Arum maculatum, cuckoopint, lords and ladies
Pete.8
Posts: 11,340
In one of my borders there's an area about 15ft x 10ft where I noticed thousands of cuckoopint seedlings coming up in the spring of this year.
I sprayed them with Roundup - which had no effect. So I sprayed them again and again, I think 5 times between April and June. It killed everything around the cuckoopint, but the cuckoopint itself seemed to thrive on Roundup. It had no effect whatsoever.
Eventually I needed to get the border planted up so I double dug them deep into the Essex clay.
Following the frost last night I've been removing the dahlias I planted in that border and lo and behold, once more there are thousands of cucookpint seedlings again, only this time the little bulblets are about 2ft under the ground, so I've got no chance of getting to them.
I can't really cover the area with black polythene as there are shrubs, perennials and roses in the border
Is there any way of getting rid of this indestructible plant?
Billericay - Essex
Knowledge is knowing that a tomato is a fruit.
Wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad.
Posts
Same problem and Roundup lack of success - If I see them I remove foliage in the hope that they will weaken - not quite so many this year
Indeed, like just about everything else they don't much like having their heads chopped off on a regular basis! Keep hoeing every time you spot them, and dig up if and when you can.
Funny really, it;s another one of those plants that is one persons horrendous weed, and another one someone can't get to grow no matter what.
Thank you all.
I supposed as much, but ever hopeful of a magic bullet.
I'l keep the hoe to hand and give 'em the chop regularly and hopefully they'll weaken and die.
Their resilience is amazing. From a pea-size bulbil a good 15-18" deep in clay and they're popping up everywhere
I think some seed must have got into the compost bin and I've unwittingly been sowing the stuff all over the garden
Billericay - Essex
Knowledge is knowing that a tomato is a fruit.
Wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad.
That, sadly, sounds very likely if you have not had extremely hot compost. One of the reasons for not composting pernicious weeds!
mmm - they snuk in without me knowing.
I have a similar (but lesser) problem with docks - again, seed in the compost.
Maybe I'll move the compost bins out of the wild area as it's been very wild down there this year
As I was digging up these very long pure white shoots I was thinking they look ideal for a quick steam, a grind of black pepper and dollop of butter.
Billericay - Essex
Knowledge is knowing that a tomato is a fruit.
Wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad.
I hope you're only kidding Pete - I think Arum Maculatum might be poisonous - the leaves & berries certainly are
- not sure about the roots.
Stick to frozen peas
I have the same problem and at the beginning there were only a few which looked quite pretty, especially with the berries (poisonous!!!). Now they have become a real problem, they are everywhere, even in the driveway. So far this year I have spent at least a week's worth of digging up as much as possible, but have had to dig up the smaller plants too to extract the bulbil at the root end.
Good luck!
Had hardly any last year, but dozens this year? off to get rid of some now.
Add some washing up liquid to the Roundup, it makes the stuff stick to the leaves so that it can be absorbed before sliding off.
Arum maculatum is a common woodland plant species of the Araceae family. It is widespread across most of Europe as well as Turkey and Caucasus.1]2]3]4] It is known by an abundance of common names including snakeshead, adder's root, arum, wild arum, arum lily, lords-and-ladies, devils and angels, cows and bulls, cuckoo-pint, Adam and Eve, bobbins, naked boys, starch-root, wake robin, friar's cowl and jack in the pulpit. The name "lords-and-ladies" and other gender related names refer to the plant's likeness to male and female genitalia symbolising copulation. 5]
Cor Blimey, you learn something new every day.