It’s spring and the garden is shooting up – and so are the weeds! Here I look at the pros and cons of plants that will help suppress weeds – but could they be too invasive for you? Plus launch of the Middlesized Garden ‘Behind the Scenes’.
00:00 Welcome
00:21 Size and shape of the Middlesized Garden, also the weather & climate
01:08 Dealing with frost damaged plants
01:51 The parterre – cutting down the ornamental grasses in pots
02:22 Euphorbia ‘Wulfenii’ (Mediterranean spurge)
02:57 Smynium perfoliatum (Perfoliate Alexanders) – is it too invasive?
03:30 No Mow May
04:00 Plants that help stop weeds?
04:54 Comfrey – check whether it’s too invasive for your area
05:04 Getting rid of ground elder by covering it up
05:36 Two different meanings of ‘invasive’
06:41 Why I’d rather have comfrey than ground elder
07:52 Launching ‘Behind the Scenes’ on the Middlesized Garden
08:47 Spring gardening tips playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLrZRLHPUbGmDUeQFH-_QqIfLCO3b4u5qA
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I'm on a half acre and not as spry as I once was so the areas that are just impossible to keep unwanted plants out of I just leave the plastic down, put (free) mulch on top, and cut holes in the plastic when I want to introduce a new plant or shrub.
Oh, you looked especially pretty today.
Hello, I will also be mowing the lawn where it adjoins the borders. Same problem, different plants but that’s the magic of continuously learning by experience. Your garden is beautiful and this channel is a joy. Thank you ????????
Thank you for another lovely video!!
Thank you, Alexandra ????????????
Your Spring blossoms are stunning! Watching this I'm pleasantly reminded of Joan Hickson playing Agatha Christie's Miss Marple in the tv adaptation of 'At Bertram's Hotel'. Having uncovered a crime syndicate at the beautifully curated hotel, in the final scene she declares: 'It's like ground elder…there's nothing you can do but dig up the whole border'. So I'm rather relieved that you've found the perfect antidote instead…pretty flowered comfrey, to gracefully out-compete the ground elder!
Thanks a lot. Very useful. I wonder if you could offer some tips on white fly? Iam in Belgium and I can see them flying here and there already with the season hardly being started. I had a hard time last year trying to control them.
Another wonderful video ????
I love to see your garden at different times of the year. During our long drought, the weeds were small, but produced lots of seeds, making it very tedious to remove them. With our rain this year, the weeds are larger, but fewer. I have areas that I can't plant right now, but using cardboard and mulch from my own leaves and cuttings (sheet mulching) has worked very well to reduce the weeds. I'll toss nasturtium seeds, or crumble dead alyssum over the top, and now have some nice hardy volunteers to brighten things up. Great tips as always.
Thank you for pointing out both the benefits and problems with choices like no mow May.
A great subject to talk about, ground covering! Thank you. I have a weed similar to ground elder I suppose called dollar weed. We have a very high water table here so it is impossible to eradicate with the deep runners and any piece of the plant can break off and root! I will do anything to out compete it! Looking for many ways to do this from tree roots to ground coverings.
I battled ground elder last year in a huge patch of garden, smothering it with stacks of cardboard for a year and then digging up the roots, what a pain! Thank you for the tip on Comfrey, I'll be transplanted a few clumps into that now empty patch.
Happy Easter from Greenville SC!
Euphorbia wulfenii is a wonderful plant in my garden (Northern California). I have to pull out dozens of seedlings every spring and summer though. I pull them at the same time I weed out all the oak seedlings sown by the squirrels in fall.
Happy Easter!
We have to hire an invasive specialist cause what I thought was a flourishing garden and woodland was actually just all invasives ???? learning gardening the hard way ????
I look forward to seeing your informative posts thank you very much .
I always so appreciate your videos. Thanks so much for talking about cutting back plants that have been damaged by bad weather. The natural reaction is to cut out the dead looking parts and, as you said, it just encourages more growth. We have some pretty invasive species here, mainly Chinese Yaupon, Chinese Tallow, and Chinese Private. They spread everywhere. We also have a weed that grows into a tree called Water Oak. They are fast growing. Recently the arboretum near us had a native plant sale and I was able to get many native plants for my "English" garden. <3 Thanks again for the informative video.
Thank you for this video!!! I especially enjoyed the "covering weeds" part. Here in the southeast USA we get the famous invasive weed known as Bermuda Grass. The best that I can do is to cover the weeds with plants(hide the Bermuda), and thus blocking the sun from the weed. It spreads underground, on top of the ground, and self seeds. It actively grows in hot weather. So, sweeping it under the carpet, by planting other taller plants has become my go to solution.
Good morning and Happy Easter from Pennsylvania, USA
Comfrey is great, although requires periodic thinning. Exercise for myself, and so good for feeding bees… The rotted leaves make an incredibly effective liquid fertiliser.
Loads of helpful information thank you. Love your show
Lynch station Virginia USA
I continue to follow you from Lexington, KY in the US. So very much enjoy your videos and information you research and share. I looked back and it has been since about 2019. Thank you!! I have a horrible time with what we call creeping charlie. SO invasive and yes creeps into the lawn and everywhere. I am constantly pulling it out from March to Oct. I refuse pesticides. Also two new invasive weeds were introduced by bringing in farm mulch/manuer, garlic root and wild carrot. NOT HAPPY about these either. Since I'm down on the ground weeding, these are pulled too. I'll look at your video on weeds.
Ajuga reptans (I have the purple leaf version) seems to be able to go up against the grass lawn here in a somewhat shaded area.
Such an accurate and helpful video! I think you have settled on the perfect compromise. Your garden looks just lovely. ❤
Burning bush is a stunner, thanks for another informative video.
Hello from the USA, happy to see you dear lady. As always your knowledge of gardening is helpful and timely. Thank you for your helpful videos.
Geranium Rozanne is good for covering large areas and can be divided up to help cover more areas over time. I’m tired of taking out comfrey in my clients gardens where it’s been allowed to get well out of hand.
Good evening from Auckland, New Zealand.