and then I go and spoil it all by saying something stupid....

.....like 'that's looks a nice innocuous plant, I think I shall plant some of those.

You know when something feels like a good idea at the time, you think that this plant is really quite pretty and you would like some?  Then it starts to self seed a bit and you are happy and encourage it.  Lets face it, self-seeders often place themselves in far better combinations than I could design.  But them, suddenly you have swathes of it, it is smothering everything around it and turning up all over the garden.  This is the moment when you realise that whilst you still want it, probably still want lots of it, you are going to have to impose some control.  Does this sound familiar or do you have more sense than me? (don't answer that, I know you do, you must do).
It's not like I have only done this once, no, I am a repeat offender.  I can have at any one time a considerable amount of:

Nigella -  I pull it up by the handful as there is plenty more where that came from, it is lovely and I would not be without it, but it needs editing

Ox eye daisy - same as above

Allium 'hair' - same as above

Teasels - these I edit more carefully, I remove totally from some areas and allow to roam free in others,

Purple orache - every seed germinates, every single seed

Woad, gorgeous plant woad, seeds around like the devil though,

Annual poppies, welsh or somniferum in particular, I remove many and yet always have enough,
and Claytonia sibirica, well I think that's what it is anyway.  In truth I didn't plant this one, it was planted by someone else.  It is quite pretty but very prolific.  It self seeds everywhere and whilst easy to spot and remove there is something about it that I don't like.  There's something about it that's a bit weird, it has a smell I don't like and I don't like the very watery stems.  I'm told its a sort of salad, this might explain the dislike, I don't do salad. 
So I dig it up


Often
It creates space.
Good job I've learned my lesson and not sown any ransoms lately.........

Comments

  1. Fired up my laptop after abortive attempts to comment via my iPad, No have to remember what I said!!

    In a way I am envious that you do have plants that re-seed themselves. I don't know the problem with my garden, but after 14 years I still don't have supposedly prolific reseeders showing themselves the following year. Evening Primrose, Poached Egg Plants, and Borage being amongst the plants that friends have said "Oh you will never get rid of that now you have it". I have seed trays again this year with Evening Primrose and Borage - an annual event. I suspect its the army of snails that are to blame.

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  2. Some self seeders are fine, as you say, others try to take over. But what is well behaved in one garden can struggle in another, we just have to be ready to edit the ones we don't want.!

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  3. I don't have this amazing seed harvest either! I suspect because of mulching....though some weed seeds get through. The difference between (eg) spreading perennials (in pools) and seeding annuals (spotting around) is interesting - must be quite a different effect. We tend to lump them all together but we might want one result but not another.
    I feel a blog post coming on! Xxxx

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    Replies
    1. It is quite a different effect, they can pop up randomly, it's far less controlled. I never mulch, but I have less garden than you and I do spend a lot of time weeding because I don't.

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  4. Enthusiastic spreaders can be a pain - but I imagine having them in your garden is better than having such poor soil nothing at all will grow.

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  5. Claytonia is a vigorous weed in my garden, and I had to laugh because I was actually disappointed to see how little wild garlic came up in the corner I planted it in this year... I am hoping for lots of good self seeding, but I fear I could soon be in despair. At the moment I take the attitude that if the gaps can be filled with poppies and forget-me-nots and nigella that leaves less space for the likes of sticky weed and chickweed, but give me a couple of years and I will probably be whingeing about these too. Or mulching. Heavily.

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