A clump of blooming fat hen

Fat hen

BBC Gardeners' World Magazine

Published: Sunday, 24 March 2019 at 3:00 pm

Discover how to get rid of annual fat hen weeds, with the help of organic or chemical methods described here.

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Fat hen, Chenopodium album, is an annual weed loved by butterflies, and whose young leaves are delicious in salads or cooked like spinach. However, it will also quickly colonise open ground and spread through your garden if left unchecked - a single plant can produce 20,000 seeds in its short lifetime.

Symptoms

Fat hen is a weed that will quickly spread and colonise any open ground, competing with your other plants for nutrients.

Find it on

all over the garden

Organic

Hand weed or hoe out seedlings as they appear, or smother them with a good layer of compost or mulch. Try to remove plants before they flower and seed to slow its spread.

Chemical

Use a total weedkiller. Avoid spraying on a windy day and near other desirable plants.

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