Creeping buttercup (2024)

Some buttercups are very attractive wildflowers, and there are even cultivated varieties that are grown for their ornamental and attractive flowers and leaves. Creeping buttercup, on the other hand, is a spreading, perennial weed, which can quickly colonise and take over large areas of the garden if not controlled early.

New plants are produced from seed, but it also spreads through its long runners – roots that produce a large network of new stems and plants – that can colonise large areas if left to their own devices.

The carpets of foliage can smother, strangle and kill smaller plants. The roots can grow in between the roots of cultivated plants, making them awkward to remove and control. They are deeply rooted, making it difficult to dig them out. And they produce low rosettes of foliage in lawns, which can be difficult to control.

Creeping buttercup is worse in moist or wet and heavy clay soils. Although it prefers shade, it will also grow in sunny positions.

• Beds
• Borders
• Lawns
• Gravel paths
• Waste or uncultivated ground

Creeping buttercup produces the classic bright yellow, buttercup-shaped flowers from May to September on 50cm (20in) high stems, which are very attractive. However, its creeping habit detracts from this.

The low-growing, compound leaves have three leaflets and a coarse texture. They are often spotted white.

As with most perennial weeds, never allow it to become established. This will make it more difficult to fully control. Early identification and eradication is very important.

There are a number of weed control options available to treat creeping buttercup. In addition to traditional weedkillers there are now also a range of more natural alternatives.

Start by digging out as much of the creeping buttercup as possible, including the creeping runners and roots. The roots are tough and can go down some distance, making them difficult to dig out.

Regularly hoeing the new leaves as soon as you see them will weaken the plant over time, but this will probably take a few years to completely kill plants – and needs lots of dedication to not allow them to grow.

Covering the soil with weed-control membrane (landscape fabric) or even thick black polythene will exclude light and may starve the plants, so they die. This can take several years until the plants are completely exhausted and eradicated.

Mulching the soil with organic matter, such as a bark mulch, will help reduce or eliminate growth. For mulches to work properly, they need to be a minimum of 5cm (2in) thick, but 7.5cm (3in) deep works better.

If the roots are growing among established plants, you may have to lift these when dormant, from autumn to the end of winter, and carefully tease out all the creeping buttercups. Then replant in clean soil or pot them up for planting out later.

In lawns, regular mowing throughout the year and the use of lawn weedkillers may weaken it and eventually kill it. Although the mower blade may miss the low-lying plants. In which case, lightly scarify the lawn before mowing to lift up the runners. Don’t compost the clippings. Aerating the lawn in spring and autumn will help with drainage and reduce their growth.

You may unknowingly introduce creeping buttercup into your garden when buying topsoil or manure, or in the rootballs of new plants. So be vigilant when buying these.

Contact weedkillers will burn and kill the foliage, but will have no effect on the roots and runners, which will continue to grow, produce new leafy growth and spread further.

For best results, spray with a systemic weedkiller. A systemic weedkiller, which is absorbed by the leaves, then moves down to the roots to kill them.

To ensure the weedkiller works effectively:

• Spray the leaves when the creeping buttercups are growing actively; this is mainly from March/April to September/October.
• The larger the leaf area present, the greater the amount of weedkiller that can be absorbed and move down to the roots. So don’t bother spraying until the leaves have enlarged.
• Use a fine spray to thoroughly coat the leaves in small droplets.
• During the summer, spray in the evening to prevent the spray evaporating and to give maximum time for the spray to be absorbed. In spring or if overnight dew is forecast, spray earlier in the day to allow the spray to dry before dew falls.
• One application of weedkiller is unlikely to kill all the creeping buttercups. You may need to spray once, allow the plants to die down, and then spray any regrowth again. Three or more applications a year, over a couple of years, may be needed to completely kill it, depending on how extensive it is.

Most contact weedkillers are total weedkillers – that is they will damage or kill any plants whose leaves they are sprayed on. Make sure you keep the spray off wanted plants – including lawns – and, if necessary protect plants by covering with polythene or similar when spraying.

Roundup Gel, which is smeared onto, and sticks to, the weed leaves, may be a better option when trying to treat creeping buttercups growing through or close to wanted plants.

Use weedkillers safely. Always read the label and product information before use.

As creeping buttercup prefers heavy soil – and is often a good indicator of moist or wet soil – it may pay to thoroughly cultivate the soil, digging in lots of bulky organic matter (such as well-rotted manure, compost, leafmould) and even sharp sand or grit to improve the drainage.

As creeping buttercup spreads by its runners, it may be coming into your garden from a neighbouring garden or surrounding waste ground. Unless you can stop this source, it will just keep coming back.

If it’s coming from a neighbour, have a quiet word and try and encourage them to control the creeping buttercups in their garden.

If it is coming through from a relatively small area, it is possible to put a vertical physical barrier in the soil on your boundary to prevent it coming in. Suitable root control barriers and membranes are available from builders’ merchants.

• Spade
• Fork
• Hand fork
• Hand trowel
• Weed-control membrane
• Weedkillers
• Lawn weedkillers