Hi all. This plant magically appeared on a slope in my yard. It wasn't there last year. It looks just like spinach. I'm thinking Sorrel. Thoughts? What should I do with it? There is quite a lot of it.
Is this Sorrel?
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I wonder why
That would make me suspicious actually, because as far as I know, docks including sorrel are quite acceptable to chickens. It may indicate that it's poisonous, and I would definitely dig it up and dispose of it.@Black_ Thumb, have you had a look around to see if there's a similar plant growing nearby where the seeds may have come from - maybe in the wind?
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Dock seeds are quite heavy, usually the long flower stalk dies and swings to and fro scattering the seeds, but my dog used to get them caught in the soft hair round his ears, which can travel them. However English docks usually have a white vein and more upright habit. Sorrel can be red or white, there are several different plants called sorrel.
Dock roots are a pig. There was a story of the allotment gardener who battled a dock for ages before finally digging deep and getting the whole thing out. He nailed it to the shed door in triumph, a year later the nail had rusted through. it fell down, got trodden into the mud, and sprouted. One thing about those big leaves, you can paint glyphosate on them without getting anything else, and it does break down when the plant dies.
Dock roots are a pig. There was a story of the allotment gardener who battled a dock for ages before finally digging deep and getting the whole thing out. He nailed it to the shed door in triumph, a year later the nail had rusted through. it fell down, got trodden into the mud, and sprouted. One thing about those big leaves, you can paint glyphosate on them without getting anything else, and it does break down when the plant dies.
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I would take a pic of it but I already pulled it. It had a tap root like a carrot. I dont remember ever seeing that plant before either. That doesn't mean it isn't around I suppose.I wonder why
@Black_ Thumb, have you had a look around to see if there's a similar plant growing nearby where the seeds may have come from - maybe in the wind?
I did put down some weed killer and grass food the other day. I'll also be digging them out. It's so frustrating. Last fall, I put down post-emergent, and I also put down weed and feed as a part of a four-part process for the year. Now this year, I have all kinds of crap growing that I DIDN'T have last year. I have what appear to be green onions growing all over the darn yard, this Sorrel-looking stuff, crab grass is back with a vengeance, and I expect the Bermuda grass to be rearing it's ugly head any time now. What the Hell will KILL this stuff???
I'm buying a liquid fertilizer spreader for my tractor, and today I put down the springtime weed killer and grass food as a pre-emergent. Seems like the more I try to make it better, the more nasty stuff that appears out of nowhere. It's just weird.
I'm buying a liquid fertilizer spreader for my tractor, and today I put down the springtime weed killer and grass food as a pre-emergent. Seems like the more I try to make it better, the more nasty stuff that appears out of nowhere. It's just weird.
I sprayed said plant with Spectracide. It only wilted the leaves down a bit, maybe killed one leaf. I reached down to pull it out of the ground and it broke off. The liquid inside is real greasy.
Very often when you turn the ground over - especially using any implements like a tractor, you can make lying dormant seeds spring to life. Weeds are only plants in the wrong place, and they have their own way of surviving. We all have our own share of unwanted plants that need to be removed, and I find that preparing a plot by hand digging and weeding as you go to be the best way. Then you can determine what kind of roots you are dealing with too, and if you have those that grow on rhizomes for example, deal with them in a different way. If you do use weedkiller, it needs to be applied strictly as the label says, and at the right time. It always takes time to work, and patience is required. After treatment, which doesn't always work first time, you might need to apply it a second time.
I quite enjoy weeding, and like getting ''down and dirty'' as the saying goes. I am not a fan of using chemicals at all.
I quite enjoy weeding, and like getting ''down and dirty'' as the saying goes. I am not a fan of using chemicals at all.
I hate weeding. I just want my yard to look great, and not have to crawl around on my hands and knees over 50,000 square feet to pull the damn weeds. I did that last year with all the dandelions. I literally crawled on my hands and knees over my entire lawn and dug out the dandelions by hand until they were all gone. This year, I only have ten showing up. Last year, I had thousands. It was worth the effort, but now I want to be rid of this other crap I mentioned, and not have to take all summer to do it. They can do it at golf courses, so I should be able to do it in my lawn. LOL
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Dock. Useful in soothing nettle stings. Poisonous to including horses.
In that case you may be better off with concrete - or maybe employing someone who loves gardening. Using poisons on the land and killing the very insects that help us gardeners is hardly the best plan is it. Sad that you find it such a chore.I hate weeding. I just want my yard to look great, and not have to crawl around on my hands and knees over 50,000 square feet to pull the damn weeds. I did that last year with all the dandelions. I literally crawled on my hands and knees over my entire lawn and dug out the dandelions by hand until they were all gone. This year, I only have ten showing up. Last year, I had thousands. It was worth the effort, but now I want to be rid of this other crap I mentioned, and not have to take all summer to do it. They can do it at golf courses, so I should be able to do it in my lawn. LOL
A bit of effort seems to have worked on the dandelions.....
