What is this root? Iris?

[NippyNinjaCrab]

Hello, I am not a gardener at all, I love plants and flowers but have no knowledge apart from water and feed. We have recently moved to a rural cottage and there was a lot of bindweed, even down a drain,.which we cut back and weed killed. These root like things have appeared, I googled and it came back with a yellow iris. Is this correct and is this another invasive thing?. We also had a vast amount of mares tail which was weed killed. I just wanted a lovely cottage garden, it looks like I've inherited all the invasive beasts that won't be killed 😂 help. X

It looks like it could be an iris tuber - it is not a weed!

Yes I agree, definitely iris tuber. Leave it be and see what it does in the spring, should be in flower in May. If you don't like the colour or where it is, you can dig it out and get rid of put it somewhere else in the garden. They're pretty tough.
I wouldn't say they're invasive in the same way as bindweed or mares tail. But they will slowly spread if they're happy and you let them.
I hope you enjoy your new garden op... Said kindly - please go easy with the weedkiller if you can now you've got rid of the bindweed etc 🙏

Iris tubers need to be on the surface of the soil so don't cover it up.
Mighe be worth waiting a while to see what else comes upbeforr you start clearing bits of the garden. They could be all sorts of exciting free plants.

Agree; take it slowly. A good foundation for your cottage garden may already be there.

I have a cottage garden OP and love that tumbling effect. I inherited bindweed and brambles so feel your pain. I'm not a weed killer or bug killer user so instead just kept pulling them up every single time I saw them. They give up eventually if the just can't establish.

I also, crowded them out by keeping planting other things. Improving the soil by mulching is also a good way to go as it will give your new plants a great start and smother weed seeds. I grow organically and, even without weedkiller, my plants now dominate the weeds and, even after only a couple of years, I rarely see bindweed or brambles now.

Enjoy your lovely garden and lay off the weed killer (and bug killer if you use it) and you'll be rewarded not only with a beautiful garden but all the wildlife that come to enjoy it with you.

Yeah, please lay off the pesticides.

Thank you all for the replies, I promise no more weedkiller etc. This is good news re the tubers so I will leave well alone. I cant wait for the weather to get better, everything is a mud pool but there is good drainage. My idea was to have it with climbers that are easy to care for and plant for each season so I always have something beautiful to look at. DH wants to cover the border areas with stones but I am winning against that idea. The one side of the garden seems to be the litter tray for all the neighbourhood cats, my dogs are having a delightful time chomping on the poo nuggets! We've covered this area over with pallets at the moment, any advice how to deter the cats? I adore cats and have had cats, I just dont want the dogs chomping the poo.
What do I use for mulching? X

Thank you for refraining from weed killer, it kills bees and other beneficial creatures, too. Pulling weeds by hand is always the best approach.

I hope you get lots of lovely surprises in spring when the plants start popping up. You have a golden opportunity to establish a native garden that will greatly help the birds, bees and wildlife.

On the cats: people say cayenne pepper sprinkled liberally about will help. Or maybe soak some rags in vinegar (don't put vinegar in your flower beds) and put them in saucers or bowls or on those pallets?

It looks like crocosmia to me, Lucifer, the variety. Have you tried to take this up and break into those "coins"?

I didn't want to do anything at all until I was 100% sure what I was doing. I did have other photos but I couldn't upload them. I am a total novice with gardening and what to do when.

@CheeseIsMyIdol I will get some more cayenne pepper today. The garden to the rear will be split into 3 areas, compost area, dogs and our seating area. The front can be a haven bees butterflies and birds. I'd like easy things to manage though x

Definitely don't break it up! It is an iris and definitely not crocosmia and if you break it up it will die.

Sorry, I thought it was crocosmia. The colouring is very brown/orangey and the ridges gave way to thinking it wasn't an iris. As it's lying flat on the surface, it is an iris. Sorry for misleading you, OP.

@irridium that's how we all start out in gardening. No harm done and now you can identify iris tubers so that's a useful thing to know. They can be a much paler colour too.

@irridium don't apologise, it's not much of a pic, it won't upload the better ones. It is a bit better weather today so I will have a wee potter and do some weeding, by hand 😊 and see what else I can uncover. X