Ground elder / Goutweed eradication help
lk_levy
19 years ago
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tom_orrow
19 years agonbpen
19 years agoRelated Discussions
Help! Chameleon plants gone wild!
Comments (118)O for heavens sake - I have removed loads of this (and Japanese Knotweed, goutweed, trumpet vine and other supposedly immortal plants). Round up definitely does work but I would suggest an awful lot of posters on this thread are not reading the instructions. Multiple sprayings over a few weeks, spraying roots, spraying tiny bits of foliage...and so on. Round up is completely effective when used correctly, at the right time, when foliage cover is at peak growth...which is late spring or autumn. The exceptions usually involve plants with a lot of silicone which will require the cell walls to be ruptured (by crushing) or a direct dosage into the plant capillary system (usually done with knotweed or giant hogweeds). Personally, I find the autumn spray to be more effective as the plant has the maximum amount of foliage and is at the pivot point where top growth/root growth balance is tipping back towards the roots, where we want the glyphosate to do it's nefarious work. It takes up to 6 weeks before the effects of Round Up can even be seen so multiple sprayings is overkill. Using Round Up at incorrect dosages is also a waste - using a stronger mix is no guarantee of eventual success. For a really bad infestation, 2 sprays, one in spring and a later one when there is sufficient regrowth (which is towards the end of summer) will kill 995 of houtynnia. Further vigilance the following season, with careful hand weeding, will finish the problem. Finally, in the annals of pesticides and chemical use, Round Up is comparatively innocuous, compared to the bad old days of sodium chlorate, DDT and so on. Whilst daily use is obviously undesirable, a timed and targeted spray is not tantamount to the ninth circle of hell...whereas untreated infestations of invasives is a whole lot worse....See Moregardening nightmare, help - invasive black raspberry
Comments (31)Rachel, I used Brush Killer, undiluted. There are different brands but it will say 'Brush Killer' on the container. I believe Basic RoundUp is a different product. I see RoundUp now offers a combined mixture that supposedly kills brush, ivy, etc. too. I don't know how well it might work on stem cuttings. When I googled Brush Killer, several items popped up; Bayer Advanced Brush Killer Plus Concentrate, Southern Ag Brush Killer, etc. I think the product I used was made by Bayer. Remember not to dilute the product, just pour a bit of the product into a throw a way cup or something with a broad flat bottom where you can set it down without fear of it overturning, like an empty plastic milk container with the top cut out, anything that will work for you and can be disposed of following your work session. Soak the cotton balls and apply one cotton ball to each freshly cut stem, cover with a plastic sandwich baggie, secure tightly with a strong rubber band and you're done. Be safe. Secure the pets while you're working. Wear good hand and eye protection. I usually doubled the gloves I wore and then threw them away after each work session. Be careful when handling the product. When the weather is warm, I usually noticed wilting within a day and then over time, the plant dies and dries out. I had such a mess of these vines coming up out in my lawn and coming up in my garden beds. Nothing I tried worked until I used the cotton balls. The vines had created a garden nightmare for me. Good luck. You will be so relieved when these things die off. Mary...See MoreMillions of Lady Bugs!!!! HELP!!
Comments (96)Dry White Sage is a natural cheap and cheery ladybug repellent. Here is a recipe from the link listed below Garlic Oil Sprays: Organic gardeners have long been familiar with the repellent or toxic affect of garlic oil on pests. when it is combined with mineral oil and pure soap,as it is in the recipe that follows, devised at the Henry Doubleday Research Association in England, it becomes an effective insecticide. Some studies also suggest that a garlic oil spray has fungicidal properties. Protection Offered: Good results, with quick kill, have been noted against aphids, cabbage loopers, earwigs, June bugs, leafhoppers, sqaush bugs and whiteflies. The spray does not appear to harm adult lady beetles, and some gardeners have found that is does'nt work against the Colorado potaoe beetles, grape leaf skeletonizers, grasshoppers, red ants, or sowbugs. How to Make: Soak 3 ounces of finely minced garlic cloves in 2 teaspoons of mineral oil for at least 24 hours. Slowly add 1 pint of water that has 1/4 ounce liquid soap or commercial insecticide soap mixed into it. Stir thoroughly and strain into a glass jar for storage. use at a rate of 1 to 2 Tablespoons of mixture to a pint of water. If this is effective, try a more dilute solution in order to use as little as possible. How to Use: Spray plants carefully to ensure thorough coverage. To check for possible leaf damage to sensitive ornamentals from the oil and soap in the spray, do a test spray on a few leaces or plants first. If no leaf damage