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Spanish bluebells

rosemummyrosemummy Posts: 2,010
in Problem solving
i inherited a front garden full of Spanish bluebell so, pretty enough, but I am worried about English ones& they are rampant, I managed to dig a fair few upnover the last couple of years but I have planted densley& it's now hard to get in there& do much, what should I do? Boiling water ? Glyphosate gel? Leave them? ( though I fear they take over) advice needed please

Posts

  • Joyce21Joyce21 Posts: 15,489
    Remove all the leaves. This deprives the bulbs of food for next year's flowers. It may take you two to three years to get of them all.
    SW Scotland
  • Kitty 2Kitty 2 Posts: 5,150
    I've been pulling the leaves out for a couple of years now @rosemummy and can see a definite reduction in growth. It really does work 😊.
    Much easier method than the digging I had tried previously, and doesn't disturb the surrounding plants in the bed.
  • DampGardenManDampGardenMan Posts: 1,054
    And, if you haven't got time to pull all the leaves off, at least get the flower stalks off and bin them so the bees can't spread the pollen to any English ones in the vicinity. The big strap-like leaves are a menace in a bed though, they smother everything around them.
  • rosemummyrosemummy Posts: 2,010
    Ooh thanks Joyce, off to do 10 minutes now! ...thought I'd posted that! Half an hour later think have got about 70% of the leaves, goodness, may even have room for some more plants!😃Thanks for idea!
  • JellyfireJellyfire Posts: 1,139
    The leaves do tend to bully everything out of their way. Having said that, if you dont have any native bluebells anywhere nearby, then there is really no need to worry, you can always just admire them, they are lovely plants in the right place
  • LynLyn Posts: 23,190
    Don’t  they spread, Ive just pulled up one bulb and it’s got 16 babies round the edge. 
    Gardening on the wild, windy west side of Dartmoor. 

  • JellyfireJellyfire Posts: 1,139
    They do spread like crazy, but pretty easy to control the spread by just pulling up any leaves where you dont want them. Digging out the bulbs is very tricky as they tend to be pretty deep, but they soon give up the ghost if you take the leaves off them early on
  • rosemummyrosemummy Posts: 2,010
    Thanks all, had a lovely time pulling the leaves off, I did get myself in a& e previously trying to dig up bulbs, I've aldi been cutting loads of flowers, nicer in a vase where the bees can't get to them! 
  • dogfonosdogfonos Posts: 5
    Has anyone tried laying weed suppressant fabric over swarths of bluebells in an attempt to kill them off?

    I need to remove a bed full of Spanish bluebells. There are only a handful of other plants in the bed and no perennials. Smothering them seems like a good idea but I've 'researched' this and can't find any mention of this method being used on invasive bluebells.

    I ask because, from my own and others' experiences, digging out bluebell bulbs and applying weedkiller isn't usually successful and breaking off new leaves will take years. I started digging the bulbs out this afternoon but they're so densely packed together it's impossible to separate the plants. The leaves break off easily too in my heavy clay soil which hinders locating the bulbs. Clearly, digging is not going to work in this particular instance hence the smothering idea. I could leave the weed suppressant fabric down all year and into next spring if that would likely work. Opinions and suggestions appreciated.
  • B3B3 Posts: 27,505
    Hoe them. Forget them. Repeat for a few years. You'll win - eventually.
    Many of the bulbs go elbow-deep and beyond.
    In London. Keen but lazy.
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