What is this plant??

Hi all! Please can somebody help. I have this plant and I have no idea what it is or how to keep it tidy. It's taking over my (small) garden! Can someone tell me what it's called and how to trim it down to make the most of it.

Thank you!

 

00000000000000000000000000001348Steve, it`s Phormium tenax ( New Zealand flax ). If you look closely you will see it is made up of numerous plantlets. these can be removed to reduce the size of the plant. Welcome to the site by the way.

 

Thank you so much for you response!

I know I probably sound an absolute novice (that's because I am!) but can I ask what you mean by plantlets? Also can I just cut it back using standard sheers? Also, what do I do with the tall flowers... They die each year but as the stem is so tough, it doesn't whittle away or anything.

 

Steve, if you look closely at the plant, you will see there are separate clusters of leaves, those clusters are the plantlets. You can, of course, cut it back with shears, but that only reduces the height of the plant, and not the plant itself. The flower stems can be cut with secateurs or, usually, just ripped out.

 

Good morning!!!

This plant just isn't suited to this garden. After cutting it back quite significantly, it's since grown back with force! It'd be lovely if I had a large garden but unfortunately this just isn't the case.

So I've taken the decision to remove the plant completely. The one thing I have slight concerns about is the (predicted) strong roots and how to remove them with causing any damage to the slabs which are very close. Can anyone give me any tips please?

 

Steve, as you are getting rid of the plant don`t worry too much about the roots. Just dig around the plant and cut the roots.