Redshank

How to recognise it

Habit

Annual of 20–80 cm, upright or sprawling at the base, often branched; the stem is reddish with swollen joints.

Leaf

Lance-shaped, 5–15 cm, short-stalked, often with a dark purple-black blotch in the middle. At the base of each leaf a papery sheath (ochrea) surrounds the stem, fringed with long hairs.

Flower

Small pink, sometimes white flowers in dense, upright, cylindrical spikes of 2–4 cm, from July to October.

Fruit/Seed

A glossy black nutlet of 2–3 mm, lens-shaped or three-sided, enclosed in the dried flower parts.

Roots

A taproot with fine side roots; the plant is easy to pull up.

Look-alikes

Pale persicaria has a sheath with no hairs or very short ones and yellow glands on the flower stalk. Water-pepper has loose, drooping spikes and a hot, peppery taste. Redshank has a sheath with a clear fringe of long hairs.

Flowering: July–October

Why grow it?

• The nutritious seeds are eaten in autumn and winter by finches, sparrows, buntings and other seed-eaters.
• The pink spikes flower late, into October, when there are few other flowers left for bees and hoverflies.
• The leaves are food for the caterpillars of several moths.
• A fast pioneer: it covers bare soil within a few weeks and so protects it from leaching and drying out.
• A colourful plant for a cornfield-flower corner or the wet, muddy edge of a pond.

Redshank: where does it grow best?

• In the wild: arable fields, vegetable gardens, waste ground, building sites, ditch banks and drying muddy margins.
• Rich, moist to wet soil, though it also grows in ordinary garden soil.
• Sun to light partial shade; in shade it stays small and flowers poorly.
• In the garden: in a cornfield-flower corner, on the muddy edge of a pond or among vegetables, where the soil is opened up every year.

Goes well with

• Common poppy: Together in a cornfield-flower corner; the poppy flowers earlier in summer.
• Cornflower: Blue flowers beside the pink spikes.
• Scented mayweed: Small white daisy-like flowers on the same bare soil.
• Gypsywort: For the wet edge of a pond, with small white flowers in the leaf axils.
• Water mint: Scented lilac flowers in the same wet, muddy places.

Redshank: when and how to plant it?

1. Usually you need do nothing: redshank comes up by itself from the seed bank in the soil as soon as you cultivate it.
2. To sow: sow in autumn or in March–April on bare, raked soil. The seed germinates better after a cold spell.
3. Rake the seed in lightly and keep the soil moist until the seedlings are up.
4. Leave 20–30 cm between plants so they can spread and flower well.
5. Get seed from a native seed supplier or collect a handful of ripe seed in your own garden or someone else’s, with permission. Never dig up plants from the wild.

Care

Watering

Not needed except in long summer droughts; it grows best on moist soil.

Feeding

Not needed; on very rich soil it becomes tall and floppy.

Spread

One plant produces hundreds of seeds. For fewer seedlings, pull up some plants before the seed ripens.

Leave the seed

Leave some plants standing in autumn so birds can eat the seed.

Bare soil

It is annual and only germinates on bare soil: rake or hoe a patch open each spring if you want to keep it.

Tip: In autumn, leave a few plants with ripe seed standing in the vegetable garden: you will have a free bird feeder well into winter.

Pruning and mowing

When: Not needed: it is annual and dies at the first frost.

How:

• Leave the dead plants with their seed standing as long as possible, as food for birds.
• Pull up the old plants in March and put them on the compost heap.
• For fewer seedlings, pull up some plants in August, before the seed ripens.

Pruning calendar and basic rules

Propagation

Seed

It spreads by itself from seed. Sow in autumn or early spring on bare soil; the seed stays viable in the soil for years.

Redshank: how does it get through the winter?

Hardy to −25 °C.

• The plant dies at the first frost and survives the winter only as seed.
• The seed stays viable in the soil for many years and germinates as soon as the ground is disturbed.
• Leave the dead stems with their seed: finches, sparrows and buntings find food there in winter.

Diseases and pests

• Too many seedlings: On cultivated, rich soil it can form a carpet. Hoe off young seedlings in May–June, or pull up plants before the seed ripens.
• Aphids: Sometimes on the tips; ladybirds and parasitic wasps usually clear them up.
• Powdery mildew: A white coating on the leaves in dry late summers. Harmless for an annual; just leave it.
• Flopping: On soil that is too rich or shady it grows weak and falls over. Choose a sunny spot without fertiliser.

Through the year

• March: Clear last year’s dead plants. Rake the soil open.
• April: Sow on bare soil. The first seedlings appear.
• May: Seedlings grow fast. Hoe off any surplus.
• June: Plants growing. Water in long droughts.
• July: Flowering begins: the first pink spikes.
• August: Full flower; bees and hoverflies on the spikes.
• September: Flowering and the first ripe seed.
• October: Last flowers. Seed ripe; leave it for the birds.
• November: Plants die after the first frost. A good time to sow.
• December: Birds eat the seed from the dead stems.

Did you know?

• The Dutch name, meaning ‘peach herb’, and the scientific name Persicaria both refer to the leaves, which look like those of the peach tree.
• The dark blotch on the leaf inspired old legends; that is why the plant is also called lady’s thumb, the thumbprint of the Virgin Mary.
• The seed stays viable in the soil for many years, which is why redshank appears as soon as you dig over a patch of ground.