This Forum will close on Wednesday 27 March, 2024. Please refer to the announcement on the Discussions page for further detail.
buttercups in my lawn
LESLEY LEE2
Posts: 3
in Talkback
Hello,
does anyone know how to get rid of buttercups in my lawn? They have completely taken over and spill into my flower and veg beds. I do not want to use weed killer and I am an inexperienced, hit and miss type gardener.
0
Posts
You'll need to dig them out if you want to get rid of them without weedkillers.
Hands and knees job. Do a few at a time
In the sticks near Peterborough
Either you dig them out individually or you will have to use lawn weedkiller. Sorry.
Hate to rain on your parade Lesley, but they're pretty soul destroying to try and get rid of by hand if they've got the upper hand. The runners will spread rapidly into surrounding areas and it won't help any plants you have either.
If I was you, I'd use a weed and feed product for your grass which will get rid of all weeds and encourage the grass. Healthy grass will be better able to fight off infestations and regular mowing will then keep the grass in good nick. If you want the grass to look good it's either blood sweat and tears to dig them out or use something initially to get rid of them and then maintain the grass to keep on top of them.
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
If you don't want to go the Weed & Feed route you could try using the contact glyphosate sticks and then dig them out with a daisy-grubber when the top growth is dead - that way you'd be doubly sure
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
Thank you all for your advice all I can say is 'oh bugger' !!! looks like I am digging. It is my own fault for leaving them when I thought they looked pretty ,like the daisies in the lawn. AND I blame Bill Oddie for telling me, not personally you understand, to leave the wild flowers in the lawn and cut around them because they are good for wildlife.
Hey ho that is what bank holidays are for I suppose!
Lesley - Get out there with your trowel - you can curse Bill Oddie while you're at it!
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
Yes I will Fairygirl - I will be doing a lot of stabbing motions.
My lawn has
buttercups, daisies, clover, speedwell, self-heal, agrimony, dog-daisies, cat's era, dandelions.....................................
Always green thanks to the clover and ready to flower any time we stop mowing
In the sticks near Peterborough
I seem to remember at school, many years ago, being told that buttercups had three types of root - runners, bulb, or rhizome, depending on the variety.
I think runners are most common, but you could be lucky and have a few of the other kind, which would obviously be easier to get rid of.
We've got all of those on our back lawn, with the exception of the dog daisies (which my family refer to as Moon Daisies (see Noggin the Nog and the Moon Mouse http://www.nogginthenog.co.uk/development/main_pages/sagas/early_readers/noggin_and_the_moon_mouse.htm) .
We're trying to rid the front lawn of dandelions as the seeds drift down the slope and infect the neighbour's garden and he's elderly and cares about such things and we don't want to stress him.
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.