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

On 22/04/2012 16:14, The Night Tripper wrote:
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




You will need to remove the bulbs as there is a good chance that they
will persist in the compost. You can certainly compost the green leafy
material. It may make the compost rather wet on its own, so either
spread it between your bins or add other material, such as woodier plant
material or shredded cardboard.

--
Spider
from high ground in SE London
gardening on clay

On Sun, 22 Apr 2012 16:14:17 +0100, The Night Tripper
wrote:

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

As to what you pull up, compost the leafy stuff but black bag the
bulbs - they'll survive all but the hottest compost piles. But pulling
may not be enough - alliums, like other little-bulbed things such as
muscari and crocosmia, spread like wildfire by throwing out little
bulblets. When you pull, there's a better than evens chance that
you'll pull only the main bulb to which the leaves you're pulling are
attached; the little bulblets will easily pull off under the soil.And
if you're pulling by the handful, you'll leave a fair few main bulbs
underground without realising. If you want to eradicate, it's better
to use a fork to dig them up.

I planted about 20 crocosmia in the garden 20 years ago. Still trying
to get rid of them! Managed to beat alliums eventually and this year
will be glyphosating the muscari!

Cheers, Jake
=======================================
Urgling from the asylum formerly known as the
dry end of Swansea Bay.

On Sun, 22 Apr 2012 16:14:17 +0100, The Night Tripper
wrote:


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


When I had some in my garden I started eating them as they taste quite
nice. Sort of jumbo size spring onions. The ones with the bulbs on the
top of the stems are even better.

Steve

--
Neural Network Software. http://www.npsl1.com
EasyNN-plus. Neural Networks plus. http://www.easynn.com
SwingNN. Forecast with Neural Networks. http://www.swingnn.com
JustNN. Just Neural Networks. http://www.justnn.com

In article ,
The Night Tripper wrote:

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?

I compost ground elder, lily of the valley, Allium christophii
bulbs, bindweed roots and more. No problem except sometimes
with bluebells. But it does depend on the kind of heap - mine
is cold, but traditional, and so fairly large and slow. Most
bulbs are obvious in the compost if that is used any time in
the growing season, so I just put them back.


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

On 22/04/2012 20:47, Sacha wrote:
On 2012-04-22 20:16:49 +0100, Sacha said:

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

Tsk! 'edible food' indeed! edible weeds/wild food would be the correct
terms!




I wondered if they might be Allium triquetrum, which are arguably
invasive (I love them) and they look a bit like snowdrops, as the OP
described them.

--
Spider
from high ground in SE London
gardening on clay

Hi There

Spider wrote:


I wondered if they might be Allium triquetrum, which are arguably
invasive (I love them) and they look a bit like snowdrops, as the OP
described them.


Yeah, the images I found of Allium triquetrum look pretty close to what we
have. Certainly closer than wild garlic ... I wouldn't mind that...

Thanks for all the info!

J^n

"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

"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.
--
Just eat them to death. I am disappointed mine have not spread more. I
dare not touch them yet.

"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.