Which weeds to focus on

[Ivebecomeagardenerbymistake]

I've got a new garden, much larger than I'm used to. I'm beginning to realise how much work it's going to be keeping the weeds under control! I've found all the below in the garden. Which would you focus on dealing with and why? Which would you leave be?

Bamboo
Ash saplings
Ragwort
Dandelions
Creeping buttercup
Herb robert
Ivy
Holly
Brambles
Violets (tiny)
Couch grass
Clover
Daisies
Cleavers
Wood Avens
?Downy buttercup
?Big leaf aster
Dock
Broad leaved willowherb

Thank you 😊

You won't be able to fight it on all frounts. I'd attempt to remove the bamboo and ash saplings. I wouldn't want the garden covered in bamboo and trees. Eco gardens are very inn.

Bamboo because if not it will kill everything else and in removing it you’ll probably kill everything anyway.

Violets are not a problem! They flower when not much else is and then die down till next year. In fact there is much on your list I wouldn't consider problem weeds - daisy, clover, holly, ivy (in the right spot) wood avens, aster, herb Robert…
The Banboo will be the biggest issue on your list. (I wouldn’t have bought a house with any in the garden)
Ivy and brambles next. Then the dreaded couch…
The rest can just be contained with regular weeding, but do your best not to let them seed this year if you’re dead set on getting rid.
A good thick layer of mulch on top of a thick cardboard layer has saved me hours on many a weedy flower bed. But it wont pause bamboo! Google no dig gardening, mostly for veg, but works just as well for flowerbeds.

There are 2 types of bamboo - clumping and non-clumping. The non-clumping plant doesn’t spread so much. Look around and see if there’s any new bamboo away from the main plant. If there’s no sign of it spreading it’s likely to be clumping and therefore not a major worry.

I’d remove the ash saplings straight away. They grow very quickly. After that, concentrate on weeds which have flowered and are now making seeds. It’s important to prevent these seeds escaping and making more weeds for next year. Willow herb and dandelions are main culprits here.

Then decide how to get rid of them. With the perennial weeds you’ve listed, you can use a systemic weed killer or, if you prefer to be more organic, either dig them out or cover the area and leave it for a couple of years. Other methods such as burning them with a weed killing wand or just pulling them up won’t be effective.

You can use a combination of these options by dividing your garden into areas you want to plant up soon and areas you’re happy to leave for a time.

Good luck!

Bamboo, ash saplings and brambles would be my top 3.

After that, pick the worst of the rest and deal with those for the next 3 times you go out there. Then choose the next worse and keep doing that.

Agree with this. Leave the dandelions though, they grow where they are needed and do a whole lot of good for your soil.

If the bamboo is the clumping type it won’t be hard to remove.

Thank you everyone. Interesting no-one has mentioned creeping buttercup which I thought was meant to be really bad.

Re the bamboo, it was on our neighbour's land when we saw the house and then crept over our side of the fence. I've ordered some concentrated glyphosate to deal with it.

Will pull up the ash saplings pronto, thank you for the advice.

I'm very happy to go down the no dig and eco gardening routes. I have already realised that it is going to be a case of managed wilderness really. The wildlife should be happy at least!

No Dig on very weedy ground will basically feed the weeds. Ask me how I know...Ground really needs to be cleared before a no dig approach is started.

Creeping Buttercup is a bugger but really, it isn't as bad as the Bamboo, ash seedlings or brambles. It can be in the lawn and be mowed and not cause many issues. Brambles really need to be cut back and then the base roots dug out otherwise they will just keep coming back.

Agree with other PPs - bamboo, ash saplings & brambles. Although if you can tame & contain the brambles to a small area they are beneficial for wildlife - berries etc.
A lot of the weeds you mention are also food plants for various caterpillars & bees - willow herb for Elephant Hawk Moths; ragwort for cinnabar moths; holly for blue holly butterflies & ivy for Ivy bees.
Its probably more about getting it under control & managing it.

Bamboo NOW
Ash saplings NOW
Ragwort
Dandelions
Creeping buttercup NEXT
Herb robert
Ivy NEXT
Holly LEAVE
Brambles NEXT
Violets (tiny) LEAVE
Couch grass
Clover LEAVE
Daisies LEAVE
Cleavers
Wood Avens LEAVE
?Downy buttercup
?Big leaf aster
Dock
Broad leaved willowherb

The plants I've said now are because when they take hold they really take hold and are hard to removed.
The plants I have said next need to be removed, but not urgently. They are a pain but easily enough gotten on top of.
The plants I've said leave is because they give so much to wildlife.
The ones I've not written next to is because they can be removed as and when, or don't know much about

Thanks everyone, this is so helpful. The ash saplings come from three mature ash trees in the garden which I plan to have cut down completely after the nesting season, ie September. Or would you have them taken down before that?

Pretty sure it’s illegal to remove trees during nesting season especially if they have nests in.
why do you want to get rid of them?

Remove the ragwort, it is considered a noxious weed and is highly poisonous to grazing animals. It is illegal to allow it to spread to land used for grazing, so if you are in the countryside, that is job number one.

I would also suggest you get rid of the ash saplings asap - they grow very quickly indeed, and the bigger they get, the harder to get rid of.

Cleavers is a pain in the arse, so remove as much of that as you can before it sets seed this year. Those little round sticky balls are a nightmare.

Everything else can be tackled as and when, but try and deadhead anything that is going to seed itself everywhere.

If that bamboo is creeping in from next door's garden I'm afraid you have quite a long war of attrition on your hands. Is it running riot in your neighbour's garden or are they trying to contain it too?

I agree with this action list, except for dock. That is really easy to pull out when small, and a massive pain if you let it grow a big tap root. So pull small ones whenever you see them, and chop the big ones now so they don't set seed. Tackle the big ones properly in the 'next' stage.

Thank you!

I believe the neighbours have dealt with the bamboo on their side, but in the meantime it's come over to our side of the fence.

I'd like the ash trees to come down as they are too close to the house for my comfort and they are only going to get bigger. There are other trees that the ash trees are getting in the way of and I want them to have space to grow. I might replace one of them with a smaller tree but generally there are already loads of trees in the garden and the ash trees are the most potentially problematic.

Glyphosate won’t work on bamboo if you use it conventionally. The only way to stop it is a two person job, and you need a syringe. One person cuts the stem as low as possible, the other injects the cut stem IMMEDIATELY, if you wait a minute the Sap seals the stem and it won’t work.

I was told this at Wisley and it was the only thing that worked on the horrendous plantation we inherited ( even the neighbours plow failed….).

Get going right away. iMHO it is worse than knotweed, and we had both to contend with.

Thanks for the advice. If necessary we will get back the people who sorted it for our neighbours as they seemed to do a good job.

What kind of syringe do you use?

Couch grass, dandelions (because they seed everywhere), brambles are best pulled up in Dec/ Jan so you can pull up the root too.
Ash trees round here have ash die back and seed prolifically -pull them when they’re little.

Even just pulling the tops off helps as it will stop the flowers seeding.

You are fortunate you don't have bindweed in amongst all that stuff. Ash is very easy to pull out when it's small - keep on top of it or it becomes a big job.
I find brambles hard to control as well - I use glyphosate on them but they still reappear every year.

I can't comment on all of these, but I notice clover is on your list - I'd keep this as it helps to fix nitrogen in the soil, and looks nice and green. I've sown clover into grass on purpose, and use it as green mulch in beds - keeps the cats out.