Solidago golden rod marching across borders

a1154

I have let golden rod have its own way for a few years, but I have been looking at the bed thinking ooooo heck. I did try and dig some out at the beginning of spring, and smaller less established clumps came out, but I couldnt get my spade into the big clumps. And it’s a good spade! 
Will pulling the shoots from round the edges help, or will it just laugh at me? Some are coming out with a bit of root, some just snapping. 
Its my own fault, I like thugs, but I’d prefer to have a mixed border, not just GR !!!

Blue Onion

It's a common weed where I grew up in Pennsylvania.  I laughed and laughed the first time I saw it in a UK GC.  

If if you can mow or strim it all down, it will all die off.  Just keep it strimmed short for a while, then cover the area with some cardboard and a pile of grass clippings as mulch.  Or bark mulch with a few decorative pots sat on top.  Once the plant is dead, use a mattock to get the roots out.  

a1154

Ok will do. Would you advise removing it all? I’m ok with smaller clumps if it can be controlled. 

Graham Watson 141

IMHO it is more trouble than it is worth. Lots of seedlings, and the little clumps that develop are quite tenacious. Admittedly insects like the flowers, so if there’s a distinct area, perhaps in gravel, away from the main border, then it might be worth letting it grow there.

a1154

I have a wild area with a wildlife pond, I wouldn’t mind it in there. I do like the height of it in the border, but it’s encroaching on lots of other HPs.  It is looking like a lot of trouble. 

Blue Onion

Then put a clump there.. as you said, it's not impossible to pull up young plants.. just do some selective thinning a few times a year to keep it where you want it.  You can keep the original clump, just cut it back to the size you want, and cardboard mulch right up to the base.. covering the excess until it dies off.