Spanish bluebells -getting rid

[Hardertobreathe]

Not lived here long but discovered last year that the millions of bluebells were Spanish bluebells.
I dug and dug and, as far as I could see, there were no more bulbs.

I couldn’t believe it when huge clumps came up this year bigger and better than before. I’ve dug loads out again and there were great big fat bulbs, that were definitely not there after I dug last time, along with millions of little tiny bulbs. Am I going to have to do this every year for several years does anyone know? It means I won’t be able to plant anything or I risk having to dig it up each year to get rid of the bluebells.

I don’t just mean the foliage - I had a small garden and the bulbs themselves were like a compact layer a few inches below the soil and nothing else could or did grow there. I think the previous owner had just left them to spread until there was nothing else in the garden. I had to clear the bulbs to be able to plant anything because as soon as you put your spade in all that came up was bulbs.

Ah, I have a perennial fuchsia and lemon balm in the same bed, they have no problems competing for space, also a load of cyclamens which are very shallow rooted, they all grow along together happily as long as I get rid of the stems and foliage of the bluebells promptly.

@Whatthechicken, the pic of your chooks among the bluebells is so fab it would make a great greetings card! You should get some printed - I'd buy a few.

I dug out more than 2 wheelbarrow loads of Spanish bluebells earlier in the year. I'll be interested to see how many return next year.

I live quite close to woods with native bluebells, so I'm trying to get rid of the invaders. Now we've left the EU, they should all sod off back to Spain.

Sadly, I suspect mine have already got "settled status".

they should all sod off back to Spain. Except that they are vanishingly unlikely to be Spanish. Spanish are incredibly rare in this country. Every non-native bluebell you see is almost certainly a hybrid, so dual nationality