New Lawn Problem - Potatoes !
 

As a new member and relatively new gardener I am looking for some advice regarding my new lawn.

I have recently bought a new house and, like the house itself, the garden is in need of a great deal of attention. The elderly gentleman who owned it before me used almost all of the plot for growing vegetables and although I want to keep some veg I decided to convert a large portion of it to lawn. I spent several weeks weeding, leveling and digging out all the old veg. I sowed the grass seed a few weeks ago and there is now a lovely covering of new grass. Unfortunately this week I started to notice the new leaves of potatoes also coming through. I was gutted because of the amount of time and effort I put in preparing the site.

I'm now not sure what to do. As there appear to be 40-50 plants coming through I don't really want to mess up the new lawn by digging them all out but I'm guessing that if I just mow the tops off them they won't die but will just multiply. I'm hoping someone might be able to suggest a solution - maybe there is some systemic treatment I can use to get rid of them ?

Any suggestion would be greatly appreciated as I really don't fancy the idea of having to start all over again !

mikem1066 wrote:
As a new member and relatively new gardener I am looking for some
advice regarding my new lawn.

I have recently bought a new house and, like the house itself, the
garden is in need of a great deal of attention. The elderly
gentleman
who owned it before me used almost all of the plot for growing
vegetables and although I want to keep some veg I decided to
convert a
large portion of it to lawn. I spent several weeks weeding,
leveling
and digging out all the old veg. I sowed the grass seed a few weeks
ago and there is now a lovely covering of new grass. Unfortunately
this week I started to notice the new leaves of potatoes also
coming
through. I was gutted because of the amount of time and effort I
put
in preparing the site.

I'm now not sure what to do. As there appear to be 40-50 plants
coming
through I don't really want to mess up the new lawn by digging them
all out but I'm guessing that if I just mow the tops off them they
won't die but will just multiply. I'm hoping someone might be able
to
suggest a solution - maybe there is some systemic treatment I can
use
to get rid of them ?

Any suggestion would be greatly appreciated as I really don't fancy
the idea of having to start all over again !

Mowing should kill them off all right; but you could pull the tops
off by hand. No cause for alarm.

--
Mike.

"mikem1066" wrote in message
...

As a new member and relatively new gardener I am looking for some advice
regarding my new lawn.

I have recently bought a new house and, like the house itself, the
garden is in need of a great deal of attention. The elderly gentleman
who owned it before me used almost all of the plot for growing
vegetables and although I want to keep some veg I decided to convert a
large portion of it to lawn. I spent several weeks weeding, leveling
and digging out all the old veg. I sowed the grass seed a few weeks ago
and there is now a lovely covering of new grass. Unfortunately this week
I started to notice the new leaves of potatoes also coming through. I
was gutted because of the amount of time and effort I put in preparing
the site.

I'm now not sure what to do. As there appear to be 40-50 plants coming
through I don't really want to mess up the new lawn by digging them all
out but I'm guessing that if I just mow the tops off them they won't die
but will just multiply.

You guess incorrectly, they will die eventually if you keep mowing them.


--
Tumbleweed

email replies not necessary but to contact use;
tumbleweednews at hotmail dot com

"mikem1066" wrote in message
...

As a new member and relatively new gardener I am looking for some advice
regarding my new lawn.

I have recently bought a new house and, like the house itself, the
garden is in need of a great deal of attention. The elderly gentleman
who owned it before me used almost all of the plot for growing
vegetables and although I want to keep some veg I decided to convert a
large portion of it to lawn. I spent several weeks weeding, leveling
and digging out all the old veg. I sowed the grass seed a few weeks ago
and there is now a lovely covering of new grass. Unfortunately this week
I started to notice the new leaves of potatoes also coming through. I
was gutted because of the amount of time and effort I put in preparing
the site.

I'm now not sure what to do. As there appear to be 40-50 plants coming
through I don't really want to mess up the new lawn by digging them all
out but I'm guessing that if I just mow the tops off them they won't die
but will just multiply. I'm hoping someone might be able to suggest a
solution - maybe there is some systemic treatment I can use to get rid
of them ?

Any suggestion would be greatly appreciated as I really don't fancy the
idea of having to start all over again !


--
mikem1066

I'm guessing that if I just mow the tops off them they won't die
but will just multiply.

No - that's worms!!

Just pull the leaves off, the remainder will rot away over the summer.

Well, thanks for all the replies. It's a relief to know it won't be a major problem.

Cheers !

Mike