Over the years my flower bed was invaded by red clover. I have a hard time getting rid of it. I tried spreading cedar mulch but that just encouraged moss to grow. Does anybody know how I can get rid of the red clover? Details: the flower bed runs along the house wall, has a westerly exposure, and is elevated 2'-3' (retaining wall). I have three rose bushes that live there. In spring the bed is full, and I mean FULL of blue bells, in summer I have calendulas. Help! Violeta
Sounds like a shovel & sieve job to me. You mention 3 species that are quite aggressive. The last time I let a bed go - badly, I spent a few days (tiring days) shovelling the soil out, sieving it thru' a fine sieve (1/2" hardware cloth), hand-picking the soil for all plant material & then replacing the soil in the bed. I planted it lightly the next year & used a sharp hoe & repeated hand weeding to get rid of the remnants of the "bullies". The year after that I filled it up with ground covers, small shrubs & perennials to keep the weeds down (& of course, to look good!) It would have been easier to get a contractor to haul away the soil to a depth of 8-10" & replace it with sterile soil Oh well, I don't seem to do things that way. My handiwork cost nothing & was much more rewarding. The removed plants made good compost. BTW my experience tells me - do NOT put bluebells (Endymion non scriptus) in your compost. The darn bulbs will survive cold composting for well over a year. Bluebells can overwhelm a garden in SW BC - see previous threads on the things. Go on...have a dig! gb.
I notice a lot of what I would call red clover, plus a small clover-like plant with rather delicate-looking leaves, which has wiry thin stems and wiry underground connectors... keeps showing up. Like my parents did, I have to go out and weed occasionally, sometimes frequently. I have a new philosophy -- this total-elimination approach to weeds is really hopeless, we live on fortunately a still-fertile planet and plants will pop up. I am finding some nice things will pop up sometimes, from old plantings, as well... except they are usually not planned for or wanted... I have been waging a war against Houttuynia chordata, or chameleon-plant, in one section of garden, all summer. Digging out and knowing that every piece of root that gets left will re-sprout. Still, maybe it's the season but it does seem to be dying off...
