Hi I recently bought some English bluebell bulbs in the green and have just planted them. Since then, I’ve read a few comments saying that people find them really invasive. I was wondering what other people’s experience is?
You only have to look at a British woodland in April to admire their proclivities, but do you want that in your own garden? Up to you of course.. I did try it, they're ok for a few years but it's not long..
I'll just quote from the late Christopher Lloyd.. ''I do not recommend introducing bluebells to your flower borders. Their foliage dies conspicuously, they seed freely and the bulbs find their way to such a low level as to be hard to dig out.''..
I have an ongoing battle with spanish bluebells so I wouldn't plant english ones (there are lots in the woods so I can go and see them when they're in flower, and in any case they hybridise given half a chance). Whether you'll find them invasive most likely depends where you've planted them. If it's a woodland-type area in amongst trees and shrubs where you don't want to include much else in the underplanting they'll be fine (but watch out for seedlings where you don't want them). In a more open herbaceous/mixed border where you want to grow other things as well, maybe not a good choice.
Doncaster, South Yorkshire. Soil type: sandy, well-drained
Hyacintha non scripta...our wonderful native blue bell. They are fine if you have a huge wood to put them in. Then they can grow to their hearts content.
Otherwise I agree with Christopher Lloyd. They are impossible to kill. I tried to remove a patch which were in the wrong place. For several years I removed every mature leaf, every flower stalk. But they still kept coming back. Agree that digging bulbs out doesn't work either.
I have no idea how thieves ever dig them up to sell..illegally of course.
I wouldn't, they are lovely to look at in a natural setting but not in a domestic garden for the reasons well summarised above. You could put your new bulbs in pots now to enjoy them but remove the flowers as soon as they start to fade and produce seed, you'll also contain the bulb development that way. You could sink the pots in the ground if you prefer them at that level.
I bought some in the green about 10 years ago to put in the front garden but they've never really taken off. Still the same size clump they've always been 🤷♀️
How can English / British bluebells ever be a nuisance. They are beautiful! If you get one or two where you don’t want them just pull them up and / or relocate . I am inundated with next doors Spanish ones which really are an absolute pest .
Native bluebells are rare worldwide but abundant in the UK. We need even more.
My bluebells stay in their wood. There are 2 clumps of Spanish ones and some hybrids. I let them be, but cut off the flower stem before they set seed. They haven't interbred further with the natives.
It begs the question, are the hybrids fertile? (I would also ask the question about flase oxlips.)
I relocate a few white sports to their own little area but the didn't survive. I have now got a couple more whit one and am just leaving them be.
location: Surrey Hills, England, ex-woodland acidic sand. "Have nothing in your garden that you don't know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful."
I had a small patch of Bluebells in the corner of front garden, started many years ago. They looked great in a small patch. No idea how they got there, I didn't plant them. Over the years they are appearing everywhere. Almost impossible to remove. The blubs are deep and many are tiny. Just when I think I have removed them from a certain area, with deep digging, shifting through the soil, taking out every blub visible to the eye but they still come back. Yes they look great but will get everywhere.
Posts
I'll just quote from the late Christopher Lloyd..
''I do not recommend introducing bluebells to your flower borders. Their foliage dies conspicuously, they seed freely and the bulbs find their way to such a low level as to be hard to dig out.''..
Think red and grey squirrels!
They are fine if you have a huge wood to put them in.
Then they can grow to their hearts content.
Otherwise I agree with Christopher Lloyd.
They are impossible to kill.
I tried to remove a patch which were in the wrong place.
For several years I removed every mature leaf, every flower stalk.
But they still kept coming back.
Agree that digging bulbs out doesn't work either.
I have no idea how thieves ever dig them up to sell..illegally of course.
My bluebells stay in their wood. There are 2 clumps of Spanish ones and some hybrids. I let them be, but cut off the flower stem before they set seed. They haven't interbred further with the natives.
It begs the question, are the hybrids fertile? (I would also ask the question about flase oxlips.)
I relocate a few white sports to their own little area but the didn't survive. I have now got a couple more whit one and am just leaving them be.
"Have nothing in your garden that you don't know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful."