Spring garden tour - and the pros and cons of plants that help suppress weeds!
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- čas přidán 13. 07. 2024
- It's spring and the garden is shooting up - and so are the weeds! Here I look at the pros and cons of plants that will help suppress weeds - but could they be too invasive for you? Plus launch of the Middlesized Garden 'Behind the Scenes'.
00:00 Welcome
00:21 Size and shape of the Middlesized Garden, also the weather & climate
01:08 Dealing with frost damaged plants
01:51 The parterre - cutting down the ornamental grasses in pots
02:22 Euphorbia 'Wulfenii' (Mediterranean spurge)
02:57 Smynium perfoliatum (Perfoliate Alexanders) - is it too invasive?
03:30 No Mow May
04:00 Plants that help stop weeds?
04:54 Comfrey - check whether it's too invasive for your area
05:04 Getting rid of ground elder by covering it up
05:36 Two different meanings of 'invasive'
06:41 Why I'd rather have comfrey than ground elder
07:52 Launching 'Behind the Scenes' on the Middlesized Garden
08:47 Spring gardening tips playlist: • Spring gardening tips ...
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Such an accurate and helpful video! I think you have settled on the perfect compromise. Your garden looks just lovely. ❤
Thank you!
Good evening from Auckland, New Zealand.
Hello!
Hello from the USA, happy to see you dear lady. As always your knowledge of gardening is helpful and timely. Thank you for your helpful videos.
Thank you!
Burning bush is a stunner, thanks for another informative video.
It is so beautiful, but apparently a real problem in some parts of the United States.
Thank you for this video!!! I especially enjoyed the "covering weeds" part. Here in the southeast USA we get the famous invasive weed known as Bermuda Grass. The best that I can do is to cover the weeds with plants(hide the Bermuda), and thus blocking the sun from the weed. It spreads underground, on top of the ground, and self seeds. It actively grows in hot weather. So, sweeping it under the carpet, by planting other taller plants has become my go to solution.
Unfortunately, our lawns were made with Bermuda grass, and I hate it. I wait until after a good rain, and then use a tool called the Cobra to dig those roots out of the garden bed. Have to stay vigilant, but it does come out, and at least it doesn't break into little pieces. I'm battling Japanese honeysuckle that took over a back bed while I was caring for elderly parents. Not only is it vigorous, but there is poison ivy mixed in, and I've had my first rash of the year. It never stops in the Southeast, that's for sure :-).
I think I remember Bermuda grass from my time in South America, very tough, if it's the same one.
Oh I HATE Bermuda grass! I've been battling it for years. It has long runners, root rizomes that go as deep as 18 inches, as well as seeds that form on these little things that look like old fashioned TV antennas. I hate to use Round Up anymore, but in the past it took four or five applications to kill it. I just keep digging it out...over and over again. Eventually it will (mostly) go away. That's one reason I do the sheet mulching, to kill everything but the Bermuda and keep the ground soft. Later I'll pull up the cardboard and go after it with the garden fork, re-cover the area, then go after it again in a few weeks. If you keep the light away, the roots stay pale yellow, and are easier to spot. Weeds are a hot-button issue, no? :)
I'm currently battleing Bermuda grass in my Centipede grass. The year before last I dug almost two feet down where it was a thick patch. I managed to get that area under control. Last Spring I cut a quarter semi circle in that area along where the driveway meet and planted 3 mums and a Daisy Mum my son had given me for my birthday as potted plants. They did wonderful and are doing fairly well this year so far though the Daisy mum is struggling to leaf up. I also dug up giant patches from the middle of my lawn late last summer to give the Centipede a fighting chance in that area. Also, dug up patches recently in the side yard. Hopefully the Centipede will fill in well. I see an uphill battle for years to come. I think going to war every Spring is in order to manage the spread.
Geranium Rozanne is good for covering large areas and can be divided up to help cover more areas over time. I’m tired of taking out comfrey in my clients gardens where it’s been allowed to get well out of hand.
I love Geranium Rozanne, good tip. I may well get tired of taking comfrey out, but it's such a welcome change from the ground elder that I'm happy so far. A bit alarmed with the rate at which it is spreading though.
@@TheMiddlesizedGarden it’s definitely a quick spreader!
I was just looking at the Ground Elder in my tiny garden and wondering what to do.
I'm getting old and really can't fight it.
But comfrey sounds better than a better option.
I would love Geranium Rozanne as a ground cover, but it doesn't seem to spread in my garden.
In Cambridge we really had a bad winter and even Choisya that I have had for years with it's bright yellow leaves, looks pretty dead to me.
I'm South African and gardening in the UK is so different.
I don't think we have any weeds with these terrible roots that are so invasive.
I'm leaving all the sad plants, because sometimes they surprise you.
Thank you for your informative videos.
