Garden weeds - a new approach to make your life easier?

Hi All,

I watched this short video recently and thought the idea of replacing incredibly invasive weeds with less invasive ones was fascinating. Jack's book sounds like a good read and seems to have been well-received, have any of our members read it and perhaps more importantly, tried any of his recommendations? I let ivy do its own thing on an old fence in my garden, partly because the flowers are loved by bees and partly because the fence is so dilapidated that I suspect the ivy is the only thing holding it together! I'll definitely be leaving the Linaria purpurea (Purple Toadflax) alone on my allotment too, gorgeous little flowers, good for bees and nowhere as invasive as I initially thought it to be. Not sure about his recommendation of Geranium robertianum tho, I grow loads of geraniums and wanted to include it, but it always just takes over the garden! He must be much more organised than I am. But to be honest, I think I could include 99% of gardeners in that category!



Edit: Direct link to the book on Amazon where its introduction can be read.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Wild-about...&qid=1574005935&sprefix=wild+a,aps,241&sr=8-1

Nick

 

Once you let weeds have space in your garden, then they are no longer weeds they are just another plant to be cultivated.
Geranium robertianum is always with me and quite variable, but easily controlled. I also have Geranium yeoi which is a self seeding biennial and looks a bit like robertianum on steroids and without the distinctive odour.
As for Ivy it grows quite happily in some waste areas the only problem is the number of seedlings I have to remove.

 

Completely agree! I'm sort of transitioning from someone who just grows a few pollinator-friendly plants to a "wild gardener", so plants that I consider "weeds" are becoming fewer and fewer. I'd never heard of Geranium yeoi before you mentioned it, but after looking at some photos I think it's an absolutely charming plant! Presumably named after geranium expert Peter Yeo. I must be one of the very few people out there who actually likes the scent of robertianum! But I know that most gardeners hate the smell and would probably prefer yeoi.

The only other bit of ivy I have is growing almost straight through the centre of my Erica, and I definitely wouldn't keep that if I could help it! Infuriates the hell out of me!

Edit: Blimey, yeoi is robertianum on steroids! Flowers 22-33mm across compared to robertianum's 8-12mms!

Nick

 

@Nikolaos yes G yeoi is named for Peter Yeo. I've had it for about 15 years (seed from Chiltern Seeds), seed companies appear to sell it as G rubescens. I think it can hybridise with robertianum.
I find that the smell of robertianum is quite variable and not unpleasant.