Weeds in grass - help please:-) (Merged Thread)

nippy26

I have recently moved house where the new garden is about 100ft long. Part of the garden is very shady, due to 3/4 very mature trees (one a large cherry and the other three being Yews(I think)). Anyhow in the shady part of the garden, the grass is overrun with weeds - I have been trying to identify what they actually are, but so far have been unsuccessful. The only way I can describe them is that they look quite a bit like hostas, but definitely are not. Some of them are enormous! I spent a good couple of hours pulling them up, roots and all yesterday and am planning to aerate the lawn and reseed, as the grass has difficulty growing from the pine needles(?). I will reseed with a matter containing weed killer and specifically for shady gardens and we shall see what happens.

Sorry for rambling on!! Does anyone know what these weeds are? (I shall try to get a picture too) and any idea if they will continue to come back again and again??

Many thanks in advance xx

jellymid

Could they be plantains? If the veins run parallel to the length of the leaf instead of branching like in most leaves they probably are. They shouldn't come back if you pull the roots out, but there might be lots of seeds lurking - ready to grow when the soil is disturbed! Good luck!

tanith

Nippy I not much use when it comes to your weeds.. just wanted to say that I have part of my garden shaded by trees and I have tried everything to improve the grass but it always goes back to bald and dry in the summer and lots of moss in the winter, there is a sprinkle of grass but not much... I gave up and just let it do its thing now......

One thing that works and looks so pretty in the spring is the bulbs that I planted under the trees especially the crocus and snowdrops . they seem to survive fine....

Jayar

There is a very good tool for removing these weeds (and dandelions),
Hmmmm, how to describe it.
It's a bit like a semi filled in corkscrew. The idea is that you twist it into the ground and it removes a plug of soil, roots and all. You just remove the soil and stuff it back in the hole. The grass soon covers any marks you leave behind.
I can't rember where I bought it, but I would imagine it would be somewhere like Poundstretchers, and I'm sure I wouldn't have paid much more than a fiver for it.

nippy26

jellymid, I thought at first they were plantains, but couldn't find the exact species - looks most like the greater plantain, but i'm sure other varieties exist. What do the seeds look like? - I guess they'll be underground where i can't see them! On the ground are loads of what look like cherry stones (as we also have the cherry tree), but cannot see anything else. Will continue pulling them up then and see what happens.

Jayar - will keep my eyes open for that tool, although in the meantime they come up very easily as the ground is so damp.

Tanith, I don't hold out much hope re the grass on the shady part of the garden, but it doesn't dry out much in the summer, so may be lucky. The previous owner tried to lay turf, but it wasn't very well done, so I may have better luck. I agree re bulbs growing...have got some beginning to come up already and am planning to plant more crocuses and snowdrops when I've seen what already exists there:-)

Thank you all for your help - will keep weeding then prepare for reseeding march time.

Lord_Gardener

Worth getting a shade mix (woodland mix) which will include have such goodies as Creeping Red Fescue, Common Bent and Meadow grass rather than the usual Rye. A good affect can also be obtained if you get a mix with wildflower seeds mixed in!

Lord_Gardener

Worth getting a shade mix (woodland mix) which will include have such goodies as Creeping Red Fescue, Common Bent and Meadow grass rather than the usual Rye. A good affect can also be obtained if you get a mix with wildflower seeds mixed in!:)

jellymid

Nippy, I think the plantain seeds are quite small and will probably be well distributed by the wind - I guess you can only keep pulling them up as you see them. As you say it's easier when the soil is wet. We pay our kids to pull up ours when we're getting desperate!

tight_jock

Lord_Gardener wrote:

Worth getting a shade mix (woodland mix) which will include have such goodies as Creeping Red Fescue, Common Bent and Meadow grass rather than the usual Rye. A good affect can also be obtained if you get a mix with wildflower seeds mixed in!:)

This stuff should do the trick as long as you have prepared the area properly. Also do not try and cut very short under the trees .

jemw

We moved into our new house in december and have rennovated completely inside.

We have now started the work outside and are getting to the lawn, which is covered with big weeds. It also seems quite spongy to walk on which makes me think the drainage isn't very good? Or is that normal this time of year?

We cant afford to lay new turf and would rather try to repair the lawn which is already down.

Does anyone have any advice on what to do?

The weeds kind of look like this www.sbs.utexas.edu/b...

Thanks
Jen

Poppycat

That link directs to BBC web site btw

Looks like a dandelion but is isnt

http://www.pfaf.org/database/plants.php?Pyrrhopappus+carolinianus

I wonder if weed and feed stuff would do it

If the soil is wet even when its hasn't rained for a few days, it may help to spike the lawn with a fork