HELP!!! Yard Over-Run with Nastertiums

[firebetty]

Hi everyone...I'm new to this forum, but wanted to see if anyone could help me. I have a strange problem. My yard is completely over run with Nastertiums.

Normally, (according to what I've read online) this is a good thing. But in my case, I'm trying to re-design my yard, and they are problematic. For the past 5 years or so, the house I live in had a wild yard. Whoever lived there before, laid seeds (they look like little bulbs actually) for clover and Nastertiums. I live in Southern California, so they come back every year.

Recently it rained for 4 days - it's the start of our rainy season, and after a week, my whole yard was sprouting these pesky plants. I am trying to get the low lying ground cover I planted in the early fall to grow, (a couple varieties of flowering thyme), but they aren't nearly as successful as the Nastertiums and clover. I've basically had to weed my entire yard, and that's not an easy task.

My question is this: How can I get rid of them permanently? I want to keep small bunches of them in isolated parts of the yard where people won't be walking...or as border. I've already planted half the yard with the thyme, so I can't just put down a chemical that will kill all the greenery. I'm hoping someone can tell me something about weeding them, or ways to keep them from re-seeding.

thanks,
firebetty

[backyardgardener]

Recommend just weeding your yard and focus on any newly germinated plants.

[firebetty]

Thanks.
Does it matter if I can't get the entire root? Will it re-seed if I don't? I really don't know that much about plants. And I'm hoping to stop the cycle so that next year I don't have to do all this weeding again.

Thanks.
Does it matter if I can't get the entire root? Will it re-seed if I don't? I really don't know that much about plants. And I'm hoping to stop the cycle so that next year I don't have to do all this weeding again.

Hi firebetty,
Weeding by hand may be tedious but is a much better alternative than chemicals. If you pull the nasturtiam before they bloom, they can't reseed themselves. It will take some time but eventually you will get them under control.

I wish I had this problem. Here in Central AZ, if I try to grow nasturtiam in the yard, the rabbits all have salad for dinner! I've resorted to growing them in hanging planters. Until rabbits learn how to climb trees, I think I'll be OK. :shock:

[firebetty]

Ahhh! Thanks for that info. That is VERY good to know. I'm sorry that I can't send you the majority of these buggers. While I really like the way they look when they bloom, I want to make our yard more usable. We do not have any bunny rabbits chewing on them (yet). I will keep them around the border and in some tucked away places that I don't want to plant.

Thanks so much again!
firebetty

[lilkanyon]

Maybe you should get some rabbits (that don't like thyme!)LOL

[marigold]

I`m also in s calif, and just as my nasturtiums were starting to spread all over , we had a frost that just wilted them all, so I pulled most of them.

Good luck with yours.*