If the ox tongue (Anchusa) has spread in your garden, controlling the flowering plant can be extremely difficult. This article tells you how to recognize stubborn weeds and how to get rid of them permanently.
The ox tongue blooms beautifully, but unfortunately often grows where it is undesirable
Plant profile Ox tongue
The wrinkled leaves with thick hairs make identification of the Anchusa relatively easy. They actually resemble the tongue of cattle, giving the plant its popular name. In June to August, the blue colored panicles of flowers appear, which grow on branching, short stalks.
The ox tongue reaches a height of between thirty and eighty centimeters. It forms a taproot that reaches up to 1.20 meters into the ground, which makes it difficult to control.
In agriculture, the plant is now one of the problem weeds, as it tolerates almost any type of soil and displaces useful plants due to its sprawling growth and self-seeding.
How can I fight ox tongue effectively?
This is easier than many hobby gardeners think:
- Since the ox tongue does not tolerate regular mowing well, it is usually sufficient to keep the lawn short and to provide the green with sufficient nutrients.
- If you have to remove large plants, it is most sustainable to dig up the ox tongue together with the deep-reaching taproot. A weed puller, like the one used when weeding dandelions, is very helpful here.
- Fight the weeds before they bloom, effectively prevent self-seeding and uncontrolled growth next year. It is sufficient for this purpose to immediately cut off all the flower heads.
Ox tongue as a ground cover
Because of its undemanding nature, Anchusa is cultivated in some gardens as a grateful ground cover. In this case, however, the common or field ox-tongue is not used, but more attractive flowering varieties such as the Italian ox-tongue or the Cape ox-tongue. This is only 15 to 20 centimeters high, is absolutely easy to care for and suppresses unwanted weeds due to its rapid growth.
tips
Anchusa is a valuable bee pasture. The special shape of the flowers repels insects that are unable to pollinate, so that only beneficial insects such as (wild) bees and bumblebees can feast on the nectar.