You took the words right out of my mouth. Even bindweed has a fight on its hands with Geranium Rozanne.
@@anitaswart. try cardboard sheeting with bark mulch over the top. Then, interplant some kind of geranium. I find that G. macrorhyzum or G. phloem are slightly more aggressive at suppressing ground elder than G. Rozzane.
Best of luck!
Your Spring blossoms are stunning! Watching this I'm pleasantly reminded of Joan Hickson playing Agatha Christie's Miss Marple in the tv adaptation of 'At Bertram's Hotel'. Having uncovered a crime syndicate at the beautifully curated hotel, in the final scene she declares: 'It's like ground elder...there's nothing you can do but dig up the whole border'. So I'm rather relieved that you've found the perfect antidote instead...pretty flowered comfrey, to gracefully out-compete the ground elder!
I'd forgotten that scene, what a lovely reminder.
Comfrey is great, although requires periodic thinning. Exercise for myself, and so good for feeding bees... The rotted leaves make an incredibly effective liquid fertiliser.
Absolutely!
Is borage the plant that is invasive, or comfrey?
I'm forever digging pups up and thought I'd dug all of it out....but no.
Ajuga is great as a ground cover, the port wine is smaller and prettier.
Nepeta helps to hold up tall dahlias as a border plant.(instead of using stakes).
Margarite blue daisies grow quite large and flowers all yr round in New Zealand.
One species that is invasive is Japanese anemones, although winter flowering, once you put one plant in your garden, you will be digging deep continually.
Loved learning some new plant's and the garden's are waking up so pretty to see.
I really enjoy that you bring a different approch to gardening. Thank you!
I look forward to seeing your informative posts thank you very much .
Thank you!
I continue to follow you from Lexington, KY in the US. So very much enjoy your videos and information you research and share. I looked back and it has been since about 2019. Thank you!! I have a horrible time with what we call creeping charlie. SO invasive and yes creeps into the lawn and everywhere. I am constantly pulling it out from March to Oct. I refuse pesticides. Also two new invasive weeds were introduced by bringing in farm mulch/manuer, garlic root and wild carrot. NOT HAPPY about these either. Since I'm down on the ground weeding, these are pulled too. I'll look at your video on weeds.
Thank you! Apparently creeping charlie was brought to the UK to make beer with in Saxon times (it probably came to you from us). So if you know a home brewer, perhaps they can come and help you!
Tennessee here. Creeping Charlies shows up everywhere here, also Creeping Jenny. The Charlie pulls up easily but the Jenny has such deep roots...at least it is very pretty.
I always so appreciate your videos. Thanks so much for talking about cutting back plants that have been damaged by bad weather. The natural reaction is to cut out the dead looking parts and, as you said, it just encourages more growth. We have some pretty invasive species here, mainly Chinese Yaupon, Chinese Tallow, and Chinese Private. They spread everywhere. We also have a weed that grows into a tree called Water Oak. They are fast growing. Recently the arboretum near us had a native plant sale and I was able to get many native plants for my "English" garden.
Thank you, that's interesting. I think so many exciting new plants were exported round the world from Asia in Victorian times and quite a few have been a problem because they behave differently in a different environment
@@TheMiddlesizedGarden This is such a good point! The stories of plant hunters in the 18th and 19th Centuries are fascinating, but you wonder if they ever considered the long-term results. Plants invasive to waterways are especially problematic. California is especially strict about importing plants, and I've even been asked if I have live plants when crossing the border between CA and Arizona. I saw Japanese Kudzu vine on a trip to Atlanta, Georgia...from the sides of the wide freeways it grew all over the fences, up the supports and over the signs (obscuring the lettering), and onto the cement road itself. >:0
Ajuga reptans (I have the purple leaf version) seems to be able to go up against the grass lawn here in a somewhat shaded area.
It's pretty.
I really love this video style & this topic
Happy Easter from Greenville SC!
Thank you, Alexandra 🪴😊👍
You're welcome 😊
I just planted clover in my backyard.I have good sized flowerbeds. We have done a lot of house renovation and it killed a lot of the grass,which I am happy about.Its about 10 days and I have all these little clover starting to come up!!!I also just got two New Jersey Tea bushes which are Native for me and waiting for my 6 Common
Milkweed plants to arrive!So fun.🥳🥳🥳
Good morning, I’m new to your channel and new to gardening and I’m really enjoying your content 😊
Another wonderful video 👍
Thank you for pointing out both the benefits and problems with choices like no mow May.
Thank you
Good evening from Central Europe............I thoroughly enjoy your videos. They give me a boost in the greyness of winter. Well done to you and, ''Thank you.''
Thank you!
Loads of helpful information thank you. Love your show
Lynch station Virginia USA
Thank you!
