3 more weed ID's, please!

[spandit]

Think this is bugle, ajuga reptans, but would like to be sure:

This is a different blue flower, it's certainly pretty:

Finally, this looks very similar to the osier viminalis willow that I've got sprouting elsewhere but it's soft stemmed:

 

[Toddy]

Middle one's Speedwell.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Veronica_(plant)

M

p.s. Top one's Bugle, I think.
http://www.google.co.uk/search?q=bu...arkive.org%2Fbugle%2Fajuga-reptans%2F;650;431

Bottom one looks like willowherb of some variety.
http://www.dalswildlifesite.com/thewillowherbs.htm

If it's of any help, I'm weeding out willowherb just now; it's suddenly shooting up all over the place. The stems are still soft and 'juicy' and the leaves are very green and fresh just now.

 

[spandit]

Willow herb sounds so obvious now! Anything's better than the dock and bracken that is coming up in force (although dock apparently has the benefit of bringing up deep nutrients and if I cut it, it should help mulch out some of the grass). Brambles are rampant too, unfortunately but so many seedlings coming up I can't just mow them down (if my mower would even get up there)

We've also got some bluebells coming up too and we'll be planting some more snowdrops that we're digging up elsewhere

 

[Toddy]

Have you got a sickle ? or a machete? Dock, bracken and bramble all succumb eventually to the slashing blade Just take it with you when you go for a walk. It's great exercise, very therapeutic too
Come to think on it, so does willowherb.

atb,
M

 

[spandit]

I have got a machete. Thinking of investing in a scythe too.

Had to do some emergency mulching too - found some trees that I thought had died but had actually sprouted very low down (the top is dead). The grass had grown up inside the tube and blocked out the tree so I ripped it up and laid it down around the tree. It's held down by the tube so should let the tree gain some more ground

 

[Harvestman]

Top one is indeed Bugle.

Middle one is Germander speedwell (there are lots of speedwells and they aren't easy, but that one is pretty straightforward)

Bottom one is definitely a willowherb, but without seeing it in flower I couldn't say more (and they are even more tricky anyway).

 

[spandit]

I never fail to be impressed by the knowledge on this forum. I see from the Wikipedia entry for germander speedwell that it's listed as a weed - why do people think it's less desirable than grass? I'm hoping some scarlet pimpernel turns up to add even more colour to my wildflower meadow

 

[Harvestman]

I never fail to be impressed by the knowledge on this forum. I see from the Wikipedia entry for germander speedwell that it's listed as a weed - why do people think it's less desirable than grass? I'm hoping some scarlet pimpernel turns up to add even more colour to my wildflower meadow

Scarlet pimpernel likes dry bare ground, so you get it at the edges of paths, or in flower beds that have dried up, but it struggles in a meadow as it is such a low-growing species. Give it a bit of disturbed ground in a sunny spot.

 

[ebt.]

Glad i read these, I'd been hunting for an ID on speedwell too. growing like wildfire around stanmer....

 

[Harvestman]

Glad i read these, I'd been hunting for an ID on speedwell too. growing like wildfire around stanmer....

Stick up a picture and I'll have a go. Leaf shape is important as well as the flower.

 

[spandit]

In fairness, the dock flowers are quite pretty too, anything that attracts more insects, especially bees, is good in my book.

 

[Toddy]

Willowherb is actually a lovely plant; it's just that it's seeds spread so widely that it becomes a pest. Bit like dandelion...imagine if they came in a range of colours would we be so quick to howk them out ?

I too like my grass full of weeds; I grow both the selfheal and the forget me nots in mine. I left it one year to grow as a meadow, but it just doesn't work in a suburban garden like mine It just looked really, really unkempt, uncared for.
So I just grow 'weeds' in pots instead Like the bistort.
Would you like aquilegias ?, bluebells? foxgloves ? and I can probably manage mallows as well if you'd like seeds/seedlings. They are all native, hardy and they'll grow just about anywhere. They'd all give height in a meadow too, and they all feed insects.

M

 

[spandit]

I'd like anything that might out compete the dock/bracken/brambles. We've got loads of forget-me-not around the garden but not sure how to get it into the paddocks - I presume it will turn to seed later on?

Only noticed today that all the daffodils have gone. They were spectacular, though and they'll be back in force next spring, I've no doubt

 

[Harvestman]

Best way to encourage wildflowers is to make sure that whener you mow or cut you collect all of the cuttings and remove them, don't leave them to rot down into the soil. The less nutrients you have in the soil, paradoxically the more wildflowers you will get. Rich soil gets dominated by a few strongly competitive species, but poor soil doesn't allow them to thrive, so you get more variety.

You can get decent results in just a few years just by doing that and nothing else. It helps if you let plants set seed before you cut them too.

 

[Toddy]

Sweep around the forget me not plants with a wee brush and dustpan and scatter the dusty stuff in a bare looking patch of your meadow (where you've dug out some docks or chopped down the bracken) and they'll happily sprawl their way through everything.
I have to watch, the ones in my garden go mouldy but we're sodden wet here, we really are. The sparrows love the seeds from the forget me nots and the poached egg plants. The pigeons guzzle the poached egg ones too and the little round ones from the lesser celandines as well. They're flattening the bluebells just now to get at the celandines

M

 

[British Red]

Try ox eye daisy and red campion Spandit - they swarm over most things in my garden - fox and cubs spreads like wildfire too

 

[spandit]

Try ox eye daisy and red campion Spandit - they swarm over most things in my garden - fox and cubs spreads like wildfire too

Grass is so thick that getting seeds into the soil is going to be difficult. Still thinking of making some shotgun shells. Must plant some poppy seeds too

 

[British Red]

Have you thought of strimming it down and using a tined aerator to punch holes? Then mix the seeds you want with sand and sprinkle in.

That said, I like the sound of the shotgun more

 

[spandit]

I don't want to rely on petrol powered machinery. Just spent an hour or so hacking away with a machete - it's bare earth under the docks/nettles. I've sprinkled some lupin, poppy & ragged robin seeds around. Hoping the dock leaves will provide some nutrients as they rot down.

Will be interesting to see if the dock plants regrow from the root again. They're fun to chop anyway and it's far easier than trying to dig the roots out.

 

[British Red]

My tined aerator is manual - just a frame, some hollow tines and some springs Either way, I hope it takes for you!