Pain-in-the-Neck Plants

ALTHOUGH IT'S HARD to remember as you wander through the rows of possibilities at your local nursery, some plants are simply more trouble than they are worth for growing in a small garden. They just don't behave that well in situations where space and time are limited. Here's a list of plants to avoid if you want to call your garden easy.

Aegopodium Podagraria (bishop's weed or gout weed). This invasive ground cover is almost impossible to eradicate once you have it in your garden.

Berberis Thunbergii (Japanese barberry). This is the red-leafed "pricker plant" that many people grow as a hedge. It may look fine in a Japanese garden, but the birds love the berries, which they then spread all over the place. It is impossible to eradicate.

Coronilla Varia (crown vetch). This plant's taproots go down to China. Highway departments plant the stuff to prevent erosion on embankments. It is best left there, not in your garden.

Delphinium (larkspur). This tall, graceful plant is just too selective. It wants more sun, less sun, more water, less water, it's too cold, it's too hot. Forget it!

Lonicera Japonica (Japanese honeysuckle). It smells good, but its vines spread like kudzu, taking over woodland areas and smothering native plants that are more beneficial for wildlife.

Mentha (mint). Another invasive ground cover, mint can take over a garden spot in one year, and the tiniest piece left behind will send forth another batch of plants. (If you must have it for your iced tea and tabbouleh, remove the bottom from a large, deep plastic bucket -- the kind joint compound comes in; bury the bucket in the ground all the way to its rim, and plant your mint in that.)

Monarda Didyma (bee balm). Although it's a wonderful plant for attracting butterflies, bee balm spreads like crazy and almost always gets mildew in the summertime.

Petunia. It gets straggly, stalky, and has to be continuously deadheaded or it won't bloom.

Physostegia Virginiana (obedient plant). Another plant that's beneficial to butterflies, it spreads all over the place and gets into areas you don't want it to be. Not obedient at all.

Rosa (tea rose). If you don't prune it right, it doesn't bloom. If you don't spray it with fungicides, it gets black spot. If you don't feed it at the right time, it pouts. If you don't bury it, it dies from the winter's cold. Need I say more?