Characterised by apple-green, lobed leaves and flat heads of cream-white flowers in summer, ground elder spreads rapidly. What makes it even more difficult to eradicate is it can creep between cultivated plants. It creates large clumps of foliage that obscure and smother smaller plants. Ground elder dies down below ground in winter, which means it's difficult to spot when cultivating the soil. However, it's capable of re-growing from only small fragments of root, making it a particularly virulent plant.
Solution
Organic
In existing flowerbeds, it's best tackled by digging up the cultivated plants and washing their roots to tease out the cream-white roots of ground elder. Regular cutting of the foliage, just below ground level with a hoe will gradually weaken the plant, but this needs to be done every 7-10 days, as soon as regrowth appears. Alternatively, fork through the soil every 10 to 14 days, removing every piece of ground elder root that's found.
Chemical
Apply systemic weedkiller to the foliage as soon as it appears in spring. Re-apply throughout the growing season at four- to six-week intervals, or as soon as any re-growth appears.
Comments and rating
Overall rating (from 3 ratings):
4 out of 5
Agree with the advice given. This has been my tactic for the last 8 years and I am still pulling out shoots of ground elder. I clear the soil when replanting and nip out any green shoots when they appear. I have been known to resort to systemic weedkiller. Try pushing a cardboard tube or small box over the offending shoot before spraying which will keep the spray off nearby plants.
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5 out of 5
I will never manage to rid my garden of ground elder as my nieghbours tend not to look after their gardens so the problem is ongoing,even the weed killer is useless, but we keep on trying.
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The advice is sound. The only way to rid yourself of the horribly pernicious weed is patient hard work. I have an infestation that came with the mature garden and, in keeping at the problem, I have managed to isolate the weed into one patch. It has become significantly weaker over the last three years and I can see light at the end of the tunnel. Now... bindweed.
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juniorbayleaf rated and commented on this article
06 April 2009
5 out of 5
thank - you for the handy tip!
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