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Lesser Celandine - Should I remove it?

clueless_gardenerclueless_gardener Posts: 14
edited May 2018 in Plants
Hello.

I have a small patch of lesser calendine (Ficaria verna) in my garden. Should I get rid of it? It seems fairly self-contained at the moment. It's in a little shady wooded area - although I did spot some growing in my lawn which might be a concern. I've heard it's a voracious weed. I've enough of those, I don't want another taking hold of my garden because I didn't nip it in the bud.

I'm not an overly tidy gardener; my garden is meant to be wildlife friendly with the wooded area a little bit semi-wild, for the birds and bugs. At the same time I don't want an uncontrollable wilderness on my hands!

What would you do? I already have a Herb Bennet infestation because a load of it set seed last year (and boy am I regretting that!). Will the calendine be similarly problematic? 
My blog: https://cluelessgardener.co.uk/
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  • punkdocpunkdoc Posts: 15,039
    You can try, but you won't succeed :)
    How can you lie there and think of England
    When you don't even know who's in the team

    S.Yorkshire/Derbyshire border
  • DampGardenManDampGardenMan Posts: 1,054
    I like celandines (note spelling!). They're a cheerful harbinger of spring. They do spread in damp soils, but they do their thing and then "vanish". And, as Punkdoc says, you won't get rid of them anyway as they produce dozens of tiny "bulbs" (bulbils), which are all but impossible to eradicate. They also give celandines their common name of Pilewort :)
  • clueless_gardenerclueless_gardener Posts: 14
    edited May 2018
    Oooh :sweat: Should I be worried?

    Should I just leave it be or at least try to limit the spread?

    Thanks for the info. And the spelling correction :smiley: I've been totally misreading it!
    My blog: https://cluelessgardener.co.uk/
  • fidgetbonesfidgetbones Posts: 17,618
    I have an infestation. I leave them to flower, then I dig them all out when I put the summer annuals in. Next year they are there again.
  • DampGardenManDampGardenMan Posts: 1,054
    If the ground is not too damp then they probably won't spread far. If it is damp, and you don't want them to spread, you could try digging them out which might slow them down but it won't get rid of them completely (as some bulbils will certainly remain in the soil).  And of course you might unintentionally spread them around a bit more!

    How big is your shady area? What else is in it?
  • FireFire Posts: 19,096
    I like them. The leaves die back fairly soon so the plant disappears for another year.
  • clueless_gardenerclueless_gardener Posts: 14
    It has 4 mature trees in it. I guess it's about 25 square metres? At the moment it's mainly weeds including grass. There is some weeping sedge which I'll probably dig out and replace with ferns at some point. There are some ferns, some native UK bluebells and a little patch of London Pride which I'm trying to propagate through the area. I'd say it's a fairly damp garden in the winter. Not boggy though.
    My blog: https://cluelessgardener.co.uk/
  • B3B3 Posts: 27,505
    Enjoy them, hoe them ,forget about them until next year.
    They don't do any harm that I've noticed.
    In London. Keen but lazy.
  • LynLyn Posts: 23,190
    Gardens here were covered in it, I have practically eradicated it, along with ground elder,  but still a few pop up, which I leave.
    Gardening on the wild, windy west side of Dartmoor. 

  • clueless_gardenerclueless_gardener Posts: 14
    OK, thanks everyone. I'll leave them be. They're quite pretty and I do like them!
    My blog: https://cluelessgardener.co.uk/
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