Ivy v. Nettles, or the balance of Grant and Nature working together?

One area of ground which started as a temporary holding location for half of our Ivy Stock Plants, is now, remarkably, nettle-free.

During the winter we planted eighty ground cover ivy strains across a patch of ground riddled with Nettle plants and after 3 years the nettles lost the biological war and the Ivies won.

All the Ivies will be moved to their permanent growing areas plant-by-plant, and I’m sure we’ll have to extricate their roots from the dormant remains of Nettle plants just lying in wait for daylight, but maybe not. Just maybe one group of plants displaced another. Plants use a mix of physical, chemical and biological methods to ‘take-over’ new territory and many of these methods are openly supported by gardeners.

I’m on the side of the Ivy Plants. I could have been on the side of the Nettles. Whichever ‘side’ I take I appear to oppose the other ‘side’ by default. I could reel off many examples of this dilemma right across the biological spectrum. If I was a spineless gardener, the HoBB Gardens would remain un-cultivated.

I culture. I am engaged in culture.

Waves from the Hills ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ <+))))))))>< ~~~ Grant