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weed
Devonchick
Posts: 3
Hi I think I have ground elder growing in my boarder.....it`s roots are just under the suffice of the soil and it has spread very quickly.
Is there any way I can get rid of this pest?
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If you find it Devonchick, you can sit back on your money mountain!! It only responds to lots of hand extraction, yes you can use chemicals if you want, but the very tiniest bit left will grow again. Quite honestly in some areas you might just decide to learn to live with it, we have, just trying to ensure it never flowers. It was actually introduced into Britain by the Romans as a treatment for aches and pains, then it was known as Bishops wort, as Bishops were then the only people rich enough to at so well as to get gout! A tea made with it, steep a cup of young leaves in boiling water for about 5 minutes, drink hot. after gardening, if you have sore bones and joints. It does help and aids sleep - this may make you feel less fed up with it!
Thanks Bookertoo, what if I spray weed killer leave it for a few days than start to dig it up, do you think that that will help (make it easier for me to dig it up)?
If you are going to use weedkiller, don't dig it up until it is brown and withered - that means that the weedkiller has penetrated into the roots - if you start digging it up before then the roots will still be alive and any tiny piece left behind will grow and start your problem off all over again.
Spay with glyphosate and be very patient. You might need to spray several times - really kill it dead then remove it all by hand, very carefully and thoroughly. It would also be really helpful to put an impermeable vertical physical barrier along your boundary fence to stop it spreading in from next door, or wherever it is coming from.
Good luck
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
I agree with DovefromAbove. It's quite possible to get rid of the vast majority with weedkiller; after that, keep an eye out for any bits that re-surface and dig up promptly.
Thanks so much Alina W and Dove from above.....I`ll do just that and hope it will do the trick.........
Ive not heard this before that was very interesting Bookertoo
We finally got rid of it by covering it with black plastic and putting gravel on top of that.It took about 2 years to get rid of it. but this might not be an option for you. It was confined to a border in our front garden, so it didn't matter about planting it up as we could stand pots on the top of the gravel while it disappeared. We tried hand weeding and weed killer which held it back but didn't solve the problem. Best of luck, it is a pain to get rid of.
Just to add insult to injury, we actually deliberately grow a variegated type of this in pretty deep shade under a large red sycamore tree, where nothing else will grow. It has stayed in place for many years now, is never allowed to flower and lightens up the area very well. The horrid green version does infest a couple of beds lower down in the garden, where I do my best to keep it under some sort of control - with limited success. I do make the tea I mentioned, it doesn't taste beautiful - cabbage water springs to mind, half a teaspoon of honey helps, but it really does help the muscles & bones.