Wild allium running riot

DavePoole

21 years ago

It is 'Field Garlic' - Allium oleraceum; a rather scrawney and weedy wild onion widespread in well-drained soil and potentially highly invasive. It rarely bothers to flower and puts nearly all its efforts into one or two very narrow leaves and the production of tiny bulbils in the flower-head as a means of spreading about. I've got it coming up in between pavers and slabs, so I can sympathise ... and what a nuisance it is too. I wouldn't mind if it paid its rent by producing small heads of flowers, but it does very little apart from looking very untidy. To keep it under control, you have to either spray with glyphosate (not invariably successful and Dalapon would probably be better if you could get it) or gently pull the emerging young plants. No guesses as to your likely option! If you leave it until the flower head has formed properly, you allow umpteen youngsters to re-populate your soil. A small consolation is that you can use the young leaves in a similar manner to chives and they impart a mixed garlic/onion flavour.

merilus
Original Author

21 years ago

Thanks Dave. I've just had a look at some pictures, and that's definitely the culprit.

It would be difficult for me to use weedkiller even if I wanted to, as the A Oleraceum is rampaging around among some very dense plantings. I've already resigned myself to spending a lot of time pulling it up, but I like to know what I'm dealing with.

I do sometimes wonder where it came from, though. It doesn't seem to be infesting any neighbouring gardens, and I've never noticed it growing wild round here (NE Surrey).

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Aaron_UK

21 years ago

If it is field garlic then you are lucky to have it - it is quite a rare plant in Britain - it is more likely than your weed is Crow Garlic (Allium vineale) which is a much more widespread weed.

merilus
Original Author

21 years ago

If it's the rare one, Aaron, I'll be delighted to share my good fortune with anyone who'd like a bag or two of it.

DavePoole

21 years ago

The one here is definitely Allium oleraceum and not A. vineale. It seems locally widespread and may be that the species is generaly scarce, but locally common.

merilus
Original Author

21 years ago

Oh, you grow exotics too, Dave! 'Crammed with far too many plants' is a fair description of my garden.

Norwam

15 years ago

I've been trying to get rid of these damned things since I moved into my house 12 years ago.I've even tried dealing with a square yard of garden at a time, sifting through the soil, up to 6 inches deep, to removed every miniscule bulb (there can be over 1000 of them in a square yard) but by the next season it is as if I have done nothing. I now resign myself to spending 3 weeks a year, end March/beginning of April, to going out in the garden twice a day and deheading them. They aren't diminishing but they aren't increasing either - I hope!!

Wild allium running riot

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Wild allium running riot

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