Ground elder / Goutweed eradication help

21 years ago

I would be interested in anyones experiences in eliminating Ground elder (Aegopodium podagraria). I am attempting to clear a large bank and have applied glyphosate (roundup) three times, and its still alive !! (albeit looking very stunted and sickly). I appear to have succeeded in one small area by meticulously removing all remaining roots,however there seems to be no quick answer.

Has anyone used / tried SBK brushwood killer (2,4 D) ?? I know I'm doing all the right things but this has been going on for a year now and I want to plant nice things !!!

Many thanks LKL

Here is a link that might be useful: Ground elder link

Featured Answer

ian_haigh12

10 years ago

Does anyone has an area of ground elder where they might allow a small trial to be conducted testing the potency of various types of glyphosate against this week? These are agrochemicals used by farmers so should be very effective. I will pay money to try and eradicate your ground elder! Thanks

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Comments (23)

tom_orrow
21 years ago
we are fighting losing battle its in the lawn
in the hedges when we eradicate from flower beds
it just creeps back from elsewhere,can never get rid of all the root,hate the stuff,you can try all the weed killers but the roots are tangled with plants that you dont want to kill
best of luck
nbpen
21 years ago
Bob Flowerdew suggests that every week without fail you go out and remove by hand every single ground elder leaf you can find!!!
this will eventually kill it from starvation as your removing the leaves that photosynthesise its food.
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brian2cv
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Unfortunately glyphosate works best on adult plants which few of us are prepared to wait for, and like me you pull it out earlier in the season, as well as spraying. I sympathise with you, it is in my lawn too. Selective weed killers help in the lawn but don't provide a complete answer for me so far. Try to keep on top of it or you will end up digging everything up to clean them. No magic answer.

Brian
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ChrisRandall
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You ask "Has anyone used / tried SBK brushwood killer (2,4 D) ??"

This will most probably work, but it will kill the ground for about six months.

Chris
Anchoress
21 years ago
It is edible; that is why ?? the Romans????, introduced it.It used to be a keen favourite. The book on " Food for Free" features it. An acquired taste...very strong flavour.

Here is a link that might be useful: Irish Anchorhold
fonzie47
21 years ago
If it were I who had this problem I would put down a weed supressing membrane or old carpet(if you can get enough to cover the area) and leave it for a year.
This will starve it of food which it makes by photosynthesis.
Ok you have to be patient, but if you cover the area with bark mulch on top of the membrane you could put some tubs or troughs with any plants in that area into them or purchase new ones and have a reasonable display for the time being while waiting for the Ground elder to be completley eradicated. Hope this is of value. It's what I would do!
arabella
19 years ago
Can anyone tell me if mowing ground elder helps to deter it, or does it merely encourage the roots to spread further in its desperation to take over the garden?
cajary
19 years ago
First time I've seen this thread. I've never had any trouble controlling Ground Elder or Field Bindweed by using SBK. I've eliminated it from 3 gardens. Arabella, perhaps you could spot-weed it using SBK or maybe byusing Verdone on larger areas. It might take a couple of goes but it seems to work. Good luck, this plant is a real nuisance
chrissie_gardener
19 years ago
I've had my garden now for 10 years and had a problem with ground elder at the beginning. I kept it down and thought it had finally disappeared only to discover that last summer it was coming up again. I've always just methodically tried to get the roots up and also by removing the top part of the plant it definitely weakens it. For the last 2 years I haven't been so thorough in the weeding so although I haven't seen it for a few years (it took about 4 years to get rid of it) it obviously waits for the right conditions and up it comes again. If it's any consolation, I also inherited Japanese Knotweed which was spread round the garden by a rotavator but again by consistently removing it along with its roots, I've managed to keep it at bay - only one little sprouting of it last year. Aren't the plants clever though, they always grow where they often mimic other plants and you don't always see them until they're a healthy specimen showing off as if to say, "look I fooled you"but out comes the trowel and off with its head and roots. I think it's a case of persevering and you will control it.
jonbaum
19 years ago
I managed to get rid of it here (Ireland) with a powerful weedkiller that's meant for tree stumps. It's called "Root Out" - I found that the ordinary Roundup didn't work.
I mixed a fair amount of crystals with a tiny amount of water to make a paste, and then painted it on as many leaves as I could find. The whole thing conked out in a matter of days. If I see any more leaves, I just dab them again.
amanda1
19 years ago
I have ground elder all over my garden, in the lawn, flowerbeds and under the path.The thing I find intriguing is that there are areas where it is absent.

