Chance seedlings are not always weeds – they can be useful additions to your patch, writes JANE POWERS
ONE OF MY favourite tasks in the garden is hand weeding. I like nothing better than strapping on my kneepads and getting down to ground level. There is great satisfaction in feeling the roots rip loose from their hold on the earth (far more visceral than standing on high and doing an agitated slow dance with the hoe). But also, I think that it is tremendously valuable to check in with the soil periodically: to see how much organic matter it has, whether it is dry or moist, and to see what sort of creatures are living in it.
Yet, one of the main reasons I like to weed by hand is that I can be sure I will never miss a chance seedling of something special. That anonymous green fuzz seen from five feet above ground level turns into a patch of diverse plantlets when you get down and eyeball it. In this garden, many of these self-sown volunteers are undesirables such as dandelions, goosegrass and hairy bittercress. But a significant number of them are interesting, useful and beautiful. In fact, probably half of the herbaceous plants in my patch are ones that decided to plant themselves. I suppose you could call it a lazy person’s way of filling up her garden, but it is also a sure method of ensuring that the place is populated with species that are perfectly suited to the soil, climate and aspect.
Our soil is relatively dry and poor, so the plants that leave their babies all over the place are those that thrive in these conditions.
Among the many fine, sterling things that replant themselves are the lime-green-flowered hellebores: the so-called stinking hellebore and the Corsican hellebore (Helleborus foetidus and Helleborus argutifolius). Over the past 15 years, these have spread themselves all over the gravel in our front garden. Their offspring come up like mustard and cress at the feet of the adults, so it’s just a matter of thinning them out a couple of times in their first year, eventually leaving about four good plants per square metre.
Our hellebores are prone to the unsightly fungal disease, hellebore leaf blotch (Coniothyrium hellebori), which manifests itself in rashes of black measles on the foliage. You can control it temporarily by removing the afflicted leaves, which are quickly replaced by unblemished ones – but all the same, I don’t pass the seedlings on to my fellow gardeners. However, other choice self-seeders are potted up and given to friends, or sent into the wider world via plant sales. Or, they can be moved about in the garden, to fill gaps or make pleasing colonies. White foxgloves, for example, when grouped together are brilliant (literally) for bringing spires of light to a dim corner. Foxgloves are prolific seeders, and the white ones usually stay true to form. If they do revert to purple, you can detect it while they are still tiny, as the veins on the backs of the leaves have a pinkish tinge. They can be moved any time up until the flower stem starts to erupt from the centre of the rosette of leaves – although, as with all plants, the younger the better.
There are several other lofty plants that are efficient self-seeders in dryish gardens: the mulleins (Verbascum), usually with spikes of yellowish flowers; the prickly and pleasingly prehistoric-looking teasel (a sure goldfinch attractant); feathery, good-smelling fennel; and the elegant, purple-topped Verbena bonariensis. The tallest of them all is, of course, the three-metre-plus Canary Island echium (Echium pininana) – which is marching from garden to garden throughout the milder parts of this island. On the next tier down are the annual opium poppies, with their fluttery petals and salt-shaker seed canisters; the aquilegias or columbines with their intricate flower shapes; and Sisyrinchium striatum with stiff fans of green leaves and pillars of pale yellow blooms. Also around this level are several hardy geraniums: G palmatum, with cerise flowers and bristly pink stems, is especially welcome. Some of this clan, however, are so eager to propagate themselves that they can become too much of a good thing. Friends who grow the pretty mauve-flowered, lime-green-foliaged G nodosum say that it is to be avoided like the plague – unless you have a very wild patch where it can run free.
Another garden conquistador is lady’s mantle (Alchemilla mollis) with frothy green flowers, and scalloped leaves that hold the dew in silvered pearls. It seeds everywhere, but it’s easy to put a stop to its gallop by cutting off the stems after the flowers fade. Cut the leaves back too, and in a couple of weeks a fresh, newly-laundered crop is produced. The tiny blue wood violet, Viola riviniana, has similar tendencies: insinuating itself between paving stones and on the edges of beds. I love it, but if you’re an obsessively tidy gardener, or are into minimal, clean lines, it is not for you. The purple-leaved form, which behaves the same, is sometimes known as Viola labradorica, but this is a misapplied name. The correct handle is Viola riviniana Purpurea Group. Another coloniser of crevices in paving, steps and walls is Mexican fleabane (Erigeron karvinskianus), which throws out clouds of tiny daisies from spring to autumn.
In our little vegetable garden wild rocket appears each year, which means I’ve not had to sow it in 10 years. Nasturtiums also seed about, but these often revert back to the trailing, orange-bloomed kinds, instead of reprising the posher ones from the previous year.
Gardeners with damper soil than ours are blessed with self-replicating primulas, including the wild primrose – something that makes me green with envy. Nonetheless, I’m happy to accept the plants that decide to sow themselves here year after year, and to let nature do so much of the work around the garden.
jpowers@irishtimes.com
THIS WEEK’S WORK
Look out for desirable seedlings while you are weeding. If they are in the wrong place, and you want to salvage them, gently lever them out of the soil and pot up into small containers. We use a half-and-half mix of garden compost and bought-in potting compost. When potting, ensure that the container is full to within a centimetre of the brim and that the compost comes no higher than the seed leaves or cotyledons (these are more basic-looking than the true leaves, which follow on). Firm compost gently around the stem. Water with a seaweed extract (Maxicrop is widely available, follow the instructions on the bottle), and the plantlets will develop a stronger root system and be better able to resist drought. Stand pots of newly transplanted seedlings in shade for a few days (if you have a greenhouse, under the bench is ideal).
DIary Dates
Today, 2-6pm: Garden open at Mount Desert in Clogheen, Co Cork (signposted from church at Clogheen). Refreshments. Donations in aid of Marymount Hospice.
Friday, May 22nd until Sunday, May 24th: Annual plant sale of unusual and cottage garden plants at Trudder Grange, Newtownmountkennedy, Co Wicklow.