136 JOTTINGS OF A GENTLEMAN GARDENER 



It produces spikes in the summer and seeds readily. It 

 has a mass of fibrous roots which grip the ground. 



The Buttercup is another rather bad weed in the garden, 

 spreading by its roots and seeds. 



Grasses form a large group of garden weeds. The 

 ordinary dwarf meadow grass is quite easy to deal with 

 so long as it does not seed, and it forms valuable vegetable 

 humus. But couch grass or twitch and many other of 

 the rougher kinds of meadow grass are extremely bad 

 weeds. Couch grass throws out long roots all round the 

 crown or base of the plant. They spread very quickly. 

 Each thin white root will make a plant and every piece 

 will grow. It is frequently found round manure heaps, 

 and if left to itself will drive a network of roots into the 

 heap, and spoil the manure. 



Chickweed is another bad weed, frequently growing 

 on manure heaps. It spreads extremely rapidly, and in 

 the flower garden grows close to the roots of perennials, 

 where they are awkward to deal with. 



With the chickweed may be mentioned the Speedwell, 

 with its pretty little blue flowers. In habit it is similar 

 to chickweed. 



The wild red Poppy is a harmless weed so long as it is 

 not allowed to seed. It makes good vegetable humus 

 after the seed heads have been picked off. 



A bad weed here is one known as the Wild Vetch. I am 

 not sure if this is the correct name, but it is our Yorkshire 

 name. The flowers are pea-shaped, small, and bright 

 yellow. The leaves and stems are similar to those of the 

 everlasting pea, only smaller. In the summer the plants 

 are completely covered with bloom. Seed ripens very 

 quickly. The pods burst and the seed is thrown about. 

 If left to itself a regular tangle of growth results. It is 

 impossible to pull up well established plants. The root 

 stems are tough and wiry, and go down a long way, 

 spreading out in the soil. New shoots come up from these, 

 and spread again. It is only possible to eradicate it with 

 much hard labour. 



