Watch out for these self-seeders

This is the time of year when a lot of herbs and other plants produce their seeds. It can be either very welcome if you are happy to leave your plot to go a litle wild, or unwelcome if you’re trying to keep things neat and tidy!

Here’s a quick list of the plants that are likely to self-seed:

Wild Rocket, Mizuna, Mustard Leaves – Cut these back regularly before flowers appear and you should avoid them re-seeding and get more leaves through too. Eventually they will go to seed, and you can either pull the plants up or leave them.

Chives – these seed heads are really good at sowing themselves. You can quite easily shake the seed heads to collect and disperse the seeds as you see fit. Otherwise, try to pull the flowers off before the seeds set.

Marjoram – the flowers are so popular with bees that it can feel cruel to cut them back, but they are the masters of self-seeding. We quite like to let them flower, and then cut them back as the flowers start to drop off – they can then be popped in a vase and you can enjoy the last of the pretty flowers in your home rather than letting them self-seed.

Calendula – to keep these in check, either collect the seeds to sow into pots of compost or deadhead the flowers. Dead-heading will keep the plants flowering for longer too.

Rainbow Chard & Spinach – this can be quick to bolt and flower, so keep harvesting it for a longer season. Once it does bolt, either pull it up or leave it to self seed.