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Gardening

Identify this please

(29 Posts)
tanith Mon 24-Aug-20 11:24:02

This is spreading in my driveway i thought was a type of lichen but can't seem to identify it. I've tried 2 different weed killers and its still spreading. I don't want to scrape it out as i think i may well just spread it so I'm sure someone will identify it here.

tanith Mon 24-Aug-20 11:35:48

Sorry about the state of my post words missing and lower case I did it on my phone ?

Tabbycat Mon 24-Aug-20 11:38:30

Is it a TRIFFID ? shock

EllanVannin Mon 24-Aug-20 11:44:16

Could be a Shield Lichen which unfortunately seems to be resistant to chemicals ? I'm not sure.

EllanVannin Mon 24-Aug-20 11:45:00

A flame thrower grin

tanith Mon 24-Aug-20 11:48:18

Flame thrower might work well, one for weeds of course but I really don’t want the expense. Off to google your suggestion. Thanks

Liz46 Mon 24-Aug-20 11:56:59

What about trying boiling water?

felice Mon 24-Aug-20 12:25:22

You could try Salt, it worked on something in the corridor at the back entrance to our Church.
We just poured table salt over it and left it.

tanith Mon 24-Aug-20 13:22:28

I think you are right EllenVannin Shield lichen. I think I will try boiling water and salt on different patches see how it reacts, it seems it likes my driveway a lot ?

Chewbacca Mon 24-Aug-20 13:28:01

I had the same stuff on my old driveway and none of the weedkillers touched it. But neat bleach, poured directly along it did! Never came back again!

tanith Mon 24-Aug-20 13:37:58

Ooh thanks Chewbacca I’ll try that too.

Baggs Mon 24-Aug-20 13:44:49

It's a liverwort. Possibly a marchantia species but I can't tell from the photos.

soop Mon 24-Aug-20 13:45:58

I like it.

kittylester Mon 24-Aug-20 15:33:17

Dh has a flame thrower - he loves it!!! I dont think it was expensive!

Kalu Mon 24-Aug-20 15:43:13

As Baggs says, it is Common liverwort. The bad news is, it is fire resistant!

tanith Mon 24-Aug-20 15:47:17

Well I’ve tried out hot water, bleach, salt and then vinegar we’ll see if any of the treated patches dies.
ChewBacca can I ask did the bleach damage the driveway? I have block paving.

Kate54 Mon 24-Aug-20 16:20:21

I don’t know what it’s called but my neighbour, who used to work in the horticultural business, said that when he was a lad starting out, this invasive weed (an accidental arrival in Britain from exotic parts) was considered completely unacceptable and whenever spotted, had to be immediately zapped with something that’s probably now illegal. Nowadays, he reckons, the bosses aren’t so strict and the stuff is everywhere.

SpringyChicken Mon 24-Aug-20 17:41:35

Spraying with patio cleaner and letting it dry on may work. It keeps lichen at bay on my wooden patio furniture. I thought it was a liverwort too.

Chewbacca Mon 24-Aug-20 17:54:15

I've got block paving tootanith and I've not spotted any damage done to it when I've used bleach on weeds. I do make sure that I get as close as possible to the invader and trickle the bleach on right in between the edges, making sure that as little as possible actually goes on the blocks.

Fennel Mon 24-Aug-20 19:09:48

I've also found bleach useful as a weedkiller between pavers. eg Domestos.
Maybe dilute first. Works fast.

Chewbacca Mon 24-Aug-20 20:25:17

Summer 2019, I had a large, unsightly and twisted laurel tree chopped down. It had been left, by the previous owners, to grow laterally along the ground and had split into 3 main branches. I decided to keep one. The men who came to chop down the 2 trunks used their chainsaws to slice 4 gashes into the stumps and told me to pour a bottle of bleach into them and cover it up with a brick or something, to stop rain going in, every week for 6 weeks to prevent the stumps from putting out any new growth. I did as instructed and it worked. Not a sign of any regrowth. Much cheaper than the stuff they sell in garden centres.

lemongrove Mon 24-Aug-20 22:17:58

Am sure this is like something we get on our blockpaving, I use Pathclear, it seems to kill off all weeds on the drive, at least for a while.

tanith Mon 24-Aug-20 22:32:33

Thanks everyone it’s interesting reading all your different suggestions we wait to see if anything works.

Luckygirl Mon 24-Aug-20 22:40:20

I keep my gravel drive weed and lichen free with salt. It takes a while to work but it does the trick.

Lexisgranny Mon 24-Aug-20 22:51:23

Story to highjack tanith but this seems to have the same attributes as a weed we have in abundance. Any ideas to get rid of creeping wood sorrel, it has small purple and green leaves and tiny yellow flowers. The last person I asked told me to move house!