Ground elder: weedkiller or mulch?
Alison Brooks
leaves of ground elder. Specifically in a shrub border about 10x5 ft.
What's the best way of dealing with it? I see three possibilities:
1) Mulch with black plastic
2) Spraying (with glyphosate (or other weedkiller?) around the existing
shrubs
3) Scorched earth policy: a persistant weedkiller, sacrificing the
shrubs
Anyone got any practical experience or better ideas?
--
Alison Brooks
Seamus
In article <zLM47GA7...@flin.demon.co.uk>, Alison Brooks (Ali...@flin.demon.co.uk) writes:
>Spring is sprung, and my newly-purchased garden is green with the new
>leaves of ground elder. Specifically in a shrub border about 10x5 ft.
>
>What's the best way of dealing with it? I see three possibilities:
>1) Mulch with black plastic
elder (previously sprayed with Round-up) which I was preparing for a
new bed - just took the plastic off a fortnight ago - to be ready to
dig over. The annuals are starting to appear *and* the Dreaded
Ground Elder. However, it is easy to spot and dig out!.
I think ground elder can survive under a mulch of this sort - I've
had black plastic over ground for more than a year and the stuff
has still reappeared.
>2) Spraying (with glyphosate (or other weedkiller?) around the existing
I've used this on several occasions - it seems to work to a degree
- In my experience it tends to kill back to one or two root "nodes"
back from the surface and slows down the spread. But the remaining
roots will re-generate.
>3) Scorched earth policy: a persistant weedkiller, sacrificing the
>shrubs
No!
I'd suggest the following approach.
Try to dig out as much of the ground elder root system as possible
(without damaging the shrubs). This is a bit time consuming but it
is rewarding (at least I feel good when I pull out vast networks
of Ground Elder roots). The problem is always those roots worked
into the shrub root system. When you've cleared as much as possible
then leave the remainder till it has a good covering of first
growth leaves and spray with round-up (any re-growth in the dug up
areas can be dealt with by digging out). Repeat later in the year
when (if!) further growth occurs. I have managed to eradicate
Ground Elder from around established apple trees by doing this.
Black plastic mulch may help - but I think Ground Elder will
migrate towards and gaps (e.g. under the shrubs) - it would help to
control it temporarily but it think the root system would develop
under the plastic.
Hope this helps - and good luck
James.
>
>Anyone got any practical experience or better ideas?
>--
>Alison Brooks
>
>
James Tweedie, Coupar Angus, Perthshire, Scotland.
:: Produce of Scotland :: All opinions expressed are organically ::
:: Quality Approved :: grown and not for resale ::
t. ::
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Keith
>Spring is sprung, and my newly-purchased garden is green with the new
>leaves of ground elder. Specifically in a shrub border about 10x5 ft.
>
>What's the best way of dealing with it? I see three possibilities:
>1) Mulch with black plastic
>shrubs
>shrubs
>
Alison,
I have found old carpet to be a brilliant mulch. You can cut small
slits into the carpet so that only the stems of your shrubs protrude out
the soil. You must make sure that peices of carpet overlap each other so
that no light can reach the soil. You need to cut back the elder first
before laying the carpet. You can use thick cardboard aswell but use 2
or 3 layers. Once you have laid your carpet or cardboard mulch you can
hide it under a layer of bark chippings. Some of the elder may push
through up through the gaps left for your shrub stems - just hand pull
as and when you see them peeping through and they soon give up.
I have left my capet mulch in situ for over 3 years with a bark mulch on
top and it lokks fine AND stops the weeds coming through.
Good Luck
_____________ ___________
<<<<<<<<<<<<<<< Keith Reynolds >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
"The secret of life is honesty and fair dealing; if you can fake
that, you've got it made."
-- Groucho Marx
## ##
@) @)
/
| #####
+====_/~
Kay Easton
uk.net> writes
>Alison,
>>Spring is sprung, and my newly-purchased garden is green with the new
>>leaves of ground elder.
