Phil L wrote:
Jaques d'Alltrades wrote:
The message
from "Phil L" contains these words:

I have just dug over an old greenhouse which has been full of
nettles and bindweed for years[1] and I found a weird plant,
certainly not one I have ever seen before, it's very small leaves
were green on top and really deep purple underneath, it was a
creeping plant and I had dragged it up out of the ground before I
saw it, it certainly didn't look like a weed....the leaves were
like a clover, split into 3 heart shaped things and coloured as
mentioned above...my qustions are, obviously what is it? and how
did it get into an overgrown greenhouse which hasn't seen any
activity in over 5 years?

Sounds like one of the sorrels, possibly Oxalis europaea - very
invasive weed, and thank your lucky stars it's still confined to
the greenhouse.


Hmm, after searching for Oxalis on google's image search, it certainly
appears to be one of them, but which one I have no idea, I searched
for O. europaea ad it didn't look the same at all, the one I found
was a flimsy plant, with red stems and really dark purple undersides
to the leaves. Having read a bit about them, and from yours and Kay's
comments, I gather they can be troublesome? - this is the first time
in my life that I've ever seen one!


[1]
I've binbagged all the nettle tops and bindweed tops and disposed
of the roots, can these tops be left to rot down in the bag? - I
heard 'nettle manure' left to rot like this makes good fertilizer
next year...the nettles were in full seed, so I don't want to add
them to my compost heap.

Steep them in a tub of water. The liquor is ready when it smells
awful, but makes a fine liquid feed.

Thanks for that, I'll put them in a dustbin tomorrow with a few
gallons of water
- And the bindweed and horsetails too?

I have oxalys in my garden. I planted it there on purpose because I like it.

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