In article ,
Martin Brown wrote:

On 26/02/2021 17:16, Another John wrote:
Any tips on getting rid of celandines? (Lesser, Ficaria verna, thank
you Wikipedia)

There's nothing nicer than seeing the first celandines giving a splash
of bright yellow here and there in early Spring, _in the right place_.

However for the last 2-3 years in our garden they have become so
proliferous that they are a real pest: right now, the sad, flat, heavy
winter-worn soil is *carpeted* with celandine plants, in every part of
the garden.

They like clay. Good news is if they grow well for you then so will
snowdrops, bluebells and aconites.

I've (even) thought of weedkiller, but that would hit all the incipient
plants that have temporarily been thrust aside by the celandines.

I have never known them be a problem. I allow some to survive as wild
flowers in my grassy bank and they are easily controlled by mowing. They
get a free run right to grow now since the daffodils are out.

Bittercress and stickyjack are the annual weeds that most easily runs
away this time of year. Nettles and brambles close behind.

I've also thought of just leaving them, because they disappear without
trace [above soil] as Spring gets under way. But I'm concerned that
these uncouth little bruisers might be denaturing the soil, in their
profusion.

They don't grow all that vigorously and have shallow roots. Nettle and
ground elder are both massively more invasive as is Lily of the Valley.

OP here - thanks Martin, and thanks again to the previous posters: We're
going to leave them be. And we'll be looking with extra vigilance for
the creepers (nettles etc that you mention), which did indeed get away
from us last year, due to insufficient vigilance in these days of Spring.

John