Category: Wild plants

The bare earth between the plants of the beds, the paths, the spaces between the slabs of the terrace are overgrown with weeds. The seeds brought by birds or the wind take advantage of these rich or well-drained places. What to do ?

Our solutions

• In flowerbeds, install ground cover plants in September or October or mulch the soil as quickly as possible.
• To mulch the beds, carefully weed between the flowers, then water before spreading a 5 cm layer of flax sequins or grass clippings.
• For the paths as well as for the terrace, pull weeds regularly, either by hand or using a thermal weed killer.

The bon-Henri goosefoot (also called “bon-Henri anserine”) is found in the wild almost everywhere in France in rich and shady lands.
Perennial, very resistant to cold, it can stay in place 4 to 5 years in a row. Its leaves, rich in calcium, iron and phosphorus, are eaten raw in salads or cooked like spinach.

The culture sheet

Sowing: March to April or October
Harvest: April to October
Duration of emergence: 5 to 6 months (autumn sowing), 10 to 15 days (spring sowing)
Culture period: 4 to 5 years
Watering: regular
Production: 15 to 20 leaves per plant

Sowing bon-Henri goosefoot

Preferably in autumn or in spring, trace shallow furrows spaced 40 to 50 cm apart along the edge of the vegetable garden, in a part where the lamb’s quarters can
stay in place for several years.
Distribute the seeds as evenly as possible.
Cover and tamp with the back of the rake.
Water in fine rain.

When the plants have 4 to 5 leaves, 1 month (for spring sowing) to 6 or 7 months (for fall sowing) later, eliminate the weakest plants
in each row, keeping one lamb’s quarters every 35 at 40 cm.

Caring for the bon-Henri goosefoot

Goosefoot is sensitive to drought which encourages early flowering to the detriment of leaf production.
From May, spread a good layer of flax sequins at the base to keep the soil moist. Water abundantly at the foot all summer.
At the end of June to mid-July, cut off any flower stems that form to stimulate leaf production.

Harvest bon-Henri goosefoot

Harvesting occurs in the summer following the fall sowing or the following year for spring sowing or division.
Break the petiole of the lower leaves by hand by pulling downwards.
Harvest as and when needed for immediate consumption.

Produce your seeds

Propagation by division, which is much easier, is greatly preferred to harvesting seeds. The number of plants obtained is largely sufficient for the average consumption of a family. Operate at the very beginning of spring, in March.

Select well bushy chenopods.
Cut out the circumference of the root ball with a spade, planting it vertically between 10 and 15 cm from the foot, all around the plant.
Pry up to lift, then extract the goosefoot by pulling at the base of the leaves.
With a sturdy knife, cut into 2 or 3 pieces with leaves and roots.
Immediately plant the pieces, in another place in the vegetable garden, spacing them 40 cm apart on the row.

Wait 4 to 5 years before sowing or re-planting goosefoot where you grew it previously.

Hoe or hoe in hand, roam the garden in search of these invasive plants.

Creeping buttercup

Latin name: Ranunculus repens
In the buttercup family, it is the most difficult to eliminate . It multiplies by seeds and especially by powerful runners which go in all directions, especially in heavy, clayey, compacted soil.

How to eliminate creeping buttercup

Digging the soil to unpack and make furniture. Take advantage of the digging to eliminate the whole plant with its runners.

Shepherd’s purse

Latin name: Capsella bursa-pastoris

This annual, 5 to 40 cm high, reproduces by seed, is very widespread, especially in loose , sandy and rich soil . In the vegetable garden, it can transmit cabbage hernia .

How to eliminate the shepherd’s purse

It must be rooted out by performing a methodical weeding . Weed as soon as possible because the shepherd’s purse forms and spreads seeds several times a year. It is eaten! It’s a delicious salad : a cousin of the arugula, with a less spicy taste , which the Chinese cultivate.closevolume_off

Cirse des champs

Latin name: Cirsium arvense Its leaves are prickly and its flowers – very beautiful in summer – deliver thousands of seeds to the wind. It should therefore not be allowed to reach the flowering stage ! This undesirable is also spread thanks to strong sucker roots …

How to eliminate field cyst

Cover the ground or cut the aerial parts as often as possible using a weeding gouge to weaken the roots .

