 years of digging it up and removing all visible traces of the white roots (it will sprout again quickly from the tiniest of pieces, and the roots go quite deep), I only had a handful of spots left last spring! Maybe this spring (which will make 14 years in the house, 13 of trying to get rid of the Goutweed) I will only have one or two sprouts to dig up! I did find that in the past few years I had to get into the bed early in the spring to remove the roots, and this seemed to work much better than waiting until on in the season. Basically as soon as you see shoots, dig up the roots! (Not poetic on purpose…) That said, this discussion has reminded me of how ‘hearty’ it is, so if there are a few bits in the front this spring, I may transplant them to the back – I now have two dogs who have demolished my backyard grass by chasing each other for hours a day, so maybe Goutweed in the back will make me love this plant that I’ve hated for so many years!