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Post by murrayc on Sept 28, 2018 8:43:43 GMT
Coming to the end of this extraordinarily varied growing season I have been clearing my plot of weeds that have sprung up since the end of the hot spell and in particular in the potato rows and onion beds where the soil has been loose and easy for them to take hold. Fat hen and milk thistle are easy enough to clear and compost well, dandelions and deeper rooted thistles I have bagged up and taken away from the site. But the most persistent and therefore the biggest volume of all the stuff that I have taken to the tip for heating and composting - at least 12 bin bags so far - are of two kinds, both pernicious in different ways.
Redshank or persicaria maculosia is a pink spired, sprawling plant with bare red stems and a habit of spreading a carpet of roots. It isn't greatly harmful to people or plants, but it spreads at an astonishing rate and if it isn't uprooted and disposed of completely at this time of year it will come back in force next April. Don't compost it: it will only lay dormant and when it flowers next your plot neighbours will curse you for making them an unwelcome present as it takes over their producive spaces.
Although much less prolific than the reshank I've been quite alarmed this summer to find quite a number of these members of the nightshade family. They could be solanum nigrum (white nightshade) or possibly solanum douglasii white nightshade).I haven't waited till the berries have formed, which would tell the correct identity, but in neither case are they wanted on the plot. Berries are usually quite toxic and the sap can also cause reactions. I have dug each one out carefully and taken off ther plot.
My advice to others is if you see something like these on your plot, get rid of it now. Covering over with membrane is no guarantee that the plant will die.
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Post by jane on Oct 4, 2018 7:28:40 GMT
I have had both of these but not in any great quantities - fortunately, although have never had the nightshades before this year. For me - all weeds are the worst! Un-cared for plots nearby produce endless thistle and dandelion seeds that waft across in the breeze - please please can people at least chop them down before the seed flies!
There seems to be a growing amount of Himalayan balsam too - quite pretty but when those seeds pop they are flung near and wide! If you have this at the back of your plot (usually near the stream) always best to cut off the flowers before they seed and weaken the plant as a result.
It's been a tricky year for veggies - but the weeds haven't minded at all!!
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gill14
Clearing the weeds
Posts: 22
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Post by gill14 on Dec 26, 2018 19:01:09 GMT
I have been waging war on creeping buttercup this year, although I guess my neighbours would find that hard to believe! Having spent a lovely couple of hours on the plot today I can confidently say that the buttercup won this year, but I am back on the challenge in 2019
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Post by murrayc on Dec 27, 2018 9:04:33 GMT
I have been waging war on creeping buttercup this year, although I guess my neighbours would find that hard to believe! Having spent a lovely couple of hours on the plot today I can confidently say that the buttercup won this year, but I am back on the challenge in 2019 It's a swine, isn't it? Once it gets established it has that lattice like framework of roots that seem so shallow, yet the stems break off so obstinately just aboce the level of the root. I don't have too many on my plot, except at the back close to the ditch, but there are masses in the Community Garden. Another project for 2019!
Glad to hear it was nice on the site. A combination of rain and unsocial working hours kept me away through much of December but these cold, dry days should do the trick and I'll be back down there to finish off digging and see how the alliums are all doing.
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