In these new weed-friendly times, should we stop trying to get rid of green alkanet? It loves growing at the base of a wall!
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50 Comments
Had it for 20 Odd years, very hard to get rid unless you use weed killer, it’s a welcome bit of colour in my back garden this time of year, easily removed once finished flowering, just pull at the base comes out easy,then compost….
Leave it , I think it’s really pretty ❤
Let it grow in the awkward places, thin it out in others, like you do with other seedlings
Keep it at a low level, especially at places where it looks good.
It’s very hard to get rid of. Bees love it but I’d let it have some space somewhere as it saves on weeding. Thin out and tolerate I think 😊
I don’t want mine so to me it is a weed. I was actually mowing over it too so I have tubers to dig out across it my tiny lawn. Never again!
Personally I love it! It has such an intense colour blue but I didn’t realise it was so prolific. I love alliums too but they spread like wildfire in my garden so if it’s taking a lot of time thinning it out I wouldn’t feel guilty about removing it. Maybe spread the seeds over the banks with the other wild flowers on the dog walk.
I'd weed it after the spring once the pollinators have had their fill and other plants are now flowering.
I’d tolerate it as much as you have already. It always comes back anyway 🤷🏼♂️
There are no weeds in my world.
A uninvited plant or tree seedling is not always a bonus. A Pepper tree seedling was dropped by a bird or the wind and it grew into a young tree right next to the Almond tree. I noticed the A was looking as though it is busy dying and it was, I found out that the Pepper tree poisons the garden, I should have read up earlier if this is good or not. It is being hacked out. Just wanted to say…..
Definitely leave some here and there but just be sure it doesnt smother some of your other plants as too m uh of anything is bad 😊
It is beautiful, but an absolute thug, it spreads like wildfire, has huge ropey roots which travel, and has this spring succeeded in killing off by smothering all my long-established wild primroses. I am usually very tolerant of life’s adventurers in the garden, but this one has to go.
I introduced it in my garden! I think it's beautiful! Hopefully I can keep it under control 😅
Free plants!
Wildflower
It’s so invasive it’s a nightmare and crowds everything else in my garden – so I’m definitely on the side of weeding it out!
Difficult to get that deep root completely out, pretty but smothers delicate companions – let us know what you decide.
I would leave it, but controlled 😊
Is it edible?
I keep mine for those stunning little blue flowers. I tame it a bit in other places but otherwise I love pointing out it isn’t borage, just an in-law/ outlaw depending on point of view.
Really appreciate your videos 🙏🏻⭐️
I love it, but I restrict it. It’s come up this year a bit too much. I don’t have the energy anymore to do much digging out, so I’m going to have to live with having some. My garden is pretty wild anyway.
If it is native to your area, then tolerate it. If you want to control it, then cut the heads off before it sets seed.
Just leave it, it looks pretty. It's not doing you any harm. 🙂❤
A weed is indeed, just 'a plant in the wrong place' as my late grandmother said. Let it thrive, let it please the pollinators.. and let the pollinators please you and your other plants. 😊
Let it grow.
I would pull it up, especially as it will still come up next year! The trouble with tolerating certain plants is that they can take over and overwhelm the plants you want to nurture and have spent time and money on! Thanks for the post !
Go easy on them here and there but keep them under control…
Do what you have been doing… weed them out but when they show up, do not resent them and enjoy them…
I have just used this particular plant. I tend to view plants as weeds by the difficulty of removal, or by they way they limit other plants, in which case I'd think carefully about introducing anything that is hard to control. Also consider the long term cost of using something that may limit future designs or require harmful eradication processes. That being said I have just planted this in woodland margins to encourage pollinators, it was also a calculation to control other resilient plants in the same area, so I used it for this purpose. At least here I can use eco friendly means to limit the spread. Horticulturally, its probably not for a super tidy garden unless you can control it, but it definitely has a purpose if you like it abit more wild, being wild may require different techniques to manage or not manage. I guess with anything, forward planning is essential to avoid environmental harm in the long run, so I guess my question is does it harm the environment to not have it? Bees and moths certainly love it and that's go to to be good! Ultimately you can also ask yourself what other services it offers, could it be supportive or regulating, provisioning and so on. It may have other benefits other than just existing.
It looks lovely, why not leave a little. Its big and it looks like it can be pulled up well. I would let it flower and then pull it.
🌱💙🌱💙🌱💙🌱
I would let it Stay if the roots are easy to Pull. Otherwise i would take it of right now!
I pull it up otherwise it really does take over and hogs all the nutrients and sun from all the other pollonators.
In a part of YouTube garden, it is oké.😅
I mean its such a beautiful blue. I'd try and keep it under control and allow it in some areas.
Weed or wildflower? There's a difference?
If it's useful and not in the way, leave it.
Wrt weeding, you need to keep the extra vegetation down enough for your desired plants to thrive.
Wild plants also serve as food for animals that would otherwise be eating your crops.
I have an area on my property where I support "weeds" that are native. They can go where they like and I must say it is beautiful. (We have invasive plants that I immediately pull.) It is away from my herbaceous border where I am selective about plants. My advice is to share the property if it is native and wildlife adores it.
Usually if the plant is uncomfortable to have, maintain or it displaces desirable flora and fauna then it’s a weed.
As gardeners, we all have our “deal breakers” and our scales of tolerance but do we have room in our hearts or minds’ eye for admiration for the weed’s qualities?
This year, I have allowed more dandelions and similar weeds to grow in my gardens because they feed the bees and songbirds. We’ve been with hardly any song birds for many years and the bees have steadily declined with the common use of pesticides. So, some weeds are plucked on sight and others are spared to feed nature until they die back.
By any chance, do you have a little statue of Alice in Wonderland to place next to the weed, since she, too was considered a weed?
Yes, keep it and enjoy its important part in our native ecology. Its not difficult to remove if it stays.
It really does depend on your needs. If it’s giving you a lot of flower and you want to helps wildlife leave it and weed out the areas you don’t want a few times each season. It’s one of those plants that if left alone will eventually take over though.
It also has quite irritating hairs so gloves are useful when removing it.
I've had the same dilemma recently. I don't want the weeds to take away the moisture and goodness in the soil from the plants I've planted in my borders. But I felt sorry for the insects. After all, they need pollen. So I've made up my mind, and this is what I've come up with. I will weed out any unwanted plant withon my borders, but I will absolutely keep all the lovely pollen-rich weeds and wild flowers in my lawn, so that insects can feast on them😊
My view is get rid of it or try to as far as possible. It is just so invasive with deep regenerating roots, and there are so many alternatives for pollinators. Even forget-me-nots are one of the alternatives that I use as though they self seed easily they are very easy to pull up and control to where you want them.
Hmmmm…I don’t like it…but if Pollinators like it then that’s a very good reason to keep it. Our Pollinators need all the help they can get. 🐝🦋🐝
keep it in bounds but keep it. The birds, bees and pollinators need it.
Keep it. 🌸
Such a fabulous blue – but if it’s a true thug, deal to it Alexandra! 👍
Feed your bees, please.
Is it NATIVE to your area? IF NOT, IT IS AN AGGRESSIVE, INVASIVE PLANT. That makes it a weed.😅