>
>Try to dig out as much of the ground elder root system as possible
>(without damaging the shrubs). This is a bit time consuming but it
>is rewarding (at least I feel good when I pull out vast networks
>of Ground Elder roots). The problem is always those roots worked
>into the shrub root system. When you've cleared as much as possible
>then leave the remainder till it has a good covering of first
>growth leaves and spray with round-up (any re-growth in the dug up
>areas can be dealt with by digging out). Repeat later in the year
>when (if!) further growth occurs. I have managed to eradicate
>Ground Elder from around established apple trees by doing this.
I'd go along with this. I've eradicted from a are about twice the size
just by digging roots - it requires carefully sifting the soil to a
depth of about a foot removing every tiny bit of root. Not much good for
the shrubs! (All the plants in my area were small enough to be hoiked
out and replanted.) But it's peaceful work, and the roots have a
pleasant fresh smell.
--
Kay Easton
k...@scarboro.demon.co.uk
Alison Brooks
direct approach: human-to-weed combat with only various gardening tools
for assistance. The menace doesn't seem too thoroughly established, so I
have some hopes of proving the superiority of humanity.
--
Alison Brooks
Martin Tom Brown
> In article <zLM47GA7...@flin.demon.co.uk>, Alison Brooks
> (Ali...@flin.demon.co.uk) writes:
> >Spring is sprung, and my newly-purchased garden is green with the new
> >leaves of ground elder. Specifically in a shrub border about 10x5 ft.
> >
> >What's the best way of dealing with it? I see three possibilities:
> >1) Mulch with black plastic
> I did this late last summer over an area of Couch grass and ground
> elder (previously sprayed with Round-up) which I was preparing
If you spray with Round-up or other Glyphosate weedkiller, you should
leave the weeds exposed to the sun, since the way it works is to
break the phosynthetic pathways in green leaf plants. The effect is
that the plant is damaged by exposure to sunlight after treatment.
> >2) Spraying (with glyphosate (or other weedkiller?) around the existing
> >shrubs.
> I've used this on several occasions - it seems to work to a degree
> - In my experience it tends to kill back to one or two root "nodes"
> back from the surface and slows down the spread. But the remaining
> roots will re-generate.
Same here, but if you spray be careful of spray drift in the wind.
A combination of weakening it with Roundup and then digging some
out after a month or so, then knocking the rest back with Roundup
will drain the stored energy from the tuberous roots. This way you
don't have to be quite so religous about getting every piece out.
Keep hitting the new soft tender shoots as they emerge.
Digging it out can be quite rewarding, you get a huge pile of roots.
I'm off to do battle with ours shortly (probably too windy today).
Good luck.
--
Martin Brown <mar...@nezumi.demon.co.uk> __ CIS: 71651,470
Scientific Software Consultancy /^,,)__/
Marina Smith
was otherwise a greenfield site, so I didn't care what I did. I tried
an ordinary glysophate - no go, the weeds laughed and lived. I tried a
deadly kill-everything-in-sight-for-a-year on a small patch too - also
no go, all the weeds except the ground elder died. In the end, I
bought Toughweed, a new extra strong glysophate. It took 3 thorough
applications, and it's not cheap either, but the horrid weed went.
This year, so far, not a single ground elder leaf has poked its way
above ground.
This was my entire garden, not a small patch like yours. It may be OK
to spray with ordinary glysophate and immediately cover with black
plastic - this was recommended as a cure to me, but it was too large
an area for me to do this.
Good luck!
Marina Smith
Alison Brooks <Ali...@flin.demon.co.uk> wrote:
>Spring is sprung, and my newly-purchased garden is green with the new
>leaves of ground elder. Specifically in a shrub border about 10x5 ft.
>
>What's the best way of dealing with it? I see three possibilities:
>1) Mulch with black plastic
>2) Spraying (with glyphosate (or other weedkiller?) around the existing
>shrubs
>3) Scorched earth policy: a persistant weedkiller, sacrificing the
>shrubs
>
>Anyone got any practical experience or better ideas?
