What is Fat Hen?
Fat Hen is a polygonum weed that grows in the spring & summer and is often found on waste and cultivated land, it can be found in many parts of the UK.
It can be found in sandy and clayey areas but is not associated with Calcareous soils or gravel. It can grow best on fertile soil and is also known to be a weed that is hard to control. If left untreated it can grow to 2-3-foot-high and disperse thousands of seeds. It can cause issues within crops and often new sowings of grass can be swarmed with this weed through the spring.
Identification:
Fat Hen can be variable in looks depending on its growth stage. It is a medium to tall mealyplant - the leaves can be variable and lanceolate shaped to diamond shaped, and there can be tiny green flowers.
The Problem:
Fat hen is a weed that can grow very quickly around open ground and competes with other weeds for nutrients. It can cause issues for machinery in cropped areas and out-compete re-seeded areas of grass.
Control:
Though it is time consuming, hand weeding or hoeing beds and borders can be the best way to control this weed. However, there are a number of specialist herbicides available that will control Fat Hen.
Fat Hen in 'Bare Areas'
We recommend a treatment of Diamond which will control all other weeds and grasses.
Fat Hen in Grassland
If you have this weed within grassland, we would recommend looking at Thrust which is safe to the grass. If you have this problem within a lawn, we would recommend looking at Enforcer.
For control around Trees & Ornamentals consider looking at Flexidor.
For more information regarding Fat Hen control, please get in touch with our sales team on 01522 246491.