Hello, I will also be mowing the lawn where it adjoins the borders. Same problem, different plants but that’s the magic of continuously learning by experience. Your garden is beautiful and this channel is a joy. Thank you 🙏🏻
Thank you!
Thank you for another lovely video!!
You are so welcome!
I'm in zone 5 Massachusetts USA and my favorite part sun/part shade groundcover is phlox stolonifera with very short, mat-forming leaves and is covered in May with glorious blue-lavender flowers. It can be aggressive but is very easy to manage. Highly recommend it. It can handle full sun in moist, but not wet, areas but will die in full sun if drought occurs.
Lovely Spring garden. We in Australia it is still warm (Autumn) with lots of colour in my garden.
Good morning and Happy Easter from Pennsylvania, USA
Happy Easter!
Happy Easter!
And you!
Hey! Thanks a lot for this very informative video. I like your garden, this is a wonderful place.
Glad you enjoyed it!
Your garden is lovely. I like it being walled. We have wire fencing around us and get the neighbours’ weeds and invasive plants. There are a lot of ‘thugs’ in my garden, given by friends - Euphorbia (different variety to yours), Agastache and a few others. Shasta daisy keeps down weeds but ends up smothering my roses so will have to move. Lychnis spreads everywhere but is easily pulled out as well as wild strawberry. My biggest woe is sorrel and couch. Thanks for an informative video.
Great topic! I'm using ajuga and blue star creeper.
I love to see your garden at different times of the year. During our long drought, the weeds were small, but produced lots of seeds, making it very tedious to remove them. With our rain this year, the weeds are larger, but fewer. I have areas that I can't plant right now, but using cardboard and mulch from my own leaves and cuttings (sheet mulching) has worked very well to reduce the weeds. I'll toss nasturtium seeds, or crumble dead alyssum over the top, and now have some nice hardy volunteers to brighten things up. Great tips as always.
Thank you! Our weeds are larger, too, with quite a lot of spring rain.
We have to hire an invasive specialist cause what I thought was a flourishing garden and woodland was actually just all invasives 😂 learning gardening the hard way 😅
Oh that sounds a shame. At least you have an expert to help!
I battled ground elder last year in a huge patch of garden, smothering it with stacks of cardboard for a year and then digging up the roots, what a pain! Thank you for the tip on Comfrey, I'll be transplanted a few clumps into that now empty patch.
At least it is pretty and good for wildlife - although you will have to keep pulling it up!
Alexandra, I’ve heard some info coming out that no mow May is perhaps not as helpful as we all hope. Apparently once you actually do mow at the end of the month, the large amounts of grass clippings can be too much for your lawn to break down, yet composting them elsewhere doesn’t return the nutrients to the lawn. An article I read suggested having a small patch of lawn that is never mowed and always available for pollinators, and then taking care of the rest of the lawn as normal. I’d love to hear your thoughts on this! 🤗
I have a lot of wild violets in my garden which are beautiful at this time of year. They are quite invasive but easy to pull out so I can select where I want them to grow and they do keep the weeds down.
They are beautiful
Good morning Alexander, I trust you had a beautiful relaxing and a peaceful Easter weekend. This year I did almost nothing, I worked very hard before and thus did not feel guilty at all for taking in the holidays enjoying each and reminiscing. I think it is good to reflect back on your life! Weeds, they are just horrible. I transplanted my agapanthus earlier and by disturbing the ground those horrors made their appearance. Fortunately there were not too many of them and I allowed them to grow a little then I pulled them. It was not too bad and it seemed they are totally under control. I had a beautiful surprise some dark pink crysanths, 4 of them sprouted up, so I have new plants. I will have to re-pot them and save them for spring. What a bonus by removing weeds :) I have been told and read, mulching is the way to go, alas, when and if a gardener we will always have Molly weed with us, we are now into our winter season in South Africa, there will be sunny days, but the chill is there mornings and late afternoons. Jack Frost is whom we really must watch out for. Just enjoy, take each as it comes and make the best of it. You are looking so good. Kind regards.
I think you deserved a little time doing nothing! Yes, I had a relaxing Easter weekend, thank you.
@@TheMiddlesizedGarden Thank you Alex, I was thinking this afternoon, the last of the holidays for a while, back to the grindstone tomorrow, but that's o.k. Have a great week, our winter started :(
AlwYs watch and learn❤❤❤❤❤
A great subject to talk about, ground covering! Thank you. I have a weed similar to ground elder I suppose called dollar weed. We have a very high water table here so it is impossible to eradicate with the deep runners and any piece of the plant can break off and root! I will do anything to out compete it! Looking for many ways to do this from tree roots to ground coverings.
I think we have dollar weed here, where it is called pennywort. Luckily I don't think it's got into my garden (yet)
Great garden and video. For Dahlias left in the ground overwinter (UK)… when would you expect to see them start growing back?
