If you want to green large beds quickly, the large-leaved lady's mantle is the best choice. It grows quickly and is also easy to care for.
The large-leaved lady's mantle (Alchemilla mollis) belongs to the rose family and is a widespread plant species in Europe, Africa and Asia, which is particularly common in mountainous areas. The lady's mantle occurs in about 1,000 species. In addition to the large-leaved lady's mantle, around 300 other species thrive throughout Europe. Most of these plants are used as animal feed. Only a comparatively small part can be found as an ornamental plant in the garden bed.
Large-leaved lady's mantle with its striking leaves and small, rather inconspicuous flowers is often found in gardens that are close to nature. The plant can grow up to half a meter high and never tires of sowing itself, which can quickly lead to the lady's mantle, which is also valued as a medicinal plant, taking over the direction of the bed and crowding out other plants. The small, wheel-shaped, light green and rather inconspicuous flowers appear between June and July. Some lady's mantle species also flower between May and September.
Origin and Distribution
Large-leaved lady's mantle (Alchemilla mollis) has a wide-ranging natural range. This extends between the mountainous regions of Romania to western parts of Russia, northern Turkey, the Caucasus regions and northern Iran. There, the plants are increasingly found on embankments, in sparse forests or on meadows. Today the plant has also become native to large parts of Europe, Asia and Africa.
| Large-leaved Lady's Mantle (Alchemilla mollis) | |
|---|---|
| Growth: | cushion-like, hemispherical, clumpy |
| Growth: | 30-40cm |
| Growth: | 30 - 50 cm |
| Flowering: | June - July |
| Location: | Sun to partial shade |
| Floor: | moist, permeable, normal |
Large-leaved lady's mantle - The easy-care "weed"
Lady's mantle not only appears in the garden bedsturdy and durable, but also quite dominant. The plant makes few demands on the soil and can also tolerate prolonged drought. Once it has settled into the garden, it cannot be easily pushed away and literally grows like weeds. Another problem: the large-leaved lady's mantle is a particularly active self-seeder. It is not uncommon for new offshoots to sprout even from cracks in the wall and between cobblestones. So the plant needs some control. It is also a good idea to cut back radically after the main flowering period.
Healing effect of the lady's mantle
The healing effect of the plant should not be underestimated and gained importance early on. This is indicated by plant names that have emerged in the vernacular. Some popular names of the plant are:
- Women's Aid
- Women's Skirt
- St. Mary
- Mantle of Our Lady
- smock
Women's medicine was the main area of application for the plant. Already in ancient times women's ailments were cured with plant extracts. A tea made from the dried herb can also be helpful for a whole range of other ailments. This can be attributed to the tannins, bitter substances and tannins contained in the plant. The effect of lady's mantle is primarily described as calming, blood-forming, diuretic and antispasmodic and can provide relief for the following symptoms:
- Cold
- Fever
- Blowing
- Insomnia
- Diarrhea
- Asthma
- Kidney weakness
But note: We do not recommend self-treatment on your own. Consultation with a doctor or naturopath is important.
Planting large-leaved lady's mantle - this is important to note
Planting time for large-leaved lady's mantle is spring. The robust plants generally thrive best in a sunny to partially shaded location. The soil should also be permeable and sandy. The plant also does not like to be left dry. In many gardens, the lady's mantle is therefore used to plant pond edges. The lady's mantle also offers a pretty ensemble in the bed in combination with bluebells, lavender or roses.
What should be considered when choosing a location?
Plants do well in both sun and partial shade. If you choose a location that is too shady, the plant will sprout less luxuriantly and the flowers will remain smaller than usual. In ideal locations, however, the plant will grow quicklyspread. There it can even displace forget-me-nots, cranesbills, yarrow or other plants with similar requirements at the location. Where the plant spreads, no other weed has a chance. You can tell that the plant feels at home in the chosen location by the dense vegetation.
What should the floor be like?
As a rule, the large-leaved lady's mantle can get along with any conventional garden soil. However, it prefers a sandy and humus-rich soil, which can provide the plant with even moisture. Therefore, it also favors a location at the edge of a pond. Since the common lady's mantle can grow up to 50 centimeters high, the plant is an impressive sight there. Since the lady's mantle likes it moist, but does not tolerate waterlogging, the soil should be permeable and preferably have drainage.
How to properly plant lady's mantle
Since the lady's mantle is also widespread in nature in our latitudes, there is nothing wrong with stocking up on plants in the woods and fields. You have to make sure that you only take one young plant from each stock. An advantage of these plants is that they are already very well adapted to the respective site conditions and can therefore be planted in the garden bed without any problems. Do this as follows:
- Select Location
- Dig the planting hole (planting distance should be between 20 and 30 centimetres)
- Insert the plant up to the cotyledons
- Fill the planting hole with soil
- Press Earth
- Check with a dibber whether there is enough soil
- Water the plants
Sowing lady's mantle - Here's how
If no more severe frosts are to be expected, you can also sow the seeds of lady's mantle directly outdoors. Since these are light germinators, you must not cover the seeds completely with soil, but only apply the soil loosely and press it down a little or rake it in lightly so that the wind does not carry it away. The cultivation of the plants is unproblematic, so that even rather inexperienced hobby gardeners will be successful with it.