I find this particularly surprising because the flowerbeds hadn't been touched for about 8 years. I thought that it was so invasive that a long period of neglect would see it taking over everything. There are patches where it is really thick and then a few feet away it just fades out and the ground is clear.

The clear patches don't seem to have much in common with each other. Some in sun, others in shade. I am very keen to discover the secret of the clear bits. I could probably make a fortune.

I dug it out of one flowerbed last year and was very thorough in getting every bit of root out. It has been pretty successful, but inevitably I have spotted a few leaves popping up again this year. Not many though and it's easy to dig up.

I've never tried weedkiller, and had limited sucess with black polythene many years ago.
magpie11
16 years ago
I was googling something else and came across this thread;
Many years ago I had some success planting tagetes amongst the ground elder in my in-laws' pub garden. Theyw ere too busy to continue the treatment.
In another garden we put down a thick layer of peat-like compost and then hauled out the roots at the end of the season. This cut down the amount next season and the shoots that appeared were hit with a spray of glyphosate. Then the next ones were hit and so forth through out the season... a new spray was purchased for the next season...and used (very rarely) when needed.... Bye bye Ground Elder...BTW the same sort of regime has kept my garden clear of bindweed for the last 25 years...at one time it was the only garden a round that was free!

Glyphosate works best on new, actively growing leaves and it is useful to spray it on just before autumn and the leaves start to die back of their own accord. It then has the whole winter to work below the ground!

I am sure we could (with the help of people on community work regimes from the courts) eliminate most of the knotweed in the country in a similar way...I', talking U.K. here!
Ian James
15 years ago
I hoed as much as possible then covered with large sheets of cardboard doubly laid. Then I dumped all my grass clippings on top plus leaves and anything else that came to hand. Finally I put wood chippings on top. After a few months the whole area sank a little so I topped up with wood chippings again. Some ground elder came through----I just pulled it up---the stalks looked very anaemic. The following year I laid down more chippings. Hardly any GE came through and when it did I merely pulled it out. By the following Spring there as no trace. I planted out azaelias in cardboad boxes sunk into the mulch and they seem to be doing OK. I TRIED DIGGING OUT YEARS AGO----COMPLETE WASTE OF TIME----IT ALWAYS COMES BACK WITHIN A FEW MONTHS----My method seems to be working! The whole area is quite acidic now which suits the azalias!

Cheers

Ian
jilln
15 years ago
the best and most effective way to eradicate ground elder is to MOVE HOUSE!!!!!!!!!!!
Jon Derricott
15 years ago
If you like nasturtiums - I've found GE to be fairly easy to get rid of since adopting the following method. A 3 year (so far) programme of digging out the roots in heavily infested areas and planting lots of nasturtiums seems to have worked a treat. In a few places (fences, hedges around the roots of established plants that you don't want to lose)) it wasn't really possible to dig out the roots effectively, so I cleared what I could and sowed nasturtium seeds. The following year the GE doesn't seem to come back wherever the nasturtiums have done well. The only place I really still have it now is under a hedge/fence that is almost always in deep shade. The GE itself struggles there and the nasturtiums don't do well at all. But I keep putting seeds in and even that seems to be having an effect. To me it seems much better, cheaper and easier to plant an attractive annual that deters the GE, than messing about with weedkiller. I did the latter for a couple of years and got little return except frustration!
Pete Duncan
10 years ago
Like Ian I am also looking for areas of bare ground with ground elder to try and find best solutions for controlling this weed . So if you have such an area available anywhere in the country please contact me and I will try to reduce or eradicate it. Many thanks
trudywaters90
10 years ago
I live in Cumbria and have an ongoing battle with ground elder. There is a bank behind our house where it is rife... Assistance gratefully received...
ian_haigh12
10 years ago
Hi trudywaters90

That's sounds perfect. Please can you email me some contact details.
trudywaters90
10 years ago
I can't find the way to do that I'm afraid
brian2cv
10 years ago
Why do I see some messages complete and some just the first 2 lines..........?

I am signed in.
ian_haigh12
10 years ago
Hi trudywater90

Please email me at ianhaigh76@hotmail.co.uk

Ground elder / Goutweed eradication help

ian_haigh12

Comments (23)

tom_orrow

nbpen

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