We have celandines in our garden (Ficaria verna I believe). A bonny
Spring flower, but there are always too many. This year, however, the
pest has carpeted just about every spare square foot of our garden:
they're everywhere, and very, very dense.

How do folk here deal with this noxious weed? I know it's a foolish
activity to try and dig them up (it's like poking a wasp nest with a
stick). Must I resort to selective application of a weedkiller?

Cheers
John

On 2023-04-11, Chris Hogg <me@privacy.net> wrote:
> On Tue, 11 Apr 2023 19:39:40 +0100, Another John <lalaw44@hotmail.com>
> wrote:
>
>>We have celandines in our garden (Ficaria verna I believe). A bonny
>>Spring flower, but there are always too many. This year, however, the
>>pest has carpeted just about every spare square foot of our garden:
>>they're everywhere, and very, very dense.
>>
>>How do folk here deal with this noxious weed? I know it's a foolish
>>activity to try and dig them up (it's like poking a wasp nest with a
>>stick). Must I resort to selective application of a weedkiller?
>>
>>Cheers
>>John
>
> You could just learn to live with them. They disappear not too long
> after they've flowered, and are really no trouble unless you make them
> into one.

I've hand weeded them out of some beds where we didn't want them. It's a
bit tedious, but can be done. You need to be vigilant for the bits you
missed :-) Elsewhere they are either tolerated or actively enjoyed for
their spring colour.

On Tue, 11 Apr 2023 19:39:40 +0100, Another John <lalaw44@hotmail.com>
wrote:

>We have celandines in our garden (Ficaria verna I believe). A bonny
>Spring flower, but there are always too many. This year, however, the
>pest has carpeted just about every spare square foot of our garden:
>they're everywhere, and very, very dense.
>
>How do folk here deal with this noxious weed? I know it's a foolish
>activity to try and dig them up (it's like poking a wasp nest with a
>stick). Must I resort to selective application of a weedkiller?
>
>Cheers
>John

You could just learn to live with them. They disappear not too long
after they've flowered, and are really no trouble unless you make them
into one.

--
Chris

Gardening in West Cornwall, very mild, sheltered
from the West, but open to the North and East.

On Tue, 11 Apr 2023 19:33:26 -0000 (UTC), Jim Jackson
<jj@franjam.org.uk> wrote:

>Elsewhere they are either tolerated or actively enjoyed for
>their spring colour.

I have tried unsuccessfully to get Winter Aconites established.
Celandines make a reasonable alternative.

--
Chris

Gardening in West Cornwall, very mild, sheltered
from the West, but open to the North and East.

On 2023-04-12, Chris Hogg <me@privacy.net> wrote:
> On Tue, 11 Apr 2023 19:33:26 -0000 (UTC), Jim Jackson
><jj@franjam.org.uk> wrote:
>
>>Elsewhere they are either tolerated or actively enjoyed for
>>their spring colour.
>
> I have tried unsuccessfully to get Winter Aconites established.
> Celandines make a reasonable alternative.
>

Aconites have failed for us too. But my wife is trying again - a friend
has donated some from her successfull aconites. Snowdrops do well with
us, but wood anenomes also fail.

Jim Jackson <jj@franjam.org.uk> wrote:
> On 2023-04-12, Chris Hogg <me@privacy.net> wrote:
> > On Tue, 11 Apr 2023 19:33:26 -0000 (UTC), Jim Jackson
> ><jj@franjam.org.uk> wrote:
> >
> >>Elsewhere they are either tolerated or actively enjoyed for
> >>their spring colour.
> >
> > I have tried unsuccessfully to get Winter Aconites established.
> > Celandines make a reasonable alternative.
> >
>
> Aconites have failed for us too. But my wife is trying again - a friend
> has donated some from her successfull aconites. Snowdrops do well with
> us, but wood anenomes also fail.
>
We have just one snowdrop on a bank by our house that valiantly
flowers each year, but it never gets any bigger at all. Is there any
way to encourage it? :-)

--
Chris Green
·

On 2023-04-13, Chris Green <cl@isbd.net> wrote:
> Jim Jackson <jj@franjam.org.uk> wrote:
>> On 2023-04-12, Chris Hogg <me@privacy.net> wrote:
>> > On Tue, 11 Apr 2023 19:33:26 -0000 (UTC), Jim Jackson
>> ><jj@franjam.org.uk> wrote:
>> >
>> >>Elsewhere they are either tolerated or actively enjoyed for
>> >>their spring colour.
>> >
>> > I have tried unsuccessfully to get Winter Aconites established.
>> > Celandines make a reasonable alternative.
>> >
>>
>> Aconites have failed for us too. But my wife is trying again - a friend
>> has donated some from her successfull aconites. Snowdrops do well with
>> us, but wood anenomes also fail.
>>
> We have just one snowdrop on a bank by our house that valiantly
> flowers each year, but it never gets any bigger at all. Is there any
> way to encourage it? :-)

Snowdrops just grow bigger clumps and self-seed in our garden, without
any help from us! We've also got self-seeding snakehead fritillary in
the orchard, after I transplanted a clump across the garden. They never
self-seeded before - something about the shade of the orchard and the
grass and trees impoverishing the soil? Who knows? But sometimes it is worth trying another part of the garden.

We are on heavy alkali clay soil at 120m above sealevel near Wakefield.
With a lot of these things, if they like your soil/situation they thrive
- if not you have problems.

On Thu, 13 Apr 2023 10:17:43 +0100, Chris Green <cl@isbd.net> wrote:

>Jim Jackson <jj@franjam.org.uk> wrote:
>> On 2023-04-12, Chris Hogg <me@privacy.net> wrote:
>> > On Tue, 11 Apr 2023 19:33:26 -0000 (UTC), Jim Jackson
>> ><jj@franjam.org.uk> wrote:
>> >
>> >>Elsewhere they are either tolerated or actively enjoyed for
>> >>their spring colour.
>> >
>> > I have tried unsuccessfully to get Winter Aconites established.
>> > Celandines make a reasonable alternative.
>> >
>>
>> Aconites have failed for us too. But my wife is trying again - a friend
>> has donated some from her successfull aconites. Snowdrops do well with
>> us, but wood anenomes also fail.
>>
>We have just one snowdrop on a bank by our house that valiantly
>flowers each year, but it never gets any bigger at all. Is there any
>way to encourage it? :-)

If you are tempted to buy-in snowdrop bulbs, be sure to get them 'in
the green' as it's called, i.e. with plenty of green leaves, rather
than dry bulbs like you might buy daffs or tulips, for example. I once
made the mistake of buying 100 snowdrop bulbs. They were dry, and I
think only one ever came up!

--
Chris

Gardening in West Cornwall, very mild, sheltered
from the West, but open to the North and East.

On 11/04/2023 19:39, Another John wrote:
> We have celandines in our garden (Ficaria verna I believe). A bonny
> Spring flower, but there are always too many. This year, however, the
> pest has carpeted just about every spare square foot of our garden:
> they're everywhere, and very, very dense.
>
> How do folk here deal with this noxious weed? I know it's a foolish
> activity to try and dig them up (it's like poking a wasp nest with a
> stick). Must I resort to selective application of a weedkiller?
>
> Cheers
> John

Best way is to write them a plant label and pretend it was deliberate
planting!

If you mulch heavily in Autumn/winter and wait for a wet spell in spring
you will find that the whole clump comes up quite easily with gentle pulling
--
Charlie Pridham
Gardening in Cornwall
www.roselandhouse.co.uk

OP here - thanks for all the advice and opinions folks. I particularly
like "learn to live with them"! :-D

John