occurs in 2 or 3 days, go ahead and spray more. Pyrethrin The dried, powdered flowers of the pyrethrum daisy, Tanacetum cinerarifolium, were used as early as 1880 to control mosquitoes. The popularity of pyrethrum insecticides waned when synthetic insecticides were introduced, but they are now enjoying a commercial comeback. Many new products formulated with natural pyrethrums are available. Pyrethrins are the insecticidal chemicals extracted from the pyrethrum daisy. Do not confuse them with pyrethroids, the term for a new class of synthetic pesticides. Pyrethrums, which are mainly concentrated in the seeds of the flower head, are a contact insecticide, meaning the insect only has to touch the substance to be affected. Pyrthrins have a quick knockdown effect on insects: Flying insects are paralyzed. pyrethrins can be applied up to one day before harvest because they are quickly destroyed by light and heat and are not persistent in the environment. Pyrthrins will kill lady beetes but do not appear to be harmful to bees. They are toxic to fish and to the aqautic insects and other small animals that fish eat. Pyrethrins do not seem to be toxic to birds or mammals. Protection Offered: Pyrethrins are registered for flowers, fruits, and vegetables, including greenhouse crops. they are effective on many chewing and sucking insects, including most aphids, cabbage loopers, celery leaftiers, codling moth, Colarado potaotoe beetles, leafhoppers, Mexican bean beetles, spider mites, stink bugs, several species of thrips, tomato pinworms, and whiteflies. they are especially good against flies, gnats, mosquitoes, and stored products pests. Flea beetles are not affected, nor are imported cabbageworms, diamondback moths, pear psylla, and tarnished plant bugs. How to Make: If you grow your own pyrethrum daisies, you'll have the main ingredient for a make-it-yourself spray. The concentration of pyrethrums is at its peak when the flowers are in full bloom, from the time the first row of florets open on the central disk opens too the time all the florets are open. pick flowers in full bloom and hang them in a sheltered, dark spot to dry. Once the flowers have dried thoroughly, grind them to afine powder, using a mortar and pestle, old blender or small hammer mill. Mix with water and add a few drops of liquid soap. Store in a glass jar and keep the lid tightly closed, because the mixture looses activity if left open. You'll have to experiment with the amount of water to add, because the concentration of pyrethins in the flowers is an unknown variable. If the spray you make does not seem to kill insects, use less water the next time you make the concentrated spray. Also keep in mind whole flower heads stay potent longer so do not grind until ready to use. How to Use: Pyrethrins are more effective at lower temperatures, so for best results, apply in early evening when temperatures are lower. Spray both the upper and lower surfaces of the leaves, because spray must directly contact the insects such as thrips that hide in leaf sheaths and crevices. The first spray will excite them and bring them out of hiding, the second will kill them. Never use pyrethrin products around waterways and ponds. There are also products available that contain no harmful poisons one is called THE ASIAN LADYBUG TRAP I hope you found this information helpful Best of Luck...See MoreHelp put together Deane's Dream border?
Comments (28)Hi Jo! So sorry I didn't see this. I was vacationing in Florida...traumatic, I know. Sod is in, bed is built and mulched, and I'm ready to plant! I know the timing's all wrong, thank goodness NS is so rainy and my back yard is so shady. I will have to wait until fall for my Fundy Beauties order. But I still have an itchy finger whenever I get to a nursery so have a few hosta to get in the ground - mostly for the back bed. You can see (at a distance) abba dabba do, blue angel, blue arrow and lakeside dragonfly. Blue angel is destined for a dark corner of the yard. Getting ready for a planting party... Speaking of hosta companions, I thought I'd list some of what's going to go in with the hosta - I have some "fern-jacked" (side of the road) ferns, a couple of royal ferns, two densi-gem yews, a rhody nova zembla, dwarf maidengrass, and two h macra aureolaes to be planted in this picture. The back bed (on the right) already has Japanese quince (lovely in early Spring), what I'm assuming is a hicksii yew, a jumbo forsythia and two big burning bushes. It used to have a half dozen very sad junipers, a huge infestation of English ivy, and an even worse goutweed infestation. Needless to say even bare soil looks pretty good right now to me compared to what used to be there! For perennials, what survived the goutweed eradication is some kind of purple spiderwort, lungwort (which if I'm honest I am not in love with) old orange daylilies, some lanky butterfly bush and two very tall clumps of zebra grass. I have my eye on a GORGEOUS JM Inaba Shidare at the local nursery. At $250 for the size it's a steal but I am too miserly to go for it yet. Hoping it lasts until the fall and goes on clearance....See Morebrian2cv
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