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Original poster

Please could you identify this weed?

29 replies

CruCru · 27/12/2014 13:09

And how to get rid of it? It isn't ugly but it's spreading fast. I've tried to dig it out but the underground stems are all linked and not at all easy to reach. I've ordered a sickle but wondered whether there is something else I should be doing.

Thanks!

Please could you identify this weed?
Please could you identify this weed?
Please could you identify this weed?
OP posts:
CorporeSarnie · 27/12/2014 13:19

Ecologist DH thinks may be ground ivy, his suggestion is glyphosate (roundup), apparently a pita to get rid of.

AuditAngel · 27/12/2014 13:30

It looks like bindweed to me. Are the stalks entwined around each other? If do, you need to dig out all the roots and tendrils or it keeps re growing. It is a big job.

SwanneeKazoo · 27/12/2014 13:40

Read or heard on GQT a long while ago that the best way to get rid of bindweed is to train it up a post. When the post(s - depending on your level of infestation) is well covered, get some systemic herbicide in a bucket and splodge it liberally all over the leaves and stems. You must wear rubber gloves to do this and be careful not to get it on any plants you want to keep. The poison will be taken up by the plant and kill it and the attached roots. I have not tried this method so far, but will this spring as I seem to have the national bindweed collection in my garden.

Original poster
CruCru · 27/12/2014 13:45

Isn't bindweed the stuff that has white flowers similar to the trumpets on daffodils?

OP posts:
Original poster
CruCru · 27/12/2014 13:50

The leaves are smooth and rounded, they look a bit like an aquatic plant, except they're not in a pond.

OP posts:
eddiemairswife · 27/12/2014 14:01

Bindweed was called convolvulus when I was a child.

CorporeSarnie · 27/12/2014 14:35

Yes, bindweed is the stuff with white flowers. It could be coltsfoot, are the stems coloured?
For any of the plants mentioned, systemic herbicide is the most effective option. You will need a period of dry, sunny weather for this to work properly, rain will wash it away. Otherwise any leftover routes will re-establish the infestation.

Original poster
CruCru · 27/12/2014 15:00

Yep, it looks a lot like coltsfoot. According to Google, it grows well in heavy clay, in shade and can be invasive. Yep, that sounds like it.

OP posts:
Ferguson · 27/12/2014 20:58

Glyphosate mixed in wallpaper paste and PAINTED onto leaves probably best way.

Bearleigh · 27/12/2014 22:20

Could it be Celandine:

www.wildflowersofstrathclydepark.org.uk/Celandine%20Lesser.htm

We used to have Celandine in our garden under trees, and it was a real weed - lots of brittle roots. I think keeping digging it out got rid in the end, but glyphosate would be quicker...

funnyperson · 28/12/2014 00:43

Yes I'm thinking Celandine with yellow flowers in spring. Monty did a piece on it in gardeners world once. One can choose to leave a patch of it in.

PurpleWithRed · 28/12/2014 13:38

Can you post some pix of the roots and what it looks like if you dig a bit up?

Namechangeyetagaintohide · 28/12/2014 13:47

Ecologist here too, I don't think ground ivy, colts foot or bindweed. It looks familiar but having a blank. I don't have my damn book with me. Will have a think.

Namechangeyetagaintohide · 28/12/2014 13:59

Could well be lesser celandine actually.

MaudantWit · 28/12/2014 14:02

It looks very much like celandine to me.

MaudantWit · 28/12/2014 14:04

Oh and be very wary of trying to dig celandine out, as it tends to leave bulbils behind which make new plants.

Ferguson · 28/12/2014 21:57

Yes, I also thought celandine at first. That CAN be dug out, if you are careful to get all the bulbils as well. At least it not such a big problem as bindweed that restarts from a tiny scrap of root.

Original poster
CruCru · 29/12/2014 10:11

Ah, yes, it could be celadine too. To be honest, it looks nice on a steep slope under some trees where not a whole lot grows but it is in a bed where I don't want it - so I'll zap it with glyphosate where I don't want it. It appears to have purple flowers not yello but those might be the alliums I put in.

OP posts:
ppeatfruit · 30/12/2014 13:09

The leaves are large but if it has delicate purpley flowers in the early spring then it's violets which are lovely why would you want to get rid of them? I love mine and let them grow where they want.

Celandine are alright too Grin can you tell I value my wildlife garden ? Grin The weedkillers kill wildlife too.

MaudantWit · 30/12/2014 13:49

Curiouser and curiouser. The leaves (particularly in the left-most photo) look very like celandine, but, if the flowers are indeed purple, all bets are off. They don't look like violet leaves.

funnyperson · 30/12/2014 20:49

There is a mix of leaves in the picture, perhaps some violets are hid between the celandine.

Callmegeoff · 30/12/2014 23:13

I have that weed, it has purple flowers in February a bit like Hosta stalks, I did find out what it is but have forgotten. I have had no luck in getting rid, it's very spready.

Namechangeyetagaintohide · 31/12/2014 00:04

Purple flowers ? Oh that changes things. What do they look like ? Violety ? Like this ?

The leaves don't seem like a violet to me either. If it's non native there isn't a chance I will recognise it Grin.
I shall think some more.

Namechangeyetagaintohide · 31/12/2014 00:14

OP how big is it ? Is it common butterbur by any chance ? Only that can get quite large and your plant looks quite small..

Callmegeoff · 31/12/2014 16:35

www.seasonalwildflowers.com/january/winter-heliotrope.html

I think it's this :)