Help...marestail and other nasties...
And I thought brambles and rabbits were going to be the biggest problem on the allotment ...but over the past week bindweed and marestail has started to grow in the part I've yet to dig over.
I've been digging out bindweed roots along with brambles for weeks and noticed some black roots, which have come out too - I've realised this is marestail , there have also been loads of unidentifed tubers which have been dug up, they are long and nobbly with tiny white thread roots, I've dug out most of these but a few have come up in the raised beds.
Q- how do I to get rid of bindweed and marestail?
I've read the thread talking about marestail and it seems best solution is just to keep pulling it out
Q - Does roundup really work? I painted it on neat in cuts made on the bark of two tree stumps, several weeks ago and one has shoots starting to produce leaves
Q- how can I kill the tree stumps.
On a positive note another slow worm came out to bask in the sun today whilst I was digging over the plot
Posts
I have both these in my garden - I googled them - I thought they were wild flowers
I put creosote on a tree stump once and that stopped it sprouting again. Sorry, I'm totally useless. Sure someone else will know how to advise you.
For tree stumps use this http://www.amazon.co.uk/Roundup-Killer-Liquid-Concentrate-Weedkiller/dp/B001DYQ286
For bindweed and horsetail, bruise the leaves (runnng over with a roller will do it) before spraying thoroughly with a weedkiller containing glyphosate - that will aid the take up of the glyphosate - then wait and wait until the weeds turn brown - that means that the roots have taken up the glyphosate and will die.
Good luck
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
Thanks for the responses.
When I was at the GC checking out weed killers another customer suggested creosote on bindweed and just keep pulling the marestail out.
I've tried roundup on the tree stumps and on a couple of brambles I'd missed...followed the intructions but it didn't seem to work, will try it again though hopefully the second dose will work.
Can you advise on a weed killer containing glyphosate.
The Roundup/glyphosate only works properly when a plant is actively growing, so best not to use it over the winter months. It's absorbed through the leaves, so putting it on bark won't work at all. In order to prevent it reaching stuff you want to keep, one way of dealing with things is to cut off top & bottom of a plastic container (one of those very large plastic milk cartons works well) put this over the plant, pulling up the leaves into the container, and then spraying it. If you need a bigger "shield", a cheap plastic bucket with the bottom cut out would do the trick.
Roundup is the most popular WK containing Glyphosate
There are loads of different ones - use Google or ask at your garden centre and read the packs - they will tell you the contents and the concentration as well as recommendations and directions etc.
While real old fashioned creosote will kill virtually any plant, that's why it's no longer sold - it's dangerous stuff for humans too - the sort of product that gardeners sometimes refer to as creosote nowadays will not damage plants - that's why you can paint your fences without killing your clematis
There are also specific herbicides for roots and stumps - read the labels and get the right one and follow the instructions and you'll kill your tree stumps.
Brambles need to be sprayed with glyphosate when they are in active growth with lots of lovely fresh green leaves - I find SBK brushwood killer to be very good for this - RHS suggestions are here http://apps.rhs.org.uk/advicesearch/profile.aspx?pid=256
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
put bamboo canes in to let the bindweed climb up,then you have a good leaf area to deal with. Dab the gel Roundup all over it and it should be gone in no time. I've done this with bindweed growing through hedges and I know it works, just keep at any new shoots which pop up and don't get the weedkiller on any other plants.
Both the stumps and brambles are putting out small leaves so will wait till next weekend and try again.
I did cut into the bark with a saw, one stump though is possibly 2ft wide and was felled a couple of years ago. Not sure what you mean by a single trunk or a sucker variety, this one has come up several feet from the main trunk with small minor branches growing from the base and sides. The other tree stump is alot narrower and felled this year, the roots are lot smaller and if I can kill it, will, hopefully, be able to dig it out.
Will check out the RHS website.
The brambles aren't as much of a problem as they can be dug out.
Growing bindweed up canes sounds a good plan, when do they flower, I'm not sure I'd be able to wait.
I used to be a garden centre manager with B&Q about 30 years ago and just standing next to a pallet of creosote ( which was where the dept. phone was ) used to make my skin turn red and itch for days. I had to go into another dept to us the phone in the end.
http://www.hse.gov.uk/biocides/copr/creosote.htm
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.