Pesky bluebells

If they English Bluebells you can get them out quite easily but if they are Spanish Bluebells they are bigger and tougher. I dislike the Spanish ones but love the delicate English ones. Unfortunately both are almost impossible to remove completely you just have to keep digging them out.

Beastly Spanish ones are such thugs!

I’m assuming these are Spanish or hybrid bluebells - I would never want to remove native English bluebells. I read that you can weaken them by removing the leaves as soon as they appear. If you dig the bulbs up squash them flat and don’t put them in the compost.

I’m not sure what kind they are. They are quite big and some are white.

If they are Spanish bluebells they have flowers on both sides of the stem, English ones only on one side. Spanish ones are hard to eliminate, but you can definitely reduce them if you dig out the clumps, then keep chopping back the foliage every time you see it appear. Don’t let them seed either, or new ones will pop up in different parts of your garden - I speak from experience.

They are quite big and some are white. They are Spanish. English bluebells are never white.

The rampant rogues in my garden are English bluebells. The original patch is now almost non existent but other areas in the garden have large patches. I thought birds must have picked up a couple of bulbs and dropped them but not now, given the extent of spread and the size of the patches. I do live beside a woodland with bluebells but the spread is ridiculous

I think all you can do is get a long ‘dibber’ type tool and dig down with it until you reach the bulb, and get the bulb out. Just tackle a few at a time from the outer edges of where they’ve spread to and gradually work backwards/inwards. We’ve got the same problem !

I love my garden full of bluebells they don’t flower that long and then the lily of the valley take over the garden I love my garden doing just what it likes, this year I ve got loads of Valarian that I ve never planted!!

If you don’t want them to spread further pull the stems and seed pods out before they ripen and spread more seeds no

Thanks. I got rid of some today and will keep working at it. I was hoping there was a spray of some sort to kill them!

I’m wondering if tree stump killer would work ?

Introduced in the 17th century Spanish bluebells are thugs and have taken over gardens normally populated by the prettier more delicate English ones
I have them .
Today I was treating my dandelions with washing liquid and salt and wondered about trying it on the Spanish bluebells .
I try to dig them up and if I fail I cut them down to discourage seeding and photosynthesis.
I've had one hell of a battle with wild garlic but I think that I've won .

EllieAnne

I’m not sure what kind they are. They are quite big and some are white.

This explains the difference:
www.wildlifetrusts.org/wildlife/how-identify/spanish-or-native-bluebell

They are in our garden, too. Every year more appear. I quite like them but they don’t flower for long and then there are all these droopy leaves everywhere. The worst ones I get are montbretias, they take over and drive me nuts.

I’ve tried pathclear but it doesn’t help. Wondered about round up?
I don’t even mind if some other plants suffer. I just want rid.

I have the same problem too. I have dug out a few of the bulbs, but it is really hard work!

I pull of the stems as soon as the flowers fade, before they seed - but I think bluebells spread from the bulbs as well, so taking off the seedheads will help but is only half the battle.

BlueBelle

I love my garden full of bluebells they don’t flower that long and then the lily of the valley take over the garden I love my garden doing just what it likes, this year I ve got loads of Valarian that I ve never planted!!

I love them too. Going for walks around here is lovely right now with carpets of bluebells in some of the woods.

For next year, try to learn the difference between English and Spanish (hybrid) bluebells, rule of thumb is that the English ones have blue pollen and look like long pixie hats with curled edges, Spanish have white pollen and wide leaves and the flowers are not so long and tubular. As soon as the wide leaves appear, pull them out with the bulb and dispose. I do believe the English ones are a protected species and should be valued at all costs as they are hard to grow. If you still have wide leaves visible in your garden, then pull these out. English bluebells have thin to moderately thin leaves.

I have bluebells and white bells in my garden and they were here when I came in 1993. I am still trying to get rid and dig out for the last 33 years, it is so difficult. I now have wild Violets too and they are in my strawberry patch, in the borders, in the lawn and they will take over if I am not careful, just feel exhausted with it all. There is no easy answer but when you dig them up, you have to get the bulb otherwise they will continue to grow, good luck.

Are they not protected, depending what type they are?

No, Greyduster some are white - or even pink.
Not so many but they definitely exist.

We had them in the woodland next to our garden as a child. Mostly the well known violet colour but a few precious white, indigo, pinks... 😍

This is the RHS info about them:

"English bluebells – our native bluebell grows to about 40cm (16in) in height and bears deep violet-blue flowers (very occasionally pink or white) with petals curled back at the mouth of the bell. The flowers are on one side of the arching stems and have a delicate, sweet scent. The narrow, strap-shaped green leaves are about 1.5cm (½in) wide"

I remember hearing on Gardeners Question Time that the only way to get rid of them is to repeatedly mow or strim every inch of growth so that there is nothing to feed the bulbs, which will then wither and die. Never tried it but it makes sense.

I stand corrected😊!