Unruly is a “style” for gardeners who have a plan for their garden but enjoy the whimsical nature of plants doing their own thing in their chosen place. Whether a garden is unruly or just full of messy weeds is in the eye of the beholder and determined by what plants are allowed to flourish. If there is one rule for managing an unruly garden style, it is to keep control of volunteer plants that have the potential to spread and take over. Unruly is not a synonym for untended.
A pleasing garden takes observation as well as choosing which plants to keep or remove. Some plants are easy to manage. Others are “thugs”—plants that spread quickly, widely, and are difficult to remove. These may be beautiful blooming plants, but should be avoided. A gardener must be aware of the growth habit of plants before planting and take action regarding volunteers by either removing or encouraging early in the growth cycle. In my experience, plants that reproduce by seed are generally, but not always, easier to control than those that spread by underground runners or stolons.
Wind, birds, insects, and humans spread many plants’ seeds. Foxgloves, columbines, cyclamen, and larkspurs seed around, producing beautiful spring or fall flowers. They have light root systems and are easy to weed out. The small perennial geraniums, such as G. sanguineum or G. subcaulescens, also seed about, but stay low and are easy to control. Some volunteer plants I move to pots so that they can grow on until mature enough to share with friends.
Bulbs can either slowly multiply in a polite manner, or take over. Daffodils and tulips are generally well-mannered and increase gradually around the original bulb. Some tulips, however, are stoloniferous with spreading root systems. An example of a very pretty spreader is Tulipa bakerii—“Lilac Wonder”—which I try to keep under strict control. Grape hyacinths spread easily and everywhere. Bluebells (Hyacinthoides hispanica and H. non-scripta) create lovely blue swathes, but have very deep bulbs and spread quickly. Even with a good shovel they are difficult to control, something I have been working on in my garden for several decades.
We feed the birds black oil sunflower seeds, which the birds and the squirrels plant around the garden. I leave the plants that are growing in the right place undisturbed to mature and feed the birds in late summer. Other plants that I leave for the birds to harvest and spread are heleniums (Sneezeweed) and rudbeckia (Black-eyed Susan). It is a joy to see flocks of goldfinches harvest the seed, especially in this time of pandemic and isolation. Birds and squirrels also like to bury acorns and walnuts, which grow surprisingly well. These I remove, although I did put a sprouted acorn in a pot to see how it will grow.
Some vegetables can volunteer the next season. The tastiest tomatoes in my garden this year are volunteers growing in a big pot with a rhododendron. Parsley is a biennial that casts seeds from the umbel flowers (umbrella-shaped groups of small flowers) of a mature plant. Allowing a few parsley plants to grow in the right place keeps us supplied yearly. I have seen tomatillos grow from last season’s fruit left on the ground.
Some weedy plants I remove as fast as I can, even though they can be very pretty. Morning glory is a good example with beautiful white flowers, a large deep root system, and an aggressive vining habit. The small yellow-flowered, clover-like oxalis is attractive, but spreads aggressively by seed thrown from spring-loaded capsules and runners that are difficult to weed out. Beware of Geranium robertianum—known as “Herb Robert” or “Stinking Bob”—because it is a wide spreader and establishes easily.
Other spreading plants are beautiful and rewarding if carefully managed. Verbascum (Mullein) species are some of the birds’ and bees’ favorite plants (as well as my own favorite). Unfortunately, they are very difficult to remove if they establish in the wrong site because of very heavy, deep root systems. If it is allowed to mature, you will need a good shovel and some persistence to remove it. Hellebores, treasured for their early spring flowers, also spread easily by seed. They, too, have substantial root systems and thus need to be removed as seedlings if in the wrong location.
How you grow a garden depends on your preferences of style and plant choice. Any style can be lovely if you are aware of the growth and the habits of the plants you chose and then conscientiously tend your unruly garden.