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Plants in the gravel

hi2u_ukhi2u_uk Posts: 58
in Problem solving


I have a gravel based garden . Yesterday i pulled out a lot of these little green plants.

What are they ?
If i do nothing will they eventually take over the garden ?
Is there a better way to get rid of /prevent them arriving other than pulling them out individually ?
























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Posts

  • ButtercupdaysButtercupdays Posts: 4,546
    They look like hairy bitter cress, it's brilliant at self seeding and they start very young!
    If you are lucky enough to get a dry, sunny day you can hoe them off and leave them to shrivel. Or so people say. 
    No good here, it's always too wet, so hand weeding for me. They pull up easily though and you can get through loads if you just loosen the gravel with a fork first :)
  • PlantmindedPlantminded Posts: 3,580
    Is there a weed membrane underneath your gravel?  A thicker layer of gravel could also help.
    Wirral. Sandy, free draining soil.


  • GardenerSuzeGardenerSuze Posts: 5,692
    Hairy Bittercress can grow all year round unless condition are very dry. The trick is to not let it seed. One plant can produce 5000 seeds.. They often arrive in a gardenin a pot from the Garden Centre or Nursery. They may have cleared the weed from the top of the compost but the seed remains. 
    I would never use chemicals to clear this weed it is all about keeping up with it.
    If you do have a bad infestation a layer of bark to exclude the light is worth a try.
    I have worked as a Gardener for 24 years. My latest garden is a new build garden on heavy clay.
  • RubytooRubytoo Posts: 1,630
    As Buttercupdays said. They start young.
    As soon as the little white flowers go over you get narrow pods which ping the seeds all over the place. 
    So really a matter of keeping an eye out for it and pulling or hoeing before they flower.
    As already mentioned they are easy to remove if you wish to, they do not root deeply.

    The roots are quite fine and will usually die off quite quickly, dry sunny day is good, but if it is windy , that will dry them out too.
    I have pulled out a little pile and forgot to pick them up like you do sometimes,  thought "Ooh dear" thinking they will spread, but I have usually found them dead or withered.

    Apparently they are edible, and good for wildlife if you have the space or don't mind them spreading. But not a weed for a tidy or small garden gardener.
  • hi2u_ukhi2u_uk Posts: 58
    ok this is a problem, the area is about 18m2 and its been cold wet and windy, I doubt there will be sunny dry conditions for a few months. Yesterday i spent about 2 hours pulling them out and im pretty sure i didnt pull all of them out. Its not hard but very time consuming . As i say i want to see the gravel not these green bitter cress plants
  • RubytooRubytoo Posts: 1,630

    GardenerSuze said:
    They often arrive in a gardenin a pot from the Garden Centre or Nursery. They may have cleared the weed from the top of the compost but the seed remains. 

    Good Point! When I started our garden here I grew seeds to begin with. No Bittercress.
    Once I started to visit nurseries and garden centres for plants in pots. I suddenly discovered bittercress.
  • B3B3 Posts: 27,505
    I've seen it grow in dry sand and in a bucket of water. It's not at all particular so it would probably seed above the membrane easily and grow in the dust.
    In London. Keen but lazy.
  • hi2u_ukhi2u_uk Posts: 58
    The garden is full of plants in pots from nurseries
  • DovefromaboveDovefromabove Posts: 88,147
    Regular garden maintenance …
    ie hoe the gravel to loosen the weeds and the rake them off and bin them. 

    Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.





  • amancalledgeorgeamancalledgeorge Posts: 2,736
    It would be lovely if the no maintenance garden existed...even the hideous plastic grass needs a lot of care. A hoe is your friend. 
    To Plant a Garden is to Believe in Tomorrow
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