Care tips for the large-leaved lady's mantle
Since the large-leaved lady's mantle is a robust plant, you can look forward to a relaxed gardening year. So that the plant grows well and pleases you with rich flowering, some care measures are quite beneficial. In spring you can, for example, treat the soil with a compost additionenrich. You can provide additional nutrients by mulching the soil. This also increases moisture retention. The plant needs sufficient watering. However, it is important to avoid waterlogging.
Tip: You should always keep the leaves of the plant as dry as possible. The large-leaved lady's mantle has particularly soft leaves, which can quickly be attacked by rust fungus or mildew when they are wet.
❍ casting:
The casting will present you with some challenges. The plant requires sufficient water, but does not tolerate waterlogging. During longer periods of drought, the plant tolerates watering several times a day. In order not to wet the leaves with moisture unnecessarily and thus make them vulnerable to diseases, it is advisable to water in the early morning hours so that the moisture can evaporate during the course of the day and does not unnecessarily stress the plant.
❍ Fertilize:
If you work compost into the soil around the plant in spring, the large-leaved lady's mantle is usually sufficiently supplied with nutrients. In the case of particularly nutrient-poor soils, a commercially available liquid fertilizer containing guano can also be used. You should then fertilize sporadically and only during the growing season.
Many plants in the garden bed are sensitive to over-fertilized soil. The lady's mantle can have a balancing effect here, because the plant absorbs nitrogen from the soil and thus affects the nutrient content of the soil.
❍ Pruning:
Large-leaved lady's mantle does not necessarily have to be cut. But it is often absolutely necessary if other plants in the bed are to be given a chance for he althy growth. Because the large-leaved lady's mantle spreads rapidly under optimal site conditions. If this is not desired, a radical pruning is recommended in autumn. It can also be cut back after the first flowering. New leaves quickly appear and usually there is a new bloom. You can only prevent the uncontrolled spread with a complete pruning.
Large-leaved lady's mantle is one of the higher-growing species. After strong winds and downpours, the plants are therefore often pushed to the ground. Here, too, the pruning is harmless. After just a few weeks, the plant is back to a stately size and shows young green.
❍ Overwintering:
Large-leaved lady's mantle is hardy anddoes not require any special frost protection in the bed. If you cut all parts of the plant back to the ground in autumn, the plant will get through the winter well and quickly sprout again in spring.
Some species of the plant family are less hardy and are only partially hardy. In this case, a layer of compost will protect the plants from severe frosts.
How to propagate Lady's Mantle
The plant can easily be propagated by division. The plants are divided in the spring before the growing season begins. To do this, carefully divide the rhizomes to protect the unusually fine roots. However, do not use a spade or similarly sharp tool to split the rootstock. Dividing by hand protects the thin fiber roots.
If you don't stop the spread of lady's mantle, you don't have to worry about propagation, because the plant will spread very quickly on its own.
Detect and control pests and diseases
The robust plant is rarely attacked by pests and even completely avoided by snails. However, waterlogging and unfavorable site conditions weaken the plant and make it vulnerable to pests. Sporadically occurring pests are:
- Aphids
- Cicadas
- Butterfly Caterpillars
But the biggest enemy of the plant is waterlogging. If the roots rot, the plant can usually no longer be saved. A fungal infestation can also mean the death sentence for the large-leaved lady's mantle.
❍ Viroses - aphids at work:
If the plant is infested with aphids, viruses can be transmitted. The clinical picture depends on the virus strain. The leaves of the plant appear light and dark mottled. This is known in technical terms as a mosaic. On the underside of the leaf there are also punctiform or line-like brown-black necroses, which appear like ink points. The plant lags behind in growth and the leaves curl up.
➩ What to do?
If the infestation is low, it is enough to collect the aphids. If it is a larger infestation, you should lure ladybugs into the garden. Aphids are on their menu. Otherwise it also helps if you spray the plant with soapy water or nettle manure (recipe for nettle manure).
❍ Powdery mildew - real danger:
Powdery mildew can pose a real threat to the otherwise almost indestructible large-leaved lady's mantlewill. The leaves of the plants are usually affected. A white coating reminiscent of flour appears here. In the advanced stage, the fungal network forms sucking organs, which extract the nutrients from the leaves. These then begin to curl up, turn brown and dry up. If you don't treat the powdery mildew in time, the entire plant will die.
➩ What to do?
If the large-leaved lady's mantle is infested, you should loosen and mulch the soil, regularly remove the weeds around the plant and possibly cut it back heavily. If that alone is not enough, it helps if you spray the plant with a milk-water mixture or fennel, aniseed or field horsetail extract (recipe for field horsetail extract). Otherwise, preparations based on silicic acid and sodium also help.