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Original poster

The bane of my life in the garden now

224 replies

Catname · 30/03/2023 18:27

Sycamore seedlings. Thousands of them!

I’ve only tackled the ones in the flowerbeds but I’ve pulled out loads, and then I go back the next day and there are more, and more, and more. They are quite easy to pull out when it’s just the seed leaves but once they develop the first proper leaf, they get such a hold, and I’m doing it by hand as I want to see which of my lovely plants has self seeded (as I cannot grow anything from seed myself it would seem). I’m concerned that the ones in the lawn will get a good hold before it’s dry enough to cut the grass and then I’ll have a forest 🥴

Does anyone else have a plant they despise as much as I do sycamores?

OP posts:
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10
Hedjwitch · 15/04/2023 18:39

Ooh,I just bought Brazen Hussy today. Was that a mistake? I do have a very rambly garden though with lots of untidy creeping ground cover things.

Tr33sPl3as3 · 15/04/2023 19:17

Chickweed, dandelions, hairy bitter cress and clay soil?😩

Tr33sPl3as3 · 15/04/2023 19:18

And bloody creeping buttercup.😩

PenCreed · 15/04/2023 21:53

Argh, I’ve been away for three weeks and it feels everything in this thread will have taken over - sycamore, Spanish bluebells, herb robert… I was on top of it before we went!

Gremlinsateit · 16/04/2023 03:01

Do you have onion weed in the UK? If not, don’t. It’s my belief that there should be a special insurance exemption for blowing up your house and garden and starting all over again once the onion weed gets in.

user56912 · 16/04/2023 13:49

MereDintofPandiculation · 15/04/2023 10:31

I love the Spanish bluebells. They’re here to stay so they might as well look pretty. They’re a paler blue than native bluebells and not scented. So in my opinion not as pretty as the natives.

yours are almost certainly not spanish bluebells, but hybrids between spanish and native. And that’s the problem. Britain holds a huge proportion of the “native bluebell” Hyacinthoides non-scripta population, and anything that hybridises with it is a threat.

Mine aren’t out fully yet but do these look like English or Spanish?

The bane of my life in the garden now
viques · 16/04/2023 14:18

user56912 · 16/04/2023 13:49

Mine aren’t out fully yet but do these look like English or Spanish?

Show quote history

Spanish. The English ones are more delicate, the bells are slightly further apart and the stem curves over at the top so the bells hang down.

ChardonnaysBeastlyCat · 16/04/2023 14:47

One of my bluebell tuffs turned out to be white. I’ll keep those.

MereDintofPandiculation · 16/04/2023 14:55

viques · 16/04/2023 14:18

Spanish. The English ones are more delicate, the bells are slightly further apart and the stem curves over at the top so the bells hang down.

Show quote history

On the other hand those are a dark blue, and the bells are more tubular than flaring, so not Hyacinthoides hispanica. There’s a lot of native in them

MereDintofPandiculation · 16/04/2023 14:56

My mother never forgave me for wild marjoram.

user56912 · 16/04/2023 15:11

MereDintofPandiculation · 16/04/2023 14:55

On the other hand those are a dark blue, and the bells are more tubular than flaring, so not Hyacinthoides hispanica. There’s a lot of native in them

Show quote history

They’re in native oak and birch woodland rather than a created garden so not planted there deliberately

RoseAndRose · 16/04/2023 16:45

I've just spent the afternoon attacking allium triquetum (aka onion weed or three-cornered leek)

It's quite pretty (and apparently edible, though I've never tried it) and I think I'd be happy with it if it weren't such a dreadful thug. It's in Every Single Bed now, and just trying to beat it back to two or three spots has taken hours.

And just to round off the day, right now I smell of it

CoolShoeshine · 16/04/2023 19:13

I noticed a few of the small purple dead nettles in my lawn about a week ago and all of a sudden dozens have appeared. From looking at other local gardens and verges they seem to be in abundance this year. Have never seen so many before.

Jellykat · 16/04/2023 19:24

Sycamore seedlings are so easy to pull, try the bane in my garden - Ash seedlings! If you miss any you've had it almost immediately..

Kittykatchunjy · 16/04/2023 19:30

Knittedfairies · 08/04/2023 21:04

Acanthus (aka bears breeches). We've dug it up, nuked it, sworn at it... and it's coming up everywhere.

Omg yes! Can't believe I actually bought 3 of the wretched things a couple of years ago, they are absolutely dreadful

LexMitior · 16/04/2023 19:44

Still lesser celandine- which really really loves bark mulch. So glad I spent the money on the bark and its weed suppressing abilities.

Kittykatchunjy · 16/04/2023 20:25

Jellykat · 16/04/2023 19:24

Sycamore seedlings are so easy to pull, try the bane in my garden - Ash seedlings! If you miss any you've had it almost immediately..

We have ash and sycamore, I wish I could start a plantation and sell them ...

user56912 · 16/04/2023 20:57

I suspect I have literally millions of sycamore seedlings. I’ve never known it so bad.

Original poster
Catname · 16/04/2023 23:35

user56912 · 16/04/2023 20:57

I suspect I have literally millions of sycamore seedlings. I’ve never known it so bad.

If I was to count the ones in the lawn, I’d be competing with you. Luckily we managed to mow most of the lawn last week. Currently away for the week and hate to think how they will have grown in that time.

I once looked at a house that had been empty for around 5 years. It was literally in a forest of young sycamores.

OP posts:
Coxspurplepippin · 16/04/2023 23:47

DH refers to sycamore seedlings as 'weed trees'.

We lived next door to a family who couldn't have been less interested in their garden and it was covered in sycamore saplings. One growing next to the garden wall started pushing the wall over. DH obtained permission from neighbours to cut the damned thing down every time it reached a height of 3 feet.

Also birches.
And ivy.

Wrong plant, wrong place.

Halsall · 17/04/2023 22:19

Sycamore seedlings are about the only thing I don’t have. Bloody stonecrop is my main nightmare at the moment. It’s everywhere and makes huge carpets on the surface of the soil if given half a chance. You can literally peel it back like turf.

user56912 · 19/04/2023 20:13

user56912 · 16/04/2023 13:49

Mine aren’t out fully yet but do these look like English or Spanish?

Show quote history

This is one which is a bit further on

The bane of my life in the garden now
ChardonnaysBeastlyCat · 20/04/2023 17:29

user56912 · 19/04/2023 20:13

This is one which is a bit further on

Show quote history

That’s the good variety. Not the bastarding Spanish one.

Gardenclems · 20/04/2023 18:57

I didn’t know Spanish bluebells existed till this thread. I’ve been made up with my bluebells the past few weeks but I think I’ve got the bad kind

user56912 · 20/04/2023 18:59

Gardenclems · 20/04/2023 18:57

I didn’t know Spanish bluebells existed till this thread. I’ve been made up with my bluebells the past few weeks but I think I’ve got the bad kind

I think you have to just enjoy whichever you have. They’re a beautiful sight at this time of the year

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