General Chat

DOES anyone know how to get rid of wild geraiums they are very hardy i have them in blue ,pink and white .they were here when we moved in we dug them up last year but they are back with a vengance.we have so many of them and they are good for ground cover but look so untidy once the flowers have gone.as we have a lare garden its a bit of a night mare

If you cut the plants right back after flowering they will send up a second crop of flowers.

I know they can look quite untidy, and a bit straggly for a time but I give mine a real good haircut and in a week or so back comes a tidy little mound of green, followed by more flowers.

The stems can be quite woody, so I guess you would need to totally dig up the root ball if you wanted to get rid altogether.

Jac XX

Jac is right, my mother loved them and now my sister has inherited them and has had to dig them up.
They are not wild, but true geraniums, unlike pelargoniums.
Wild geraniums include herb Robert and bloody cranesbill and are generally only pink or red.

Rosalind

Old name cranesbill I think and Jac is right, cut right back they give a second flowering. we love hardy geraniums because they flower early when there is not much colour in the garden. after flowering I cut right back and pull up what I don't want from the sides of the plants to stop spreading. But to get rid of them you need to dig up every bit of root, even a tiny bit will root.

ann
Glos

my mum has always called them wild they are nice but we have far to many

As they are pretty tough they do spread, dig them up and just keep a small bit. As Ann says they flower when not much else is.

Rosalind

Don,t know how you could consider getting rid of them. Excellent plants.
As Jac said earlier, cutting them back encourages fresh growth.

Those I cultivate (give them somewhere nice to live and decent soil) always look nice.
Those that seed themselves among my orchard tend to look a bit dowdy, but they give ground cover and never ask for anything.

Happy days

HARRY i dont mind a few here and there but the garden is covered in them and not much else will grow while i have them

id love um
i like having flowers in myy garden and what better ones than ones who keep flowering inspite of cutting um back
id pick um all and put um for mum