Anybody sprucing up their garden prepared for the brand new season is being urged by Monty Don to be careful for an ‘unimaginable’ weed
The weed is especially noticeable and lively in spring (Picture: Getty) This text incorporates affiliate hyperlinks, we are going to obtain a fee on any gross sales we generate from it. Study extra
Monty Don is warning spring gardeners of an ‘unimaginable’ weed they need to be careful for, as it may be troublesome to eliminate. The skilled gardener and TV star spoke concerning the ‘invasive’ weed in an upcoming episode of Gardeners’ World.
The favored TV present is returning to screens for a brand new 2026 sequence Friday (March 13) at 8pm on BBC. Throughout right now’s (March 10) episode of Morning Dwell, hosts Gethin Jones and Helen Skelton welcomed Monty Don to the studio by way of a stay webcam feed as they mentioned the returning TV programme.
On the finish of the section, viewers have been proven a glimpse of episode one of many new sequence. Monty Don highlighted a weed spring gardeners must be looking out for.
Holding up some sofa grass he had simply pulled out of the bottom, he informed viewers: “It is a actually profitable plant, and as soon as it will get established, it takes over.
“Sofa grass is one thing that can work its means into the roots of different crops. That is its actual drawback in a [grass] border. If it really works its means into perennials and shrubs, not to mention into hedges, it’s virtually unimaginable to get out.”
Sofa grass (Elytrigia repens) stands out in spring as a result of it grows early, usually earlier than different crops, making it a really noticeable weed. Although it’s a perennial that may develop from spring to autumn, the quickest and most seen progress happens as temperatures begin to heat in spring.
Monty Don added: “It’s fairly brittle. So in case you depart any little bit of it within the floor, it should reproduce. So we attempt to take out as a lot of that and burn it. Do not put it on the compost heap.”
The Wildlife Belief says cough grass could be very powerful and may shade out extra delicate crops (Picture: Getty)
Sofa grass tends to be an issue primarily in locations the place gardeners develop issues, resembling gardens and vegetable patches. In these areas, sofa grass spreads shortly, forming thick mats of underground stems. The most important subject occurs when it begins to develop by way of the roots of backyard crops, making it actually exhausting to eliminate.
Gardeners’ World says: “In a garden, sofa grass is much less of an issue, as a result of common mowing retains its progress in verify. Nevertheless, remember that its underground stems are prone to unfold into adjoining beds and borders.”
It is value conserving in thoughts that sofa grass is sweet for wildlife: its leaves function meals for caterpillars of varied butterflies and moths, and the clumps provide shelter for different small creatures like beetles.
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In response to the Royal Horticultural Society (RHS), sofa grass has lengthy been thought of a weed by gardeners as, in contrast to different coarse grasses, it usually grows amongst and thru border crops in addition to in lawns and on allotments. It provides: “These wishing to take care of immaculate, uniform lawns and tidy borders are prone to wish to take away sofa grass earlier than it turns into established and spreads.
“Nevertheless, sofa grass is a vital supply of meals for butterfly and moth caterpillars, together with these of speckled wooden and ringlet butterflies. Its swaying flower and seed heads additionally look enticing when grown in a meadow or species-rich garden. As gardeners embrace ‘ecological gardening’ and welcome a wider vary of species into their gardens, sofa grass is more and more seen as a wildflower.”
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