My garden is totally different from my lawn. If you like weeds in your lawn, that's fine. If you want to be rid of them by climbing around and pulling them, that's fine. Don't try to shame me for using weed killers just because "you gardeners" don't use them. I don't use them to solve every problem, but some problems with weeds aren't solved by pretending that climbing around and doing it by hand is the solution either. Your first reply was, "If you do use weedkiller, it needs to be applied strictly as the label says, and at the right time. It always takes time to work, and patience is required. After treatment, which doesn't always work first time, you might need to apply it a second time," but now you have suddenly changed your tune and try to make me out to be the bad guy just because I don't like weeding. Make up your mind. You say that I might need to apply them a second time, and then you try to call into question my gardening integrity with nonsensical comments like, "you may be better off with concrete." Seriously??? How lame is that? I DO use them exactly as the label directs, and I try not to use them if I don't have to, but some things require more intervention than weeding by hand. Hopefully you get that. But, then again, because I use chemicals, I can't be numbered with "you gardeners," now, can I.
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Once the grass gets established mowing will cope with a lot of the other stuff, it can't cope with competition from the grass and being mown, but the grass thrives on mowing.
Fair enough. I apologize if I misread your intent, but your reply did seem rather insulting, arrogant, and condescending. Let me start over. I moved into my house 17 months ago. Prior to that, I lived in the desert of southern California where it's next to impossible to have and maintain a nice lawn because of idiotic regulations and a brain-dead state government, not to mention 100+ degrees every day. So, my lawn was beautiful astroturf. Now that I have a nice big yard with REAL grass, I don't want it chock-full of weeds, but my knowledge of getting it that way is limited. The ladies and gentlemen of this forum have been invaluable in providing suggestions and help.
I don't like chemicals either, but sometimes they are necessary. Any farmer with a huge ranch will attest to that. They want edible crops; not weeds. So they use a lot of chemicals. I'm no farmer, but if they need to resort to that in order to get the desired result, I probably will have to as well; just on a much smaller scale. I tried making some of the organic, homemade weed killers. They work very fast, but they have zero longevity. They killed weeds that were visible, but never got to any roots.
So, be that as it may, I suspect it may take me a few seasons to get my yard looking wonderful, but it is rather frustrating that after having used pre-emergent last year, weed killer and fertilizer in the summer, post-emergent last fall, to suddenly have not only the same weeds as last year, but at least three more species I don't want. I checked yesterday and found what I do believe is called Creeping Charlie. I also have a whole bunch of what appear to be green onions (my entire yard smelled like green onions after mowing the other day), and the one in this post that seems to be Sorrel, or something of that sort.
That's my history here in a nutshell. I KNOW I can get this yard looking wonderful, but I need people who know how to do that to hold my hand along the way, so to speak. I don't know what I don't know, and that puts me at a disadvantage. As I said, the ladies and gentlemen here have been wonderful in providing suggestions, and I really, really appreciate that! I can't see your profile, and I don't know your level of expertise, but I'd love to add you to my list of people whom I trust for good advice.
Good day.
I think your ''onions'' might possibly be wild garlic. It grows in our village and spreads like crazy. If it is indeed that plant it spreads like stink, and it's only saving grace as far as I know is that it can flavour food without making your breath bad. A bit like horseradish, it's a tad difficult to halt.
Having a few acres of grass to care for myself, I have found that just very regular cutting is enough to make it look good. I also have a tractor, and wouldn't be able to manage without it. I have a mulcher on the tractor, so that all the clippings are finely shredded and blown back onto the grass. This provides all the feed it needs. Very regular cutting seems to weaken the weeds that grow there, and apart from thistles - the really spiteful sort - I leave everything else to sort itself out.
We left it to grow for hay a couple of years ago and all kinds of wildflowers emerged, including a lovely orchid. The only other thing to get rid of is ragwort which is poison to horses and cattle and blows in on the wind.
Wild garlic
Incidentally, a long time ago I decided that I wouldn't use the word ''lawn'' For me it is better to refer to it as ''grass'' I like it far more than plastic grass and so do the birds and bees etc. It smells so wonderful when I cut it, as does the soil when I dig it. After rain it smells even better.
I started gardening with my grandad when knee high to a grasshopper, and have worked in propagation for many years as well as fruit and veg farms. In 18 months time I might make 80 years, and every day I can I will be out there in my garden. It keeps me going.
Having a few acres of grass to care for myself, I have found that just very regular cutting is enough to make it look good. I also have a tractor, and wouldn't be able to manage without it. I have a mulcher on the tractor, so that all the clippings are finely shredded and blown back onto the grass. This provides all the feed it needs. Very regular cutting seems to weaken the weeds that grow there, and apart from thistles - the really spiteful sort - I leave everything else to sort itself out.
We left it to grow for hay a couple of years ago and all kinds of wildflowers emerged, including a lovely orchid. The only other thing to get rid of is ragwort which is poison to horses and cattle and blows in on the wind.
I started gardening with my grandad when knee high to a grasshopper, and have worked in propagation for many years as well as fruit and veg farms. In 18 months time I might make 80 years, and every day I can I will be out there in my garden. It keeps me going.
It looks beautiful! I love your yard.