Liriope Issues

Two years ago we had our front landscaping redone with professional help.  We needed the help.  Three kinds of plants grew in front of the house - old, overgrown junipers, rhododendrons that threatened to cover the entire front door, and 1 other mystery bush that I called "deer delight".  The junipers were very large, even with my husband's aggressive pruning.  Because of their size and the pruning needed to keep them below the window sills, they had green growth only on the very top.  The rhododendrons were beautiful for 1 week a year when they showed off their huge magenta blossoms.  The rest of the year, they were nice dark green foliage bushes.  The problem was they were growing right in front of the front door.  Rhododendrons get big and tall! Lastly, the "deer delight" bushes would be eaten almost to the ground each winter by the local deer.  It never quite killed the bushes, but each year they looked more and more bedraggled as they struggled to come back.

Now you have to understand my husband a little to know what a big decision it was to have the front landscaping redone.  He never gives up on a plant until it is "deader than a doornail", and even then he thinks "It'll probably come back."  It was painful to him to rip out living plants, even if he could admit they were past their prime.  In the end, I had to allow him to drag 1 huge rhododendron to the back lawn, so he could try to replant it.  (It's back there still... 75% dead.... but it'll probably come back.  :)

Enter the professional landscaper. My requests included a plan that used all deer-resistant plants, used some of the plants I already had available, solved the problem of the front "under-the-eave" bed that struggled to grow much of anything, and was a bit "different".  She designed and built a fabulous "paver" walkway and patio.  The front beds were planted to miniature rhododendrons, crimson bayberry, boxwood, astilbe, hostas, and Liriope.  I'm very happy with the whole project, even though it didn't really jell with our "frugal lifestyle." Sometimes you just have to pay the big bucks.

That's a lot of background info, but I'm finally to my post topic: liriope, commonly called lilyturf.  We picked it because it is deer resistant and grows to be a variegated clump of leafy grass. I was a little nervous because Liriope Spicata is known as a vigorous grower, even to the point of being invasive, as its roots spread via rhizomes. Under the old bushes had been ivy that crept everywhere, and I didn't want to have to fight another such plant. My landscaper assured me that Liriope Muscari would not spread, and was the one for me.  The first year after the new landscaping was installed, I noticed that 1 of my liriope didn't look like the other ones.  It was larger, greener, healthier looking, and beginning to spread.  Yikes! One of the Liriope Spicata had found its way to the bed.  My landscaper said she'd quickly replace that, and she did.  Unfortunately, I can tell that the replacement liriope is a spreader also.  We moved the first Liriope Spicata to the west wall of the house. (Remember, my husband can not get rid of any living plant.  And I didn't really care if it spread here, because this is the side of the house that gets all the storms.  Most plants don't really like it here.)  It has flourished this summer - looks great - large, healthy - and yes, several new babies are sprouting around it.  The replacement Liriope Spicata is doing well also, in fact, much better than the Liriope Muscari that have now been in the ground 2 years.  I'm trying to decide whether or not I'll just go with the spreading variety, and fight to keep it under control.  If anyone has any advice for me, I'd love to hear it.