>--
>Alison Brooks
Dick & Jan Glover
>> 1) Mulch with black plastic<<
May take two years.
>>2) Spraying (with glyphosate (or other weedkiller?) around the
existing
shrubs<<
I was given a tip by a horticultural scientist for this: use about one
tenth of the concentration the bottle says and repeat every week or two
for a few months. The normal strength is enough to damage the leaves
that the solution contacts, and thus fails to travel through the whole
plant system effectively. Over a period of time, the systemic builds up
and kills the whole root system if you use repeated light doses.
>>3) Scorched earth policy: a persistant weedkiller, sacrificing the
shrubs <<
Drastic, effective, may be unnecessary.
Marina Smith
Update update! The good weather over the weekend brought out the
dreaded new shoots. :-( Now some digging - I forgot to say I cleared 6
bin bags of roots by digging last year before trying sprays. Now I'l
dig some more and spray again. :-( :-(
mar...@pericles.demon.co.uk (Marina Smith) wrote:
>Last year I was much plagued by this and by convolvulus too. My garden
>was otherwise a greenfield site, so I didn't care what I did. I tried
>an ordinary glysophate - no go, the weeds laughed and lived. I tried a
>deadly kill-everything-in-sight-for-a-year on a small patch too - also
>no go, all the weeds except the ground elder died. In the end, I
>bought Toughweed, a new extra strong glysophate. It took 3 thorough
>applications, and it's not cheap either, but the horrid weed went.
>This year, so far, not a single ground elder leaf has poked its way
>above ground.
>
>This was my entire garden, not a small patch like yours. It may be OK
>to spray with ordinary glysophate and immediately cover with black
>plastic - this was recommended as a cure to me, but it was too large
>an area for me to do this.
>
>Good luck!
>
>Marina Smith
>
>
>Alison Brooks <Ali...@flin.demon.co.uk> wrote:
>
>>Spring is sprung, and my newly-purchased garden is green with the new
>>leaves of ground elder. Specifically in a shrub border about 10x5 ft.
>>
>>What's the best way of dealing with it? I see three possibilities:
>>1) Mulch with black plastic
>>2) Spraying (with glyphosate (or other weedkiller?) around the existing
>>shrubs
>>3) Scorched earth policy: a persistant weedkiller, sacrificing the
>>shrubs
>>
Seamus
In article <4kd3oi$j...@morse.ukonline.co.uk>, Dick & Jan Glover (dick....@ukonline.co.uk) writes:
>Ground Elder:
>>> 1) Mulch with black plastic<<
>
>
>>>2) Spraying (with glyphosate (or other weedkiller?) around the
>existing
>shrubs<<
>
>tenth of the concentration the bottle says and repeat every week or two
>for a few months. The normal strength is enough to damage the leaves
>that the solution contacts, and thus fails to travel through the whole
>plant system effectively. Over a period of time, the systemic builds up
>and kills the whole root system if you use repeated light doses.
James
Dick Glover
Dick Glover
Dick Small
dick....@ukonline.co.uk (Dick & Jan Glover) did say:
>Ground Elder:
>I was given a tip by a horticultural scientist for this: use about one
>tenth of the concentration the bottle says and repeat every week or two
>for a few months. The normal strength is enough to damage the leaves
>that the solution contacts, and thus fails to travel through the whole
>plant system effectively. Over a period of time, the systemic builds up
>and kills the whole root system if you use repeated light doses.
Thanks muchly, might be worth trying.
It seems that unless you can kill ALL of it at once, it regenerates
from that tiny bit the other side of your neighbour's hedge, which
feeds the whole plant through the roots whatever you do to it.
My current ploy is to do what the Government did with Windscale to
stop the leeks, sorry leaks, and redefine "weeds" as "compost": that
way you can justify growing them <grin>.
Thus "ground elder" becomes "cut-and-come-again compost".
- - -
Dick Small gree...@dial.pipex.com
- - -
"The opinions expressed herein are my own and not those of my employer
even though I am self employed."