Asked on May 22, 2017

Getting rid of wild day lilies

Sue B.
by Sue B.
Our yard is covered with wild (I assume, since we never planted them)day lilies which have taken over our yard. Short of blasting them with Roundup, is there anything else that won't kill the plants and flowers around them?
  10 answers
  • Judy Judy on May 22, 2017

    This is tough, for they multiply and multiply over and over. The only way, is to dig some up, give them away, or plant where you won't see them, on the other side of the house. Maybe friends will come and get some too. They are nice for color, and a spring flower, but. . they multiply. Hope this helps, J.

  • Shoshana Shoshana on May 22, 2017

    You can smother them out with layers of newspaper covered in mulch.

  • Jan Clark Jan Clark on May 22, 2017

    Daylilies grow from either roots or bulbs. I have never seen them wild, but there's always a first time. I am guessing yours are from roots. If you are not able to dig them out, you're going to have to kill them with a chemical that will be absorbed by the leaves and kill the roots. Once you do, the grass should fill in the holes, but it might take awhile.

    • Sue B. Sue B. on May 26, 2017

      Thanks, Jan...I mentioned this to my husband and he said they're all from bulbs, which is making them impossible to dig up from our awful clay soil(Indiana). Theyr taking over our gardens! Shoots everywhere! So I'm afraid to use Roundup for fear of killing the "good" plants nearby. We also live on a lake which makes watching what's in our groundwater important. Very frustrating!

      But thanks for taking the time to help! If I could figure out how to attach a picture to this, I would.🙄

  • Kc Kc on May 22, 2017

    These are expensive where I live.

    Try posting a local notice "Free for the taking. You dig"

  • Cathy Cathy on May 22, 2017

    Digging them up will help---you might have to repeat this process for a few years but it won't be so bad----sad that you don't like them---I do love my wild ones as well as all the other daylilies I have purchased. If they are thriving, you must have a low lying area where moisture holds there for them to be doing so well---you might want to dig them up and put in some drainage rock before you add soil back on top of that area.

  • Jan Clark Jan Clark on May 26, 2017

    Another possible option, since you're on a lake, is to smother them. Cut the leaves and shoots down to the soil (a weed whacker is good) and then cover that with newspaper or heavy plastic and about 3 inches of mulch. Check and cut back every 4 weeks if they're growing. This will take some time to work and not look so pretty now, but it may be your only choice other than weed killer.

  • Letmework Letmework on Jun 09, 2017

    Hi; Roundup or any other contact herbicide will not work for daylilies. It will kill the foliage but next year the bulb will come up again. The only way to eradicate them is to remove them, or if you have bad soil, excavate the soil and take to a place that's looking for fill soil. There are herbicides that you can spray on that will kill the bulbs but this will sterilize your soil for awhile and nothing else will grow either for awhile. If it were me, I would just try dig each one out, a few at a time. Of course without seeing a picture, I don't know if this is an option, or doable or not. Good luck! It sounds like dandelions around here!

  • Kim Daniels Kim Daniels on Sep 17, 2020

    I started digging out my day lillys. Omg there is so much root. Even then I keep getting more. Never again will I plant those. It's a nightmare to clean my garden of them. Nothing kills them off. I'll probably be digging root for a few years 😬

  • Linda Veit Linda Veit on Mar 01, 2021

    Give them to me

  • J Brown J Brown on Mar 01, 2021

    You would be surprised how many people will come and dig them up by placing them for FREE on wither Fb marketplace of Craig's List.

    Here in FLORIDA almost everything will root from cuttings and I always offer them up for free.

    I have people who come back and share their photos of how well they grew.