my lawn has been taken over!

Thanks Witzend Sun 12-Apr-20 07:59:08 with the picture.
I have a clump of that growing around my bird bath. It's been there for a few years now. I though it was a weed but it's pretty and so I always leave it. It self seeds where I don't want it to so I pull the new bits out. I'm pleased to know it's a wild flower.

Stansgran, your dh sounds like my FiL (RIP). To him, gardening consisted of cutting things down and pulling them up.
I once had to get dh to hide the shears from him, since he was so viciously attacking the ivy on our fence - we wanted it there, to cover it!
Another time in the autumn he raked our lawn so hard, it never recovered and we had to re-turf in the spring - luckily a small lawn.
Worst he ever did, though, was to cut down MiL’s beloved pear tree when she was away for a few days.
I don’t think she ever forgave him for that.

He's digging out the rock garden at the moment so I'm not arguing. If I don't post again ...........

Can you make him stick to his bit and you have your area, Stansgran

I would love a meadow. DH rakes moss out by the bin bag ( over a dozen this year) and pays a firm to spray and kill. I love it with moss but since retirement I think he's dug out every single thing I've planted over 25 years. I have one border with sedums and acanthus and hardy geraniums which he was eyeing up yesterday. I'm just resigned. Bloody dahlias. He has no eye just likes inyerface colour. Goodness I feel better for that.

Its, not it’s - wretched autocorrect!

This is it. Also found that it’s common name is Yellow Fumitory. I think it deserves a nicer name!

We have masses of cranesbill in the garden - it only started appearing 2 or 3 years ago. Unfortunately it’s never where I’d like it - I’ve pulled up so many, but at least it’s very easy to pull up. Funnily enough a dd’s garden 2 counties away has been similarly invaded.

One wild flower I positively welcome is corydalis lutea (I’ve never been able to find a common name for it - does anyone know one?) which springs up every year along our walls and fences. Small tubular yellow flowers and leaves rather like maidenhair fern.
Will try to find a photo to post.

Google Images for cranesbill weed. I'm sure that's what it is. We have a garden plant variety but I can't remember the name, with the same leaves and blue/purple flowers.

If the plant in the picture is wild cranesbill it will be very easy to pull out. If it's a buttercuppy plant it will be virtually impossible to pull out with your fingers.

My vote is for most of the plans in the picture being wild cranesbill. Very good photo here. wildflowerfinder.org.uk/Flowers/C/Cranesbill(Hedgerow)/Cranesbill(Hedgerow).htm

It is a pretty plant, and a relation of the cultivated cranesbills and geraniums you can buy, but more spindly and with smaller flowers.

If you hook your fingers round a kind of "shoulder" at ground level, you can pull out the roots quite easily and that will be one plant out. However, the seeds are in a long seedcase (like a cranes beak!) which bursts explosively when it is ripe and dry enough, scattering the seeds far and wide, so if you let it flower you will have dozens of baby plants next year.

Thank you for the tip about the lawn sand, Esspee
I mentioned it to DH and he said 'good idea - if we had any!'

I have done this and even planted wildflower mixes, few of which have grown and the more invasive species have taken over.

Mine is similar, OP. For a long time now I’ve referred to our small lawn (tongue in cheek) as a wildflower meadow instead. Lots of violets and buttercups (as well as less welcome invaders). This year there are a number of forget me nots , too.

When it’s buttercup season I get dh to leave a couple of big patches of them when mowing - they’re so lovely and cheerful to look at from the kitchen window,

Yes I agree Espee it is a big risk and I may chicken out. It has hardly started growing yet so I have a few weeks to decide. Botanist friend mentioned planting yellow rattle to discourage the grass. It sounds like harder work than mowing.

@Grammaretto. Leaving it to nature is likely to lead to complaints from neighbours when their garden is invaded by dandelions, willow herb and the like from your patch. I kept on top of the invasive weeds by e.g. putting a pinch of lawn sand in the heart of each dandelion plant and pulling out the likes of willow herb as soon as it had flowered. It’s the grass that has beaten me.

To me they look like poppies?

Native cranesbill (geranium) or seedlings from geraniums in borders. Do you want a grass-only lawn, though, if other plants are happier there? Sometimes it's easier to go with the flow.

Though all the wild flowers I know are also "proper" ?

Some cranesbills are.

I thought cranesbill was a proper garden plant. I did have a lot before we changed the border.

However, without seeing the flower, I will reserve judgement.
Perhaps seeing a sideways view would be helpful.

I think we should stop insulting wild flowers by calling them weeds.

I also think it's a cranesbill, not a buttercup. I'd be delighted to have it in my garden.

You can mow lawns where wildflowers grow, you know, just not as often as for grass. Sadly I think many gardeners, and people who are not gardeners except for mowing grass, are a bit too tidy minded to enjoy wild flowers. Hey ho.

Our 'lawn' is moss and weeds now.
We do hade a scarifier somewhere but as they're not collecting garden waste now it seems pointless to try to remove the moss.

It's wild cranesbill, so a weed but not unattractive. Small pinky purple flowers. You probably need to weed and reseed which is hard work. Or leave it as it is. Grass is quite tough but has a habit of growing everywhere except where you want it.

I agree, it rather looks like creeping buttercup, it can be very invasive, we had it in our front lawn before we had the driveway extended, and it covered the side boarders and ruined all my pretty little alpine plants that l had set in my rock garden.