Post by Use Less on May 24, 2020 11:18:46 GMT
So, up to a point, I agree with the premise that a weed is a plant growing where you don't want it. Walking through my garden this AM, I make note how many things are spreading: daffodils, daisies, lilies, poppies, iris, violets, cone flowers, lily-of-the-valley, dandelions, bed straw, buttercup, creeping Charlie, lemon mint (came up wild). Some of those will crowd out a lot of other plants. Sometimes OK, sometimes not so much.
I just identified one I think is particularly nasty: creeping bellflower. I read that a flower stalk can hold 3000-15000 seeds. It easily crowds out other plants. It has little roots, and then a deeper, bigger root. Yeesh. I don't use Round-up, but the report says it doesn't work on this, anyway. Going after the biggest patches with a shovel, then where I can, a layer of newspaper with soil and mulch on top. I'll try to stay vigilant about cutting off any flowerheads before they can seed.
I just identified one I think is particularly nasty: creeping bellflower. I read that a flower stalk can hold 3000-15000 seeds. It easily crowds out other plants. It has little roots, and then a deeper, bigger root. Yeesh. I don't use Round-up, but the report says it doesn't work on this, anyway. Going after the biggest patches with a shovel, then where I can, a layer of newspaper with soil and mulch on top. I'll try to stay vigilant about cutting off any flowerheads before they can seed.
Sometime when it looks like they'll be away for a while, I'm going down that side, to clear what's mine, but can't be reached through my privet hedge. 
