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Chickweed control might be needed for this invasive plant
Chickweed has beautiful tiny flowers that look like stars, thus the Latin name ‘Stellaria media’. These flowers also produce many tiny seeds that happily self-sow everywhere. Chickweed is a ground cover which means it can spreads in large masses quickly.
Chickweed is a ground cover and can be very invasive in a garden.
This is a benefit if you’re wanting a patch of chickweed, not great if you want to grow other crops
Chickweed is very nutritious and offers many benefits as a herb.
Many herbalists and homesteaders forage for chickweed plants. You can learn to identify edible wild plants in this great wildcrafting course. Chickweed makes an excellent addition to the permaculture design food forest.
But if you have chickweed in your garden it will take over and you’ll need to control it
I’ve been battling chickweed control in our greenhouse for a couple of years
You can see it growing in between our fall veggies.
The good thing is that chickweed is easy to remove
That being said, if you leave even the tiniest bit of root in the ground it will grow back (and quickly I might add).
I highly recommend NOT using chemicals. Chickweed is easy to remove, and it actually doesn’t take up much time because it is such a light-weight weed with shallow roots. Certain weeds can also take over your garden but be hard to remove. Chickweed control is easier without chemicals because it’s so easy to pull up. If the plant has already self-sown you’ll need to do this multiple times because it will keep sprouting over and over again.
Be sure to remove the roots of chickweed otherwise it will grow back fast
How to remove chickweed naturally:
- Use a garden hoe to remove the plant and the roots
- Easily remove it by hand, but make sure you remove the roots.
- Harvest chickweed and use it for it’s benefits, but remove the roots
If you compost chickweed it might grow back in the compost pile!
We give a lot of it to our chickens, although I realize not everyone has this luxury. Make a separate compost pile for invasive weeds so that it doesn’t get into your good vegetable garden compost. I like using a 3 bin compost set up but we have a pile at the back of the acreage that we burn in the fall. Learn more about composting.
Do you use chickweed or are your battling chickweed control?
My name is Isis Loran, creator of the Family Food Garden. I’ve been gardening for over 10 years now and push the limits of our zone 5 climates. I love growing heirlooms & experimenting with hundreds of varieties, season extending, crunchy homesteading and permaculture.
Hi Isis,
I must say, chickweed was driving me nuts last winter! It almost covered every single flower bed in my garden. I was just glad it was easy to pull out by hand. But I had no idea you could use it in salad! Thanks for the tip, I will be sure to ask the local nursery to identify it before I eat though 😀
Thanks!