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Weeds (was Getting rid of ground elder)
"Franz Heymann" wrote in
: The weed that bugs me more than anything else is that dratted small Epilobium (is it Epilobium montanum?) Seems like every single damn seed germinates! and the stems pull off just above the roots, so you have to make sure you don't just pull the top off. More of a nuisance to me than ground elder, bindweed and brambles combined (OK, well maybe not the brambles...) Yes. That one is a real little *******, if you will excuse my language. It gets into all the most impossible crooks and nannies and is the most prolific seeder in my garden and grows with the speed of light. It is helped along by the fact that one of my neighbours has a paddock which he seems to use specifically for cultivating E montanum It's got into my greenhouse! I don't think I shall ever get it out again. I wonder why this weed (Epilobium) is so rarely mentioned in the usual gardeners tale of woe? Does it even have a common name? The other one I find a real pain I can't even remember the latin name of - like a sort of weedy geum with tiny yellow flowers and knobbly reddish roots that work into every crevice. I call it 'that thing'. It knows what I mean. Give me dandelions any day: my rabbit assistants soon reduce the roots to useful compost... Victoria |
Weeds (was Getting rid of ground elder)
On Thu, 23 Oct 2003 15:28:57 +0100, Victoria Clare
wrote: ~"Franz Heymann" wrote in : ~ ~ The weed that bugs me more than anything else is that dratted small ~ Epilobium (is it Epilobium montanum?) Seems like every single damn ~ seed germinates! and the stems pull off just above the roots, so you ~ have to make sure you don't just pull the top off. ~ ~ More of a nuisance to me than ground elder, bindweed and brambles ~ combined (OK, well maybe not the brambles...) ~ ~ Yes. That one is a real little *******, if you will excuse my ~ language. It gets into all the most impossible crooks and nannies and ~ is the most prolific seeder in my garden and grows with the speed of ~ light. It is helped along by the fact that one of my neighbours has a ~ paddock which he seems to use specifically for cultivating E montanum ~ ~ ~It's got into my greenhouse! I don't think I shall ever get it out again. ~ ~I wonder why this weed (Epilobium) is so rarely mentioned in the usual ~gardeners tale of woe? Does it even have a common name? I know it as a willowherb. But yes it is a darned nuisance. It's in my crocosmia/allium bed so I can't really go digging to get it (and it's friend the bindweed) out again. ~The other one I find a real pain I can't even remember the latin name of - ~like a sort of weedy geum with tiny yellow flowers and knobbly reddish ~roots that work into every crevice. ~ ~I call it 'that thing'. It knows what I mean. My favourite hate I called strawberry stuff (or worse) till one day my memory woke up and told me it was creeping cinquefoil (potentilla reptans). That too has yellow flowers and runs everywhere... and the roots regenerate too. Sounds like it could be your geum-like plant. I'm also not terribly fond of hairy bittercress, especially when it gets in the lawn. ~ ~Give me dandelions any day: my rabbit assistants soon reduce the roots to ~useful compost... pass the spade... -- jane Don't part with your illusions. When they are gone, you may still exist but you have ceased to live. Mark Twain Please remove onmaps from replies, thanks! |
Weeds (was Getting rid of ground elder)
On Thu, 23 Oct 2003 17:27:47 +0100, Victoria Clare
wrote: (jane) wrote in : ~ ~ ~The other one I find a real pain I can't even remember the latin name ~ of - ~like a sort of weedy geum with tiny yellow flowers and knobbly ~ reddish ~roots that work into every crevice. ~ ~ ~ ~I call it 'that thing'. It knows what I mean. ~ ~ My favourite hate I called strawberry stuff (or worse) till one day ~ my memory woke up and told me it was creeping cinquefoil (potentilla ~ reptans). That too has yellow flowers and runs everywhere... and the ~ roots regenerate too. Sounds like it could be your geum-like plant. ~ ~Nope, creeping cinquefoil is a pretty little thing with real flowers and ~delicate leaves. I rather like it (but then, I'm not overrun with it: I ~think it likes more sun than we get here) Hmm I have a serious hatred of it since trying to clear an orchard of it. Roots go down way too far and are very fragile - and bingo, three more plants.... ~'That thing' has blobby hairy leaves, long wiry stems, and manky little ~flowers with tiny petals. ~ ~(pauses to rummage on Google for something similar) ~ ~It is a geum! Geum urbanum or Herb bennet, apparently. Here it is trying ~to look inoffensive and wildflowerlike: ~ ~http://www.ibiblio.org/herbmed/pictu...um-urbanum.htm ~ ~Hah, it doesn't look like that when it's wedged its roots into a 1cm square ~gap in the paving and they...won't...come...OUT! oh! THAT thing! The one with the thrice damned burrs... I have those everywhere and yes, I know just what you mean. A right new statesman of a plant. Especially when you try and get said burrs off you. Or the cat. -- jane Don't part with your illusions. When they are gone, you may still exist but you have ceased to live. Mark Twain Please remove onmaps from replies, thanks! |
Weeds (was Getting rid of ground elder)
The message . 12
from Victoria Clare contains these words: E montanum It's got into my greenhouse! I don't think I shall ever get it out again. I wonder why this weed (Epilobium) is so rarely mentioned in the usual gardeners tale of woe? Does it even have a common name? Broad-leaved willow herb. The other one I find a real pain I can't even remember the latin name of - like a sort of weedy geum with tiny yellow flowers and knobbly reddish roots that work into every crevice. I call it 'that thing'. It knows what I mean. Probably Potentilla reptans - creeping cinquefoil, or maybe, and just as worse, yellow sorrel. Oxalis corniculata. -- Rusty Hinge horrid·squeak&zetnet·co·uk http://www.users.zetnet.co.uk/hi-fi/tqt.htm |
Weeds (was Getting rid of ground elder)
"Victoria Clare" wrote in message . 240.12... [snip] I wonder why this weed (Epilobium) is so rarely mentioned in the usual gardeners tale of woe? Does it even have a common name? There are many Epilobiums, mostly with common names like Willowherb-something or Something-willowherb The one being discussed, E montanum, is sometimes called "Broadleaved Willowherb" [snip] Franz |
Weeds (was Getting rid of ground elder)
Jaques d'Altrades wrote in
: I call it 'that thing'. It knows what I mean. Probably Potentilla reptans - creeping cinquefoil, or maybe, and just as worse, yellow sorrel. Oxalis corniculata. No, see post above. Geum urbanum. I'd hope I can tell a geum from an oxalis at least! I do also have oxalis corniwhatsit, but it's really not a problem plant here. No potentillas at all, not even decorative ones - it's too wet for 'em I think. This river valley soaks everything in rising fog from the bottom up, when we aren't stuck in a cloud that's floated in from the sea and hasn't noticed the land has got taller... I haven't mentioned the liverworts and ferns that sprout everywhere, but I can't really complain of those: I do love ferns and they also make great compost/mulch. Victoria (currently in a cloud) -- gardening on a north-facing hill in South-East Cornwall -- |
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