Ignorance is bliss. New to my old established garden I let several things grow because I wasn't sure what they were. My (older & wiser ) sister-in-law put me straight. Does it look like it was deliberately planted? I did overcome the herb robert but another weed has managed to get from one original plant near the front gate right round the garden which is detached with garden all round.
I let Herb Robert grow in our garden, I think it’s a very pretty flower and love the reds of the stems and leaves as they mature I just pull it up if it’s smothering something else. It comes up very easily by hand, you just need to find the central heart and the whole plant will come up at once. It’s also free colour in some of my pots, I often have some self-seeding every year in my lily pots. Provides some colour whilst the lilies are growing and then dying away and doesn’t bother them at all.
It’s a good nectar source for long tongued hover moths and other insects and the Barred Carpet moth.
You can apparently make tea from the leaves, it was an old herbal for boosting the immune system amongst other things and apparently rubbing the leaves on your skin was used as an insect repellant. The latter is quite believable as to me its a citronella type smell. I haven’t tried it for either 🙂
I don’t know what shining cranesbill is, when I googled some of the images looked like Herb Robert.
If you have a garden and a library, you have everything you need.”—Marcus Tullius Cicero East facing, top of a hill clay-loam, cultivated for centuries (7 years by me). Birmingham
I pull herb robert out of the small areas of beds I have, along with hairy bittercress and creeping buttercup, it's one of the more prevalent wildflowers here so I try to limit it. I don't have shining cranesbill but I do have another small self seeding geranium which turns up everywhere and which I selectively leave or pull up. I'm lucky to have a very large 'garden' though, with a lot of space that I just cut a path through and leave to do it's own thing. There's plenty of herb robert, ox eye daisies, cow parsley, hog weed, celandines, buttercups, thistles and all the rest there. So no, I don't ALWAYS pull it out. But it's a matter of having room for it
“Light thinks it travels faster than anything but it is wrong. No matter how fast light travels, it finds the darkness has always got there first”
I like the way the leaves on the older plants go red. I wouldn't use it as as a perfume but I don't find it unpleasant. The only weed that I find has a really unpleasant smell is hedge woundwort.
We have woundwort too, agree with you @b3 about the smell 😝
If you have a garden and a library, you have everything you need.”—Marcus Tullius Cicero East facing, top of a hill clay-loam, cultivated for centuries (7 years by me). Birmingham
I'm like @raisingirl on this , mostly in my garden it's live and let live. Only a couple of beds are "weeded" and even those you are sure to find a bit of groundelder!
I hate the way herb Robert smells so I pull it up. My garden was very neglected for a few years because I was working away from home all the time and the stuff self seeded everywhere so I'm always finding more. It's not an unattractive plant but I every time I touch one I regret it.🤮
As I've said again and again on this forum, it's much better to use botanical/Latin names, so there is no ambiguity what we are talking about. Which does not mean that common names should not be used, along with the botanical ones, of course. Both are useful.
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Does it look like it was deliberately planted?
I did overcome the herb robert but another weed has managed to get from one original plant near the front gate right round the garden which is detached with garden all round.
I don’t know what shining cranesbill is, when I googled some of the images looked like Herb Robert.
East facing, top of a hill clay-loam, cultivated for centuries (7 years by me). Birmingham
I'm lucky to have a very large 'garden' though, with a lot of space that I just cut a path through and leave to do it's own thing. There's plenty of herb robert, ox eye daisies, cow parsley, hog weed, celandines, buttercups, thistles and all the rest there. So no, I don't ALWAYS pull it out. But it's a matter of having room for it
East facing, top of a hill clay-loam, cultivated for centuries (7 years by me). Birmingham
As I've said again and again on this forum, it's much better to use botanical/Latin names, so there is no ambiguity what we are talking about.