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This weed is taking over my allotment
poppybrighton
Posts: 6
Hello
Can anyone please identify this weed that has covered my allotment? If I remove it all this year, will I stop it reappearing next year? This is the first year I've had my allotment and I'm wondering if something went to seed and spread. The flowers are very small, yellowish.
Thanks in advance
0
Posts
This is Annual Mercury rather than Dog's Mercury.
Thank you!
If it self-seeded, you will have to keep hoeing the seedlings for a few years - this and many other common weeds have a seed viability in soil of about 6-7 years (hence the phrase " One year's seeds, 7 years weeds".) It would be worth putting black plastic or similar down if you can on any unused areas as this will make the seed germinate because of the extra heat it produces but they will then die due to lack of light. In modern parlance, that is called 'soil solarization'.