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Getting rid of a wild flower bed

I took advantage of a BBC meadow flower seed offer some years ago and would now like to get rid of the bed it produced.  It sounds sacriligeous, but the rest of our garden supports loads of wildlife already.  The problem with the wild flower bed is that it had been taken over by a tall, messy, bullying thistle-like plant, that has seen off everything else.  The last straw was the borage plants disappearing.   

How can I start again with the bed (about 20 x 5 ft) without chemicals (we have a dog)? I've cut everything back to prevent self seeding, but I'm a bit wary of just digging everything over.  Any ideas?

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  • hogweedhogweed Posts: 4,053

    Just dig it over removing to bin all the greenery. There will still be seeds in the soil from years past but you are just going to have to deal with them in the coming years. What do you intend to do with the bed?

    'Optimism is the faith that leads to achievement' - Helen Keller
  • Thanks for that.  I guessed that would be the only way in the end.  The bed is shared with a lovely silver birch, so I'm open to suggestions.   Right now I'm thinking about more manageable pollinators, including shrubs - not too tall because my greenhouse is nearby.  It's south facing being at the bottom of a long north facing garden.  I've already got some comfrey growing there, which I want to keep, and plan to reintroduce the borage because apparently it replenishes it's nectar quicker than any other flower, including comfrey.  

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