Celandine help!

[JaneParticipant]

Hi Charles

I made a new bed in the summer last year for over-wintering brassicas which were a great success. I was going to plant asparagus there this year however I now have a mass of celandine pushing up from the ground below the 6″ of compost which was originally put on top of cardboard. I have tried digging out a few plants as Steph suggested on the FB page however as they are so deep this isn’t working and I would be digging over the whole patch which obviously I want to avoid. I will put the asparagus somewhere else….but will just adding more compost be enough to suppress them or do I need to take heavier action! (cardboard/plastic cover for a year).

Many Thanks and enjoy next weeks sunshine – its been a long time coming!

Jane

[charlesModerator]

Jane, the key thing here is that celandine has a short and precise season of growth, from midwinter to May, then it disappears in summer when roots are dormant.
Therefore summer mulches do not kill it because it’s not trying to grow.
Even now it’s getting late to mulch though still worth it – cardboard and a thin layer of compost to weight it down.Then remulch after Christmas as soon as you see new celandine, which will be weaker.
You could plant asparagus crowns in this bed but would not then be able to mulch 100%, so if you have another bed for asparagus, I would plant in that.

[JaneParticipant]

Hi Charles

Thank you so much for your invaluable advice – will do as you suggest above…I haven’t had to deal with this problem before and want to eradicate ASAP before it becomes a problem, so great to know how. The asparagus can have another home!

Jane 🙂

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