Poppies are just about the easiest plant to grow as a novice gardener. Not only are they beautiful, but they also produce an abundant harvest that doesnג€™t require much maintenance. But because theyג€™re so easy to grow, poppies also tend to spread quickly among gardeners. If you want your flower bed or vegetable patch to remain unspoiled for future generations, itג€™s important to know how to stop poppies from spreading in your garden. Luckily, there are several ways to prevent poppies from taking over your flower bed or vegetable patchג€”and best of all, some of them are as simple as lifting a few roots out with a dibber and replanting them elsewhere in the garden.
How do you get rid of poppies naturally?
Removing the roots of a poppy plant will help prevent it from spreading. This can be done with a dibber, a gardening tool used to lift up small pieces of soil and plants.
Another way to remove the roots is to dig up all the plants in a flower bed or vegetable patch that have grown from poppies. The only danger in this method is that youג€™ll end up accidentally uprooting your other flowers and vegetables with the soil stuck beneath them. Otherwise, itג€™s an easy and effective way to prevent further spread of this weed.
What do you do with poppies when they have finished flowering?
When the poppies are finished flowering and the seeds have been pollinated, you can lift a few of their roots with a dibber. If youג€™re using a dibber, this is as simple as pushing down on the top of the plant to loosen its hold on the ground. Then, you can dig up the plant and replant it elsewhere in your garden. Or, if you donג€™t have a dibber handy, you can use your hand to peel up their roots from around your flower bed or vegetable patch before lifting them out with your fingers.
If you want to prevent poppies from spreading sooner rather than later, you should adopt other preventative measures such as putting gravel under your flower bed or growing poppies in pots instead of in large patches.
Will poppies multiply?
Poppies do not multiplyג€”and they donג€™t need to. Theyג€™re able to propagate via seeds, and these seeds will grow into new plants if the right conditions are met. However, because the flowers of poppies are so easy to remove and replant elsewhere, they wonג€™t be able to spread throughout your garden.
Do ornamental poppies spread?
Just about any plant that can produce seeds is capable of spreading from selfג€_x0090_seeding. Poppies are no exception. They grow quickly and easily spread by fruit set or through broken roots or stems, so itג€™s important to start the growing season with a clean slate before they take over your garden.
But while they can be planted anywhere in the garden, there are ways to prevent them from spreading. One way is to lift their roots out with a dibber and replant them elsewhere in the garden where you want them to stay. This prevents them from taking over your flower bed or vegetable patch as well as making sure that every area of your garden gets equal love and attention.
Another way is to spray the leaves with a glyphosate-based herbicide such as Roundupֲ®. Since poppies contain chlorophyll, they tend to absorb this herbicide quickly, so youג€™ll have instant results after spraying them with Roundupֲ® or another glyphosate-based herbicide such as Escortֲ®, Libertyֲ®, or Hornetֲ®.
If you want to use something other than glyphosate-based herbicides for prevention purposes, you can also try planting annual ryegrass between the poppy flowers (in case of annual poppies) or between the roots (in case of perennial poppies). In addition, if you’re concerned about using pesticides on your flower bed or vegetable patch, you can try using red clover as an alternative because it’s just
