"Sacha" wrote in message
...
On 2012-04-22 23:15:43 +0100, "Christina Websell"
said:


"Sacha" wrote in message
...
On 2012-04-22 16:14:17 +0100, The Night Tripper
said:

Hi All
our garden has very many 'uninvited' alliums - almost rampant with
them.
I don't know the actual species, they have very green fleshy stems with
snowdrop-like white flowers. They are starting to grow into the lawn
now
and
if we don't get a grip I think they will take over...

Luckily they are easily either pulled up (bulbs and all, if the ground
is
wet), or the above-ground growth hoed and then collected. I've
therefore
ended up with a decent pile of green material from these plants.

I run a few compost bins and I'd like to compost this stuff - if
nothing
else to keep all the goodness that these blighters have taken out of
the
soil! But I'm concerned that I might end up spreading uncomposted bulbs
around the rest of the garden when I spread the compost around in
future
years.

Is this a real risk, and is there anything in particular I can do to
avoid
the risk?

Other suggestions for ridding the garden of these blighters very
welcome...

Cheers
Jon N

If these are wild garlic or ransoms, as they're known, they're both
fashionable and popular as edible food atm. But of course, you do need
to
be sure that's what they are. Certainly, they spread like crazy and
smell
strongly of garlic. Some 'smart' restaurants seem to be using them for a
number of dishes now.
http://uktv.co.uk/food/ingredient/aid/585886
--
Sacha

I deliberately introduced ransoms into my garden so I could eat them, and
they haven't proved invasive so far. The flowers are not like snowdrops,
just a normal alium type head (white).
The bulbs are so strong that if you try to eat them raw they nearly blow
your head off. I'd quite like them to get a bit more invasive than they
are, TBH!

Tina

Perhaps it depends on soil or climate? In my last Jersey garden they went
mad and had to be pulled up and severely reduced every year. In this one,
we have very few but in hedgerows not very far away they're rampant and
you can smell the garlic in the air as you drive up that lane.

I've only had them for 3 years and they show no sign of getting out of
control or spreading. I wish they would so I could eat them.