I know I will get flack for this, but...

[cknmom]

The people that owned our property wanted to make the front look nice after they built so it would sell quick. They broadcast wildflower seed everywhere. I LOVE all the different poppies and several of the other flowers, but.... most of what was planted are white yarrow. I HATE them!! They look pretty when in bloom but as they die off they are horrible! They spread terribly and are hard to dig out.

I know that you can use them for many things but I can't find anything that I can use them for. Does anyone have any suggestions on how to get rid of these things, they are taking over. Does anyone want any seed???

Monica

 

[MeanQueenNadine]

I can offer no help on this.....but thanks for the heads up, I just bought a mix and guess what it has in it.....so thanks for letting me know in advance.
nadine

 

[Guitartists]

:/ LMAO I like how you offer us seed after telling us how much you hate them! Hahahaha

Maybe you can cut the flower heads off before they can reseed and pull the roots out. I imagine it could take some time, but maybe eventually you will be able to remove them all. Trying to remember what yarrow is good for..... I will get back to you on that.

 

[cknmom]

Some people I talk to really like yarrow, but they all have some also. Last year I was soaking the ground for several hours, then pulling then up by the root. I cleared out most of them from a hillside and the crest of the hill. I still have a looong way to go. I have thought about cutting them before they seed, we have so darn much of it though, it is a duanting task. I read somewhere that in the thirty's some people made a living out of collecting certain wild plants and herbs including yarrow, go figure.
Monica

 

[patandchickens]

Supposedly (like, I am pretty sure there is *some* evidence for this, I just can't offhand provide a reference), common white yarrow is somewhat repellent to mosquitoes.

Also, it stays green and alive MUCH better than grass in very dry free-draining situations (which are the situations where it's hardest to remove by hand anyhow).

Just to make you feel better if you've got it in your lawn and can't get rid of it


Pat, with yarrow in areas that used to be gravel drivewys, but preferring it to bare dirt at least!

 

[cknmom]

Yes, it is much better than just dirt. My problem is the place where it is mostly is where my future garden will be! I want to get rid of it before I plant.
Monica

 

[patandchickens]

If you mainly want to grow 'big' plants, like tomatoes, squash, melons, that sort of thing, then this might be a very good time to look into so-called 'lasagna gardening'.

Basically it's sheet composting, you plant right into it. The yarrow would get smothered/composted to death after the first year or two, I am quite confident (assuming you put enough depth of material on top of it. Worst you'd have would be a couple plants coming up in the holes you planted your tomatoes etc into, which could easily be dealt with by hand. It *does* take quite a bit of organic material to get started this way, but might be a good solution to your problem.

After the first year or two, you could reasonably safely till or grow conventional row vegetables, although you might find yourself weeding out a certain number of yarrow seedlings

Good luck,

Pat

 

[Guitartists]

What about covering the area with some heavy grade black plastic until everything underneath dies off???

 

[cknmom]

I don't mean to be difficult but, actually we do raised beds, I know that I shouldn't worry about them because of that. In the future I will also be teir planting on our hill in front of our house where a lot of yarrow is. I just want to get rid of all of it and be done with it!

I would have to find a way to secure the plastic as we get very high winds through our valley, in fact tonite they are supposed to be gusts of 65mph! It is not unusual for us to get gusts of 80+!

Monica

 

[patandchickens]

So, put down a couple thicknesses of corrugated cardboard, then fill your raised beds (on top of it) with soil etc from another source, what about that?

Basically, I do not think there is any way of quickly and thoroughly killing yarrow roots this time of year, you know? So your choices are a) don't plant directly in the yarrow-infested soil, b) solarize the area thoroughly and wait til like July or so (depending on your climate) to amend the soil and plant; or amend the existing soil and have a semi-permanently yarrow infested garden. I wish there were a magic wand but there isn't

Good luck,

Pat