seeds in ground...

hi i threw a load of seeds down in garden border a while back and now i have what looks like a load of begining of leaves coming up, and i think they maybe from the seeds (can u tell i know nothing about gardening ) so i was wondering do i just leave them there or shall i take them out the ground and put into something else, alot of the seedlings are very close together as i threw a huge amount down expecting nothing to come of it some are spaced out but alot are rather close, they are probably weeds knowing my luck lol advice on what to do would be fandabadosie

 

Depends on what they are Dawn, but I would let them fight it out for this season.

 

probably weeds, there are loads of them, :O

pic attatched, now i can see though how much of a mess it is in the border :O ideas on how to make look nicer would be good lol, dont really look close but pic made me see loads stones sticks etc :O

 

I have provided an answer on your duplicate posting here:

http://www.gardenerscorner.co.uk/forum/showthread.php/weedsi-plants-coming-p327614.html#post327614

 

The suggestion that they give on programmes like gardeners world, is to sow them in lines. Then the seedlings on the line are likely to be yours, but the seedlings between the lines are likely to be weeds. Once your plants have grown up they will expand and you won't see the lines later on.

 

One of those things that are "a bit late now" lol, don't worry too much, broadcasting seeds is a good cheap way of getting a flower bed and I have done the same thing in one of my beds, it's now covered in seedlings-all annuals ( I hope ), if it looks too overcrowded later on I will just thin it out if I want to. You will know yourself what you like the look of and what you don't. I take a very lacksadaisical view with weeds and the like, if it isn't bindweed or dandelions or too many nettles ( which I allow to stay at the back under the conifers for the butterflies, but never allow it to flower lol) they can pretty much stay-it depends if I can be bothered to weed on that particular day, or wish to risk treading on something nice just for the sake of pulling something I don't want there, out.

 

I agree, pull the weeds out when you can clearly seed which they are. They can get pretty big (4" or so) before they are going to strangle everything.

Only slight problem will be if the flower seeds are slow germinaters coz the weeds will have a head start :(

 

Generally, I would prefer to sow into seed trays even for annuals. Christopher Lloyd (famous gardener and writer who recently died) acknowledged that later in life he came round to that view. The reason is simply that you have more control and would expect a greater survival rate.

If I sow in a seed tray - I might expect half or more to germinate. But in the wild a plant might produce anything up to 1,000 or even 10,000 seeds. But you might be lucky to get between 1 and 10 to germinate and thrive.

 

Thats because Peter, Christopher Lloyd wasn't a clumsy oaf like myself, who manages to kill half of any seedlings I attempt to transplant. It sounds like you're better at that than I am.

 

I grow everything in pots. Some exceptions, but very few. Even parsnips and carrots (paper pots). Its just too hit & miss to grow them outside. Doesn't rain, germination patchy, glut of plants, dearth of plants, critters eat them before they are big enough to have a chance ... I reckon I have over 500 seedlings in pots in the conservatory ... but my DW tells me that kids are coming round to "play" for No 2 daughters birthday on Friday, and the conservatory is the main thoroughfare that they will be using for something that will not doubt be done at high speed and with little cornering finesse!

Its always good to have an incentive to tidy up at least once a year!

 

Oh Kristen, what a wonderful life you lead.


To be "fresh" and "with it", you can always have a garden party-send the kids home with a tomato seedling.

 

They ain't having none of my Toms! They are in 5L pots

 

Dawn,
there's an excellent book, one of the Alan Titchmarsh's ones that actually has photos of common weeds in their early stages. I found that extremely useful as having been a keen gardener near the arctic circle it came as a surprise that some plants we desperately try to cultivate i Finland are actually weeds in this island. Raid your library.

 

I tend to start everything off in seed trays and/or pots too. As Peter says, you have more control and they have a better survival rate.