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How can I save my wildflower garden?
Q I sowed a wildflower garden last year and it did really well. However, this year the weeds (creeping buttercup, rushes, and so on) have taken over. I have considered redigging it, but I planted more than 100 bulbs and some primulas last year. Should I spray it?
Norma Hill (via email)
A With perennials such as primulas in the ground it isn’t possible to treat perennial weeds with herbicide. These kill all plants they come into contact with. The only way to treat the area as a whole would be to dig up those plants you want to keep and spray the rest, but this would have to be done soon otherwise bulb foliage might be affected as it breaks the surface of the soil.
The alternative is more time consuming but could be the most effective and that is to hand-weed the area. If most of the wildflowers that you have sown are annuals, it won’t be long before you can remove the top growth, which will give you an idea of the extent of the perennial weeds. As they are at most only a year old they shouldn’t have embedded themselves too strongly and this is a good
