It's supposed to be introduced to Britain and Ireland by the Romans. It's also called Goutweed, Pigweed and Bishop weed.
To a lot of gardeners It's considered a pernicious weed and it's underground rhizome like roots. Some people spray it with an herbicide but I just pull it out with a fork because I don't believe in weedkillers. It's not really a pernicious weed It's a garden escapee.
Apparently a lot of Victorian gardeners use to deliberately plant Ground Elder and used it to treat Gout and eat it in salads and soups and stews. It's also an antinflammary. It's often sold in market stall in Krakow and the Ukraine. I have been to Krakow but I never saw any Ground Elder for sale.
Wouldn't it be ironic to think that the pernicious weed you have in your Victorian garden was deliberately planted in amongst the herbaceous perennials and shrubs?
My garden was a field until 1983 but I've still got the stuff at the back of the border - it's difficult to get out once it gets among the perennials etc
ReplyDeleteIt is difficult to eradicate Sue. I think pigs would eat it if you dug it up and fed it to them. My pernicious weed is couch grass or 'Twitch" it was also old pasture and I just keep pulling out. Garden rotavators are great for cutting up weed roots and making individual plants.
ReplyDeleteI don't think we have pigweed but we do have some creepers which apparently are good for eating or for healing. I like anything that is green ground cover. It's all turning brown right now
ReplyDeleteHi Linda. I don't think it takes the goodness out of the soil and I would rather hand weed it than spray with weedkillers. I must try eating it. I'm known to eat Nettles.
DeleteOnly yesterday we read that it is edible (reading up on foraging), and we don't even know what it is! Agree with you on the effects of a rotivator in a patch infested with pernicious roots. Let us know what it tastes like.
DeleteWill do Tigger.
DeleteWhen I had my big garden ground elder was a plague - only after rain the rhizomes were easy to be dug out from the soil.
ReplyDeleteBut at the moment that I decided to use it like a sort of spinach (in spring, when it is still tender), it beat a retreat. It didn't disappear totally, but was put into its place.
And if we are neutral we have to admit that their blossom is really beautiful - added to bunches of roses.
The blossom is beautiful Britta. I must try it in a stew and my pigs will love it.
DeleteDidn’t Japanese Knotweed and Himalayan Balsam arrive in our gardens in the same way?
ReplyDeleteYes I think you're right Sue Jay. Knotweed was thought to be good game cover on large country estates. The London Olympic Village cost over 100 million Pounds trying to eradicate it.
ReplyDeleteHull City have an Australian defender called Callum Elder. I wonder if he is related to Ground Elder.
ReplyDeleteHis he one of the elder members of the squad?
ReplyDeleteHe's 28. I am not sure if that makes him an elder.
DeleteI follow Wrexham a lot these days. My great grandmother was born there. The Vanarama league is probably better than league 2?
DeleteIt would not surprise me if Wrexham storm League 2 next season. I hope that Notts County get to join them.
DeleteI agree. I hope Notts County get promoted. The Vanarama League should be renamed Division 3.
DeleteHow funny. Today, driving home, I caught sight of a healthy patch of garlic mustard. Here it is considered an 'invasive', but it was actually brought over by the early settlers who used it as a spice as well as a medicinal herb. Now...who is it that makes the decision that a plant is a weed, an invasive that should be pulled on sight and disposed of.
ReplyDeleteThe bane of our garden is Mare's Tail.... equisetum...which you will find in preparations to soothe animal skin...I wouldn't be surprised if it was used for humans in the past.
ReplyDeleteI some walking along the Greenway in Limerick and thought of your Marestail. It's prehistoric like woodlice. Suppos3d to make good shampoo.
DeleteI don't recognise it so maybe we don't have it here in Australia.
ReplyDeleteA quick trip to google tells me we do have it, I should look more closely when I'm out and about. It flowers "umbel" style, like dill, parsley and Queen Anne's Lace.
ReplyDeleteIt originates from India and can self pollinate Debby. It's great for getting rid of wirework in old pasture. It's a Brassica.
ReplyDeleteThere's so much that we can forage and we walk past every day River.
ReplyDelete