Weed needing identifying please

I have only lived in my property since last August so have only just seen what plants and bulbs have sprouted up over the year. (The person before me kept a fabulous garden for the size of it)

What must been a weed has started to appear in the borders recently which trails EVERYWHERE and has begun strangling all other plants.

To describe it - it has a very thin stem and grows along the ground sprouting off in all directions and roots everywhere. The leaves are generally three small rounded leaves to a branch off, almost like a clovers leaf and the flower is a small yellow flower with a slight red tinge to it.

At first I thought it was a plant (!!!) but after seeing it grow everywhere so quickly I guessed it was a weed. I've managed to pull nearly a whole binliners worth up but the roots dont seem to come up with the plant and its sprouting again at a phenomenal rate. Cant use weedkiller as it is dotted around other plants etc. It is a soft plant and not thorny or hard at all. Is the only way of showing a picture by hosting it on a web page rather than uploading from PC? Sorry for the essay!

 

Sorry can't help. That description is not ringing a bell. A picture would be helpful and yes to show a picture you need to upload to photobucket and then post the link but tis easy to do and doesn't cost anything

 

Does it propogate from runners and look a littel like a strawberry plant? If so, you have my sympathies! I have it in my garden and it's an absolute thug! Digging it up is the best way to go. If you keep ripping out the green stuff, the roots will eventually give up and die (so I'm told!). Otherwise, you could use a sheet of carboard with a hole cut in it, pull the weed's leaves though and then spray with roundup or some such. That will make sure your precious plants are protected.

Good luck!

 

This sounds very much like the bane of my garden - a golden trefoil, grows everywhere and strangles all other plants! The more you pull at it, the worse it gets. My solution was to pull up as much as possible and then in the winter, when it all but dissappears from the surface, cover with membrane, cross your fingers and pray :D

 

Thanks for the replies guys, here are three links showing flowers and leaves of this weed

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a54/WelshBoa/weed003.jpg

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a54/WelshBoa/weed002.jpg

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a54/WelshBoa/weed001.jpg

 

nope, its not my particular pest
ahh! don't tell me there's more of them!!

 

That is a vetch of some kind from your pictures. Not one I have had the pleasure or not of growing, but as I recall a member of legume family. " Round up" should deal with this, but if you want to avoid spraying, then remove by hand, and don't let it set seed.

 

cheers and thanks for the responses people! Incidentally the Swans old football stadium was called The Vetch - and this has been listed because of the plant that was on the ground where the stadium was built. Is it a member of the cabbage family then??

 

As I recall, a member of the pea family rather than cabbage.