front garden gone wild - need help controlling it

pauljs

Hi all.  

I recently inherited a front garden area that is rather large and is covered with a weed membrane and some fairly cheap looking "hoggin" type material.  I looks a bit like a railway siding but the plants are quite nice. Sadly the weeds are happily growing in the "hoggin" everywhere. It may as well be soil!!

Underneath is builders rubble to 3 foot mixed with rough Devon red clay from my sampling - it was the area where the builders of our close dumped all the cr*p when they finished the estate from what the neighbours tell me.  We (and the previous owners) have planted and maintained a number of specimen shrubs, trees and plants and these are fine but the weeds are a real problem.  The main areas I am looking to control are picture:

"General for Context 1 & 2"

What we want to do is not spend any more money on the area as it is very large but rather we would like the "weeds" that are attractive and not "bad" to take over the area to make it a bit of a wildlife haven while at the same time not allowing it to look too shabby.

The little grasses have self seeded everywhere and I quite like them so I am going to make that the foundation of the display but I would like to allow some of the other "weeds" to remain while glyphosating the baddies.  I have included in my online album a close-up of several weeds for identification and I would very much appreciate an opinion of each one and whether it should stay or go. I'm happy for the area to fill up with the pretty one's but don't want tom to detract from or take over the established shrubs.

 

If you have time can you take a look and help identify? Also,  If anyone has a brianwave about some seed I can scatter or some nice little plants that will live with the grasses and seed over the area (that will look good and not require too much money) I would be grateful. I want to make it look like we've at least made an effort

Link:  http://imgur.com/a/a9WGW#0 

Thanks

Paul

 

Fairygirl

Hi Paul. 'Everywhere but pretty' is unfortunately one of the Willowherb family. They produce thousands of seeds from each plant and are very invasive so I'd get rid of those. They're usually quite easy to pull up but you may want to save yourself some effort and use weedkiller. Likewise with 'suspect for glyphosate' - yellow flowers and fluffy seedheads. That's groundsel. Picture 1 - the grey foliaged plant is a Buddleia. You can google that and see if you want to keep it. The common ones will grow anywhere but that may well be one that's been planted. Great for bees and butterflies. I'd say the grass next to it is something like  Stipa tenissima. Not sure if that's been seeding around or if it's been deliberate planting to possibly make a prairie type area with some other perennials still to come through. That's quite a popular look and again you could google that to get an idea of the look. Usually there would be other grasses though - not just one variety - although it looked as if there was another one  there. I'm sure I saw some buttercups in one pic as well - I'd use weedkiller for those as they spread by runners and are difficult to dig up without leaving some bits in the ground. 

Hope that's a bit of a help. Someone else will be able to help further I'm sure 

nutcutlet

I typed lots of stuff and the whole b........ lot disappeared

I'll try again

The quite large shrub is buddleia, 

1 is buddleia, Stipa tenuissima and behing probably Stipa gigantea

The everywhere but pretty is a willowherb

The wispygrass is stipa tenuissima

A harts tongue fern in the wall,

the raspberry look more like a currant and a strawberry beside it

2 is creeping buttercup

athe spreading one would need a close-up

Suspect for glyphosate is groundsel, annual, just pull it up

nutcutlet

I think we have agrement there Fairy

Fairygirl

Although I missed the currant and strawberry nut 

nutcutlet

I think we're two short still.I couldn't see the spreading one and didn't recognise the one with the dead top growth, labelled rosettes I think

Fairygirl

I couldn't make out the spreading one either nut. I'm having problems enlarging pix now - ever since the laptop went on the blink. Didn't know the rosette one at all.

nutcutlet

A couple more pics Paul and we'll try the ones we missed.

Difficult when you can't enlarge Fairy

 

pauljs

Thanks everyone. I will take some more pics 2mo. The grasses were 3 clumps originally and we let all the seedlings develop. Look quite nice. I think I will intersperse them with a few other things (tbc) but I will get rid of the willowherb and groundsel. I'll keep the budleas too I think. I quite like the buttercup looking clumps and might just keep them. They remind me very much of the marsh marigolds we had around a pond once. Unless that's a big no-no of course......



More to follow......



Thsnks again everyone.

Psul

pauljs

Excuse the typo's.... Mobile at mo....



I can say one thing though. What's the point of the weed membrane. All it seems to do is trap the dust/detritus etc and mixed with the stones and stone dust on top, provide the perfect environment for the weeds. Should be called "weed propagation matting" perhaps. I have to say that in my defence it was not put down by me! My choice would have been grass and deep borders. Hey ho - you have to make the best of what you are dealt if you are short if funds to start again

Buttercupdays

Stipa tenuissima makes a good backdrop for other things and seeds with enthusiasm so will soon spread for you. Something like Eschscholzia woud be good if it is not too shaded and would reseed itself for next year, so would shirley poppies (papaver rhoeas). Echium vulgare Blue Bedder goes well with these and bees and butterflies would be very happy. If it is a bit shadier then Welsh poppies would work and so would alchemills mollis. You could add ox-eye daisies too. And forgetmenots.  All these things are energetic self-seeders but they look pretty and more like garden plants, so easier to defend to the neighbours! Along the path edges you could try sedums. Self heal (Prunella) grows wild in my gravel paths and is pretty enough for me to leave, the wild is purple blue, but you can get a pink version too. For the price of a couple of packets of seeds and a couple of small plants you could have a self sustaining 'riot of colour' this year. It would need an autumn tidy and in subsequent years some riot control but still be good to look at for much of the year. Perhaps hope for snow in winter! Or look into more evergreen plants. Or add foxgloves - their leaves over winter.