Ground Elder - How Do Get Rid Of It ?
Roger Gilmartin
I garden in South East England. One flower bed has been completely invaded
by ground elder. I have tried careful use of glyphosate for 2 years, but
the g.e. is winning. I have now dug up all the plants I want to preserve
from this bad and potted them, giving the bed a thorough dig over and
getting rid of as many weed rootstocks as I can. I think I will be able to
eliminate the g.e. from the pots OK, but I would like some advice on what
to do with the bed. I have considered 2 options:
1) Dig over the bed continually for the next year and apply glyphosate
where the weed shows
2) Seal the bed with a black plastic mulch and wait for a year before
replanting.
Could somebody please tell me which is the best of the 2 strategies, and is
there a better way ?
TIA
--
Roger Gilmartin
"The boss always wants 10% more than the technology can deliver"
martin smith
In article: <01bbefea$fa93da40$LocalHost@aurac> "Roger Gilmartin"
>
> I garden in South East England. One flower bed has been completely
invaded
> by ground elder.
>
> Could somebody please tell me which is the best of the 2 strategies,
and is
> there a better way ?
>
> TIA
their abilities, with an ultra hardy like g e the fork is the real
answer, and further than you think it will be lurking, ready to return
just keep digging :)
--
martin smith
Martin Tom Brown
In article <01bbefea$fa93da40$LocalHost@aurac>
gilm...@btinternet.com "Roger Gilmartin" writes:
> I garden in South East England. One flower bed has been completely invaded
> by ground elder. I have tried careful use of glyphosate for 2 years, but
> the g.e. is winning. I have now dug up all the plants I want to preserve
> from this bad and potted them, giving the bed a thorough dig over and
> getting rid of as many weed rootstocks as I can.
Be glad you haven't got horsetails :-)
> 1) Dig over the bed continually for the next year and apply glyphosate
> where the weed shows
Having moved to somewhere with GE, I haven't had too much trouble
chasing it out of the borders by hand weeding and glyphosate treatment
alternating through the season. Hitting soft new growth seems to be
most rewarding, and once you start digging you must get every last
piece out or you will simply compound your problems.
Now does anyone know how to kill it reliably in a lawn?
Regards,
--
Martin Brown <mar...@nezumi.demon.co.uk> __ CIS: 71651,470
Scientific Software Consultancy /^,,)__/
Nick Maclaren
In article <851798...@nezumi.demon.co.uk>,
Martin Tom Brown <Mar...@nezumi.demon.co.uk> wrote:
>In article <01bbefea$fa93da40$LocalHost@aurac>
> gilm...@btinternet.com "Roger Gilmartin" writes:
>
>> I garden in South East England. One flower bed has been completely invaded
>
>Now does anyone know how to kill it reliably in a lawn?
Well, I have had success with the scorched earth policy in vegetable
areas. It is shallow rooted, and hence relatively easy to dig up.
One season of systematic eradication was enough, in my soil.
I am surprised at trouble in a lawn - close mowing usually kills it
very quickly. DON'T use glyphosate, as the grass is more sensitive
than the ground elder! It can last for years in coarse grass, but
that isn't usually a catastrophe.
Nick Maclaren,
University of Cambridge Computer Laboratory,
New Museums Site, Pembroke Street, Cambridge CB2 3QG, England.
Email: nm...@cam.ac.uk
Tel.: +44 1223 334761 Fax: +44 1223 334679
Martin Tom Brown
In article <5a61il$c...@lyra.csx.cam.ac.uk>
nm...@cus.cam.ac.uk "Nick Maclaren" writes:
> In article <851798...@nezumi.demon.co.uk>,
> Martin Tom Brown <Mar...@nezumi.demon.co.uk> wrote:
> >Now does anyone know how to kill it reliably in a lawn?
>
> Well, I have had success with the scorched earth policy in vegetable
> areas. It is shallow rooted, and hence relatively easy to dig up.
> One season of systematic eradication was enough, in my soil.
Same here in borders even in a fairly clay soil.
> I am surprised at trouble in a lawn - close mowing usually kills it
> very quickly. DON'T use glyphosate, as the grass is more sensitive
> than the ground elder! It can last for years in coarse grass, but
> that isn't usually a catastrophe.
The problem area is against a fence which backs on to pasture and
so provides a continuous reservoir of the stuff. Close mowing gives
effective control away from the fence, and I have nuked a 1' band
with glyphosate near the fence, but still don't have full control.
Broad leaf specific herbicides don't seem too effective on GE.
Marina Smith
Mar...@nezumi.demon.co.uk (Martin Tom Brown) wrote:
>Be glad you haven't got horsetails :-)
What are horsetails - coarse grass? I have lots of that, and ground
elder, and convolvulus. The neighbour's sticky buds (what is the
proper name?) comes over into my garden. Over the last year, I have
left the garden a complete desert while I tackle all these with
repeated digging and spraying. I have had a lot of success against
all, and I know how to combat the convolvulus fromt his newsgroup -
grow it up sticks when it appears and then hit it with glysophate -
now, how do I get the rest of the pests? I mean, once I have planted
proper plants and can't spray indiscriminately. It's almost over -
please help me clear the stragglers. Some of the roots go down deeper
than I can dig in my fine soil - over 3 feet.
Marina Smith
*Jeni Smith*
Marina Smith
Mar...@nezumi.demon.co.uk (Martin Tom Brown) wrote:
[re ground elder..]
>The problem area is against a fence which backs on to pasture and
>so provides a continuous reservoir of the stuff. Close mowing gives
>effective control away from the fence, and I have nuked a 1' band
>with glyphosate near the fence, but still don't have full control.
