My fragaria virginiana plugs spread a ton last year, but this spring the lesser celandine is invading. I'm trying to carefully dig up the roots of the lesser celandine around the strawberry. My hope is that in a few years the strawberry will be dense enough to prevent the celandine from popping up so aggressively. Any tips to help it along?
Also in the hell strip I planted last year: shrubby cinquefoil, prairie drop seed, whorled milkweed, and prairie smoke. The prairie smoke foliage has stayed beautiful bright green all winter.
Part of me wants to give the hellstrip up, since it's right by a high-traffic road and so is a pretty unpleasant place for me to spend a lot of time weeding, plus I know the city could dig it up at any time. One idea is to add more shrubby cinquefoil and just heavily mulch the rest every year to keep the invasives down.
by bowser_buddy
3 Comments
Celandine produces tiny bulblets and will outcomoet4 every native plant that is small and herbaceous
Spray it now.
FWIW, after ripping out a ton of invasives last year, I am seeing fragaria pop up everywhere like a weed. The seeds are there in the soil and will come back.
If you have the patience, pick a singular square foot area, mark it with rope, and use a tiny paintbrush to apply a foliar herbicide to each of the little bastards in there. You will have a much better success rate this way, and will gradually help the strawberries outcompete the celandine. I use this technique for purple nutgrass, along with weeding, and it works great. You’re basically providing precision tactical airstrikes for your ground troops in the fight against persistent invasives.