all the best weeds

So to add to my kist of weeds I have Japanese Knotweed which I thought was nearly dead but came back really strong in the last couple of weeks, I have mares tail encroaching very fasy from the hedge and a good lot of ground elder.

Knotweed im cutting, binning and spraying into its stems, or should i do the leaves first?

Ground elder ive killed the large areas under the tree but have little sprigs spread by the big tiller which i pull when i see. still lots of it. so ill spray in spots

Horse tail. its new to me but spreading damn fast from what i can see now. what should i do? i can pick all the bits coming into my potatoe drills and along the hedge. but should i cut down so far and spray or is picking better to weaken?

Ive also a weird bean like vine growing in the open ground which seems to be everywhere. unsure of its name but has medium size broad leaves

the joy of gardening

 

You have got the lot

With Horsetail you have to bruise it before spraying, otherwise the spray just runs off it.

 

Here is one of the (truly) best weeds....see my photo - rosebay willowherb.

(Easily yanked up if you do not admire its elegant grace).

 

Rosebay alas none of mine are as beautiful to look at!

So the ground elder i can and have containd mostly with black plastic and glyposphate but still odd bits need removed asap.

The horsetail then, should i just break and spray or simply pulling and weakening it? as i plan on spraying it asap.

The knotweed i had that trump killer so needs a new application. Should i cut down and then apply yes? I imagine its a matter of weakening it. Its unbelieveable how fast the horsetail, but especially the knotweed grows

 

oh and the bindweed, just spray or pull? kinda too much to pull up unfortunately but all in one area to spray

i cpuld maybe get the lend of a goat haha

 

Yes I understand and do recognise that there are problematic weeds. However, not all weeds are in this category.

Just doing my bit to big up the more literal meaning of 'best weeds!'
I feel like I am on some kind of campaign to help people reappraise
what they widely label as weeds, in a blanket term....which often
can blind them to their inherent beauty. (See my signature here).

For example, the flower of bindweed is so delicate and beautiful and the plant has such thin stems that it is easily yanked e.g. traced to where it is growing out of the ground.

 

Ah, you make it sound like one's blessed to have such a wonderful weed plant in their garden.

 

Any bit of bindweed left in the ground will re grow, it's dig the lot out or spray with that one

 

Well I realise I look at 'weeds' very differently to most on here. It is why I was hesitant about joining this forum actually. I can appreciate nature's gifts for the most part but then I do not have specific designs on my garden as such.

I realise they are a nuisance if not wanted and can become rampant. However, I have a naturalistic garden and don't mind the bindweed intertwining with the ivy. However, if I find it circling other plants I have no hesitation in tracing it back to where it sprang from and pulling it from there. Zigs mentioned it regrows and I am fine with that. My garden is small and so not labour intensive....I would far rather yank it out where it is unwelcome than make my soil toxic with chemicals.

Perhaps my appreciation of nature is wider and less conditioned? I have to say I am more in love with nature than I am with highly manipulated, man-made versions of nature.

 

I too appreciate nature but this is my veg patch and alas it is in the way.

The bindweed is rampant and by far the biggest problem on the bare ground I haven't touched yet. If I sprayed it would that kill the problem or will it simply regrow again? There is a heck of a lot of it to pick so considering just a blanket bombing.

Also folks Ive got a huge piece of black silo pit plastic, I used it to kill all the ground elder crossing the lane I have and its done the job. Maybe if I hack and kill at the horse tail I could do the same with it too potentially? After picking at it of course. Opinions?

Otherwise some of the plastic is going over the bindweed and uncultivated area. There is also a huge tree that must be very very very old by now as it was a big tree when my granda was born there 70 odd years ago and still stand. Amazing how it has its own killzone under it which apart from the ground elder, almost takes all moisture out of the ground when really dry.

Black plastic, spray and a little hard work seem to be my only solution.

Rosebay while I am eradicating my weed problem (especially the kntoweed and horsetail) I would like to make it a little more nature friendly, I've been planting up wildflower packs for pollinators and feeding birds as well as nesting sites. The old dwelling house has a tiny blue tit nesting in a hole in the wall while a blackbird has taken up residence right above the roof of the front and only door, so I dont bother going in anymore.

 

We had horsetail and ground elder in our last place. I found that waiting until the horsetail grew to about 6" tall, and then pulling up (vertically, from the base) did weaken it, and over a number of years it was in retreat, rather than advance. The same method with tackling the ground elder. I pulled up all the leaves, normally just before the stem started to grow (young shoots steamed are quite tasty, a hint of aniseed, perhaps?). Can't say we managed much of a retreat with this method, but it certainly didn't spread further, and the plants it surrounded got the upper hand.

HTH

 

It appears I am in for a continuous battle then! Do you think the ground covering with black plastic will help then? maybe just kill it only for it to reappear eventually I suppose? Most of the Horsetail is at least 6" tall so then It is ready for killing. I have potatoes in for spraying is a bit tricky but definitely I dont mind a little hard work in pulling up and weakening it that way. Maybe even some direct applications

The Knotweed was already in a neighbours garden and the place is near nobody else, the neighbour themselves got rid of it eventually but she is maybe a coupel hundred metres away. This has obviously been used as the crows nesting and then spread like mad. It will be a tricker job.