In a former garden with the same problem, I inserted sheets of
corrugated iron along the fence with only an inch left sticking up.
The roots don't usually go down more than a foot. Then kill off what
you have by whatever means.
>Broad leaf specific herbicides don't seem too effective on GE.
I have had some success with repeated applications of Toughweed.
Marina Smith
*Jeni Smith*
Nick Maclaren
In article <32c94df9...@news.demon.co.uk>, mar...@pericles.demon.co.uk (Marina Smith) writes:
|> Mar...@nezumi.demon.co.uk (Martin Tom Brown) wrote:
|>
|>
No - raw coal! They are very primitive, non-flowering plants that
used to grow to 60' during the carboniferous era, and the remains
are a significant proportion of our coal beds. Their descendents
are quite small and incredibly tough.
|> ..., and I know how to combat the convolvulus fromt his newsgroup -
|> grow it up sticks when it appears and then hit it with glysophate -
|> now, how do I get the rest of the pests? I mean, once I have planted
|> proper plants and can't spray indiscriminately. It's almost over -
|> please help me clear the stragglers. Some of the roots go down deeper
|> than I can dig in my fine soil - over 3 feet.
When you have worked that out, please tell me! I have been trying
to get rid of some obstinate bindweed plants for over 15 years :-(
Alan J Holmes
>Having moved to somewhere with GE, I haven't had too much trouble
>chasing it out of the borders by hand weeding and glyphosate treatment
>alternating through the season. Hitting soft new growth seems to be
>most rewarding, and once you start digging you must get every last
>piece out or you will simply compound your problems.
>Now does anyone know how to kill it reliably in a lawn?
Have you tried Verdon (SP?)
Alan
Alan J Holmes
In article <851945...@nezumi.demon.co.uk>,
>> >Now does anyone know how to kill it reliably in a lawn?
>> Well, I have had success with the scorched earth policy in vegetable
>> areas. It is shallow rooted, and hence relatively easy to dig up.
>> One season of systematic eradication was enough, in my soil.
>Same here in borders even in a fairly clay soil.
>> I am surprised at trouble in a lawn - close mowing usually kills it
>> very quickly. DON'T use glyphosate, as the grass is more sensitive
>> than the ground elder! It can last for years in coarse grass, but
>> that isn't usually a catastrophe.
>The problem area is against a fence which backs on to pasture and
>so provides a continuous reservoir of the stuff. Close mowing gives
>effective control away from the fence, and I have nuked a 1' band
>with glyphosate near the fence, but still don't have full control.
I solved the problem with the stuff creeping in from a neighbours
garden, a couple of handfulls of sodium nitrate!
Problem solved.
Alan
Clarke Brunt
In Article <5ag9qd$6...@lyra.csx.cam.ac.uk> Nick Maclaren writes:
>In article <32c94df9...@news.demon.co.uk>, mar...@pericles.demon.co.uk (Marina Smith) writes:
>|> Mar...@nezumi.demon.co.uk (Martin Tom Brown) wrote:
>|>
>|> >Be glad you haven't got horsetails :-)
>|>
>|> What are horsetails - coarse grass? ...
>
I seem to mention Cambridge University Botanic Garden is almost every post...
But they grow (intentionally I assume) a fine patch of horsetails (is it
Equisetum?) by the side of the stream as you walk from the Bateman St.
entrance towards the glasshouses. These grow to several feet, and disappear
in Winter. They come up everywhere - both sides of the stream, under the
path, anywhere they can get. Keeping them in bounds must be a job.
--
Clarke Brunt (cla...@brunt.demon.co.uk)
http://www.brunt.demon.co.uk/cubg/ (some stuff about the Botanic Garden)
Chris Jones
Nick Maclaren <nm...@cus.cam.ac.uk> wrote in article
<5ag9qd$6...@lyra.csx.cam.ac.uk>...
> When you have worked that out, please tell me! I have been trying
> to get rid of some obstinate bindweed plants for over 15 years :-(
Nick,
The only way I know of getting rid of bindweed (otherwise known as
convulvulous) apart from liberal use of glyphosphate, is to dig out every
single piece of root fibre. You need a considerable amount of patience (and
time) to do it properly. Then you will find that it will not return in such
profusion. The other way is to lay a black plastic sheet over the affected
ground for at least one growing season. A tad unsightly I think.
Jane Ransom
In article <01bbfb50$f4caafa0$0100007f@miywlwpn>, Chris Jones
<ch...@telespan.demon.co.uk> writes
roots of all the other plants - and leaving one tiny little bit of white
behind leaves you with just as big a problem.
I go out when the shoots are relatively new and paint each leaf with
some sort of liquid weed killer (undiluted) - just using a child's soft
paint brush.
The plants keel over in no time.
It has taken 4 growing seasons but my garden is no longer infested as it
was at first.
--
Jane Ransom
in
Lancaster
Colin Shaw
Jane Ransom,ran...@mearsgyl.demon.co.uk,Internet writes:
>I go out when the shoots are relatively new and paint each leaf with
>some sort of liquid weed killer (undiluted)
That sounds dangerous not only to you but to anything else
in the garden and probably goes against the makers
instructions. Do you grow (and eat )veg in the same ground?
Colin Shaw
Jane Ransom
In article <76607486...@midnet.com>, Colin Shaw
<c.s...@midnet.com> writes
And I don't consider it any more dangerous than spreading the lawn with
any dry feed/weed/mosskill compound or watering weedbeds with a diluted
weedkiller.
The exercise was to rid the shrubby areas of the bindweed and so far
nothing, animal or vegetable, except the bindweed has keeled over -
incidentally I wear rubber gloves during the process and will continue
to zap any new bindweed shoot that rears its ugly little head; and
ground elder if it appears!