Thanks a lot. Very useful. I wonder if you could offer some tips on white fly? Iam in Belgium and I can see them flying here and there already with the season hardly being started. I had a hard time last year trying to control them.
I'm on a half acre and not as spry as I once was so the areas that are just impossible to keep unwanted plants out of I just leave the plastic down, put (free) mulch on top, and cut holes in the plastic when I want to introduce a new plant or shrub.
Oh, you looked especially pretty today.
Thank you! I think the plastic works well, but eventually weeds colonise on top of it - at least that's what has happened in this garden, where my predecessors put down plastic. I think it is about 30 years old, though, so perhaps it has done its bit.
The more I dig up ground elder the more it grows! I dug the border over and meticulously removed every piece of white root sifting through every part of soil, but to my despair it just seems to have regenerated it! I’m going to grow more ground cover plants and hoe the young ground elder as it pops up. Good tips as always 😊
Considering that the Romans imported it to feed their armies, I'm amazed the food industry hasn't harnessed it in some way - a crop that can be shaved to the ground and will just pop up again without any effort has to be a win? But I've never quite dared cook it up myself.
@@TheMiddlesizedGarden I never knew that! But we do make elderflower cordial, not sure if from the same family?
The Winter killed my Rosemary and my Nerium Oleander. Both established for a few years. My Cordyline red star was the only one to survive on my whole street! (I'm guessing because I grew it from infancy, giving it a thick strong trunk while the others were perhaps bought taller with a thinner trunk.)
The first weed hurt my back. i'm not getting any younger. I've planted a lot of evergreens and larger shrubs around in the hope that as they mature they've reduce light for weeds. I've put down some weed membrane in a new border out my back. I'll see how that goes. People are torn on that stuff. I want it to stop a neighbours tree from seeding primarily.
I worry That ground cover plants will just take over and harm my other plant. I have a some creeping phlox and I' want it to grow around the base of my cordyline but I don't want it to hurt my cordyline
In Utah, USA, we buy ground elder and water it. It is a variegated variety, so maybe different than yours
Ground elder can be eaten in a salad or cooked like spinach...maybe also a good idea how to exhaust a plant 😊
Yes, I'm bracing myself to try it, but can't quite manage it yet. However, I do wonder if the food industry is missing a trick - a plant that can be harvested and doesn't need replanting!
Euphorbia wulfenii is a wonderful plant in my garden (Northern California). I have to pull out dozens of seedlings every spring and summer though. I pull them at the same time I weed out all the oak seedlings sown by the squirrels in fall.
I had a smaller euphorbia at a previous house, and since then I am leery of any euphorbia, because it seeded all over that garden bed and I was pulling them up for years after having it a couple seasons before realizing what a problem it was becoming - I often missed seeing that there was yet another in the middle of some other plant before it flowered and went to seed, further perpetuating the problem. I had a couple geraniums that got completely out of hand too. My conclusion was that any plant that finds itself in its perfect environment can get completely out of control if not watched.
@@Ellen-ru2fr I don't mind weeding the euphorbia seedlings. They're very recognizable and it takes three years for them to get big so there's plenty of time to pull them out. I have a hard time pulling out the oaks, though.
Different euphorbias seem to self sow at a different rate. Both euphorbia 'Robbiae' and 'Oblongata' go everywhere in my garden but 'Wulfenii' is really quite well behaved.
Thank you! I have ground Elder coming in from surrounding field edges and it’s a real pain. I’m using Euphorbia under my hedge to compete it out but I don’t think I want Comfrey. Does anyone have any other ideas please? The roots get into my good plants and once that happens it’s a nightmare!
May I ask the name of the euphorbia next to the bench shown at 7:22, it is really striking and beautiful! Lovely video as always.
I believe that is the wulfenii that was mentioned.
Could you please do design ideas for shallow wide garden? It's very rarely discussed. We live in the UK.
I'm really going to try to find a good wide garden, as you're right, you dont hear much about it.
I need to get some comfrey - it will help greatly. I have a pink geranium which spreads like a weed and therefore saves on weeding, however the pink flowers are too dominant. I'd love to have a blue geranium behave in this way, but it refuses to spread and doesn't seem self seed either - possibly because I have damp, clay soil
Thanks again
I'm referring to geranium Rozanne here!
I think it's wild as cranesbill
My blue geraniums don't spread either, although they're pretty resilient and seem to survive most weather and neglect.
Is mow-free May a program in the UK or just something you are choosing for your garden?
No mow May was started by a UK charity called Plantlife to help wildlife and it's become a national movement
Do you think that Phlox may out compete Ground Elder?
I've had phlox and it didn't in my garden, but so much depends on what your soil, climate etc are like.
Black plastic kill worms. Cardboard better.
I agree