Ribwort plantain

How to recognise it

Habit

Perennial with a rosette of leaves flat on the ground or angled upwards, and flowering stalks of 10–50 cm.

Leaves

Narrowly lance-shaped, 10–30 cm long, with 3–5 prominent parallel veins underneath; untoothed or faintly toothed and softly hairy. Tear a leaf and the tough veins stick out like threads.

Flowers

A short, egg-shaped to cylindrical spike of 1–4 cm, blackish-brown at first. Flowering moves up the spike as a ring, with long white to cream stamens; May to September.

Stem

Leafless, stiff flowering stalk with five deep grooves, longer than the leaves.

Fruit

Small capsules with a lid, each with one or two shiny brown seeds that turn sticky when wet.

Confusion with

Greater plantain has broad, oval leaves and long, thin, greenish spikes. Hoary plantain has a flat rosette of hairy, elliptical leaves and pale pink, scented spikes. Buck’s-horn plantain has deeply divided leaves and grows mainly on the coast.

Flowering: May–September · Pruning: June and September

Why grow it?

• Food plant for the caterpillars of the Glanville fritillary, among others, and of moths such as the garden tiger.
• Bees, bumblebees and hoverflies collect pollen from the flower spikes.
• Seed-eating birds pick the seeds from the spikes in late summer and winter.
• Tolerates mowing, drought and trampling: ideal for a flowering lawn or a herb-rich meadow.
• The leaves were once used on small cuts and insect stings; children still play games with the flower spikes.

Ribwort plantain: where does it grow best?

• In the wild: grasslands, hay meadows, pastures, lawns, road verges, dykes, dunes and field margins.
• In the garden: sun to light shade.
• Almost any soil, from dry sand to loam and clay, preferably not too wet or too acid.
• Ideal in a flowering lawn, a herb-rich meadow or a hay meadow; it usually turns up by itself.

Goes well with

• Bird’s-foot trefoil: Yellow flowers and food plant of the common blue, in the same grassland.
• Oxeye daisy: White flowers in June above the plantain rosettes.
• Common knapweed: Purple heads for butterflies in late summer.
• Red clover: Nectar for bumblebees in the same hay meadow.
• Sweet vernal grass: A fine, fragrant grass that rounds off the meadow nicely.

Ribwort plantain: when and how to plant it?

1. Usually there is nothing to do: mow less often and stop feeding, and it appears by itself.
2. If you do want to sow it, choose a wildflower meadow mix of native origin and sow in September–October or March–April.
3. Scatter the seed on bare, finely raked soil, rake it in lightly and press or roll it.
4. Or buy plug plants from a native-plant nursery and plant them 20–30 cm apart in existing grassland.
5. Keep the soil moist until the seedlings come up.
6. Never dig up plants from the wild: seed or nursery plugs establish far better.

Care

Water

Not needed: the deep roots draw water from the subsoil.

Feeding

Not needed. Fertiliser makes the grass stronger, and the grass crowds out the flowers.

Mowing

Mow a hay meadow twice a year, in June and September, and remove the cuttings. Mow a flowering lawn every three to four weeks at 6–8 cm.

Spreading

In a neat lawn it can stand out. Lift rosettes with a weeding knife if you do not want them there.

Letting it seed

In a hay meadow let some spikes ripen before mowing.

Tip: Let part of your lawn grow longer and stop feeding it: ribwort plantain usually appears by itself and draws in bees and butterflies within a season.

Pruning and mowing

Pruning months: June and September.

When: No pruning; mow the grassland in June and in September.

How:

• Mow a hay meadow in June after the first flowering and again in September, and remove the cuttings.
• Leave an uncut strip at every mowing as shelter for insects and caterpillars.
• Mow a lawn high, at 6–8 cm, so the rosettes and flowers survive.
• In autumn leave some of the flowering stalks: the seeds feed birds.

Caution: Never mow everything short at once: butterfly and moth caterpillars live on the rosette leaves.

Pruning: when and how · Pruning calendar and basic rules

Propagation

Seed

Sow in September–October or March–April on bare soil and rake in lightly; it germinates quickly and easily.

Self-seeding

Let the spikes ripen in summer: the sticky seeds cling to shoes, paws and tyres and spread that way.

Ribwort plantain: how does it get through the winter?

Hardy to −30 °C.

• The leaf rosette stays largely green in winter, lying flat on the ground.
• Very hardy; the roots go deep.
• Faded spikes full of seed stand into winter as food for birds.

Diseases and pests

• Powdery mildew: White powder on the leaves in late summer, especially in dry weather. Harmless; mowing helps.
• Too much in the lawn: On a sports pitch or a neat lawn it can take over patches. Lift it with a weeding knife; in a wildlife garden simply leave it.
• Hay fever: The pollen can trigger hay fever in sensitive people. If that is a problem, mow flowering areas close to the house before they flower.
• Crowded out: In rich, tall grassland it disappears under the grasses. Mow and remove the cuttings to make the grassland poorer.

Through the year

• March: Sow on bare soil. The rosettes start growing.
• April: Plant plugs in grassland.
• May: Flowering begins. White rings of stamens on the spikes.
• June: Full flower. Mow hay meadows after the first flowering, leaving a strip uncut.
• July: Flowering. Caterpillars on the leaves.
• August: Flowering and seed set.
• September: Last flowers. Second cut of the hay meadow; remove the cuttings.
• October: Sow on bare soil.
• December: Green rosettes in the grass. Seed spikes for birds.

Did you know?

• Children shoot the flower spikes off by looping the stalk around the spike and pulling sharply, or knock spikes against each other until a head flies off.
• The seed turns sticky when wet and clings to paws, shoes and tyres; this is how the plant spreads along roads and paths.
• The name ribwort refers to the ribs, the prominent veins of the leaf.