Lilies of the valley in the garden are ideal for adding greenery to bare areas under trees and bushes. But be careful: once the spring flowers have spread in the garden, they are difficult to remove.
How do I care for lily of the valley in the garden?
Lilies of the valley are ideal for adding greenery to shady areas in the garden, as they thrive as ground cover under trees and bushes. They are very easy to care for and only require occasional watering, compost fertilization and should be pruned to control spread.
Green shady areas with lily of the valley
Lilies of the valley prefer shady locations where the sun only shines in the morning and evening. They are therefore ideal as ground cover for greening spaces under deciduous trees and bushes.
Do not plant lily of the valley without a rhizome barrier
The distribution of lily of the valley occurs via seeds, which are formed in the berries, or via the underground formation of runners.
Since the spring flower tends to overgrow, you should always protect the location with a rhizome barrier (€78.00 on Amazon).
Weeds do not grow under lily of the valley because the spring flowers form dense flower carpets and also crowd out other plants.
Caring for lily of the valley in the garden
- Pouring
- fertilize
- cutting
Lilies of the valley in the garden are very easy to care for. They only need to be watered after planting. In very hot summers it may make sense to water the soil so that the soil does not dry out completely.
The spring flowers need nutritious soil. However, it is enough if you spread compost around the flowers every two years.
You don't have to cut lily of the valley. Removing spent flowers is advisable as the plant spreads rapidly via seeds. The leaves must not be cut. They collect nutrients in summer and absorb themselves in winter.
How to eliminate the spring flower from the garden
If the lilies of the valley have spread too much, it will be difficult to remove them from the garden.
To permanently destroy the plants, you must carefully dig up the rhizomes. No pieces of roots should remain in the ground, as they will sprout again.
Do not throw spent flowers and root residues into the compost if you want to remove lilies of the valley. The roots also sprout and seeds germinate in the compost heap. Dispose of the plant residues in the garbage can.
Tip
The lily of the valley genus belongs to the asparagus family and has no subspecies. However, there are a number of varieties that differ in the color of the flowers, the color of the leaves and the size of the inflorescences.
