Cleavers

[TeePee22]

Hello,
I am looking for advice on cleavers.
I have an acre of land that was overgrown with cleavers
I spent 6 months clearing it by hand.
By September I had cleared the land and put grass seed down.
I now have cleavers growing and very little grass seed!!.
I am novice gardener and I don't know what to do.

 

[Sheal]

Welcome TeePee22. I presume as you cleared it by hand you didn't leave the roots behind. The problem with most unwanted plants/weeds is that they self seed and it can take several years of weeding before the land stays clear.

 

[Oliver Buckle]

Welcome to the forum.
The grass will survive regular mowing, the cleaver will not. There is probably a lot of seed in there, but hopefully it will mostly germinate and you can mow before it flowers, maybe once now and restart in the Spring. Also chuck a bit of patch restorer about to create a bit of extra grass overwinter, after you mow. The next problem will probably be dandelions, there is always something, life is like that, and gardens are living.
My friends teenage daughter was delighted to discover on moving to Scotland that the local name for cleavers was 'Sticky Willie'

 

[TeePee22]

Thank you for your advice. You have given me hope!!. When I seen it popping up again, I was disheartened after all the work I put in. It seems to have taken over the whole place. The mower will be pulled out today.

 

[Oliver Buckle]

The seeds are murderous, they stick like crazy. I used to have a dog who had inherited Spaniel ears from one of his grandparents. He would chase rabbits into hedges and it would take me hours to groom them all out of the soft fur behind his ears

 

[TeePee22]

Hi Oliver,
I think that is where my problem originated.
I have 6 rescue cats and they have spread the seeds everywhere. I could spend the day pulling the seeds from their fur.

 

[Oliver Buckle]

You will always have them if you have anywhere like hedges or neglected areas, and cats love places like that, it's where the action is. I wonder what you will get next, besides grass. Clover, vetches, milkmaids, dandelions, thistles? There are loads of them.
Life, don't talk to me about life...