Quackgrass

Latin name: Elytrigia repens

This grass – of sad reputation – extends over large areas thanks to long rhizomes tracing to 20 cm deep, the slightest fragment of which gives a new plant .

How to eliminate quackgrass

Cover the soil in open spaces or dig out the roots 2 to 3 times, one month apart. In a bed, exhaust the quackgrass by pulling out any shoots as soon as they have a few leaves.

Ciliated galinsoga

Latin name: Galinsoga ciliata

Little known, yet it spreads vigorously, each plant being able to produce from its eighth week up to 7,500 seeds which germinate immediately! This plague, moreover, can harbor insect pests , nematodes and viruses.

How to eliminate ciliated galinsoga

By hoeing very early before flowering to avoid propagation and by applying the technique of false sowing.

Field bindweed

Latin name: Convolvulus arvensis

This weed plant greatly appreciates calcareous and warm soils , rather loose, in which it propagates by a main root carrying numerous ramifications which can sink to more than 2 m. Proliferative, it goes as far as colonizing 25 m2 in one season …

How to get rid of bindweed

Regularly cut the aerial parts to weaken the roots . Cover the ground in open ground.

Chickweed

Latin name: Stellaria media

This edible annual reproduces by seed (2,000 per plant) several times a year and spreads by creeping stems that take root. It appreciates moist and rich soils in partial shade. It may indicate too much nitrogen .

How to get rid of chickweed

Pull up young plants by hand or with a hedgehog before they flower and do not leave them on the ground .

Field mustard

Latin name: Sinapis arvensis

This annual, which flowers from June to October and reproduces by seed, serves as a host for pests (flea beetle) and a vector for cabbage diseases (hernia, mildew). Mustard appreciates calcareous, rich, clayey soils .

How to eliminate field mustard

Cut the stems at the start of flowering to prevent seed build-up and pull out the stems or weed. The roots of debris do not regenerate.

Oxalis

Latin name: Oxalis corniculata This small annual, often perennial in a mild climate, develops creeping stems which take root at the level of the leaves (green or red) and flowers from May to October. Its seeds are projected by capsules which burst suddenly and ensure wide dissemination.

How to get rid of oxalis

Pull up the plant as soon as possible and completely to avoid regrowth.

White clover

Latin name: Trifolium repens This perennial multiplies by seeds and spreads by means of creeping stems which take root at the level of the nodes. Its white flowers, rich in nectar, are abundantly pollinated.

How to eliminate clover

Weed on bare soil to eliminate the entire plant. In the lawn, mow short to limit the formation of seeds. Remember that clover fixes nitrogen , attracts auxiliaries and stays green in dry weather …

What are the most common weeds in the garden?

Annual and shallow weeds:

Purple dead nettle, harsh sow thistle, spurge alarm clock, oxalis, lamb’s quarters, chickweed, persicaria knotweed. Cardamine, shepherd’s purse, chickweed and common groundsel produce 2 or 3 generations per year.

Perennial and deep weeds:

Dandelion, rumex, comfrey, wild chervil.

Perennial and creeping weeds:

Quackgrass, nettle, goutweed, bindweed, horsetail, polygonum, eagle fern.

Perennial runner weeds:

Creeping cinquefoil, bramble, bluegrass. The creeping buttercup can thus cover 3 m2 in a season and the brunelle, 10!

How do you prevent “weeds” from growing?

The fight against weeds is one of the essential concerns. In a natural garden, the task requires thought and astuteness since the use of herbicides is not an option.
Luckily, there are many tricks that allow, in the form of passive resistance , if not to get rid of, at least to effectively limit the colonization of these wild plants: the cover of the ground to prevent it from being sown, their hoeing before they go up to seeds, raising hens that will delight in seeds and other snails.