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Ornamental grass and ground elder

Hi again

 

So many nasty weeds here!  

So i have an ornamental grass in my border which grows about 4ft high i think but i dont know what it is called- can anyone help?

It also now has what i think is ground elder growing amongst it. How can i get rid of this whilst saving the grass?

thanks so much

sorry i dont know why its stretching the pic and putting it on its side- hope you dont mind tilting your head!

DD

image

 

 

Posts

  • FairygirlFairygirl Posts: 55,117

    Looks like Phalaris (Gardener's Garters) It can be quite invasive.

    If you can get some weedkiller painted on the leaves that would probably be the best way to tackle the problem. If  you get some on the grass and it dies back - it'll soon grow another bit to cover it anyway! 

     

    It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....



    I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
  • Thanks Fairygirl, im hoping for something non chemical as i have 2 cats who tend to head into this bed and i would worry.

    Ah so you think its not ground elder -thats interesting to know. 

     

    thanks again

  • I think the best way for you to deal with this is to dig up the plant itself as well as the surrounding border soil.  You can then tease/pull the unwanted stuff out & away from the plant/roots and then re-plant it, after you've cleared the rest of the bed too.  It won't matter too much if it takes you a couple of hours or so - provided you don't leave it in the sun - and then make sure you re-plant it in a deep-ish hole which you've previously filled to the brim with water & left to soak away.  That way it stands a good chance of not even noticing you've had to uproot it.  These sort of grasses are really tough - but you'll need to be ruthless about removing absolutely any-and-everything else that you don't want in the border, otherwise you'll have to keep on repeating the whole procedure!  Good luck!

  • FairygirlFairygirl Posts: 55,117

    I think my post may have been a bit ambiguous DD -  the grass is Phalaris not the small green stuff - that's the ground elder! I would have suggested charley's resolution but Phalaris can be quite tough to dig out if it's a big clump. Try that way first if you want a non chemical method, but if you find it too hard and the only way forward is weedkiller, you could maybe put some wire mesh or a similar barrier round the clump to keep the cats away until it dies off. The cleaner you can get the plant the easier it will be in future. image

    It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....



    I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
  • Thank you everyone, yes the phalaris certainly has gotten a bit out of control but I think I will keep half of it. Thank goodness it's the bank holiday weekend- good opportunity to get digging!

    So very helpful all,

    DD
  • Hostafan1Hostafan1 Posts: 34,888

    tee hee. I'm with Verdun. If you did it all up, you'll be a very clever person to work out which roots are which: they're very similar.

    Devon.
  • Forester2Forester2 Posts: 1,477

    Yes, dig it out.  My cats chew that grass so don't risk the weed killer route.  You have the right name Delphie (digger)!

  • Hi forester yes my cat chews it too, I was concerned at first if it was harmful but no affect whatsoever and she's always going back for more!



    Verdun your probably right and I think in the long run that's what I'd do, however I'm only renting and then I will have a very large border to fill. The grass did look good last autumn when we moved in too. So I will dig and attempt to save and replant what I can.



    Have a great long weekend all



    DD
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