Is this ground elder?

Alchemist · February 2019

Dear All,
This is in a new border that was created last winter and I had not seen a single plant of this sort last spring/summer/autumn (so assume this is a new entrant from somewhere). The roots that I pull come as a long chain and are quite shallow). Is it worth lifting as much root as possible, spraying it with glyphosate and reburying hoping they travel wherever the root goes and kills it in situ? Any other advice is welcome.
Thanks.

Hostafan1 · February 2019

yup, sure is.

Alchemist · February 2019

Thanks Hosta. Last years was spent eradicating bindweed, from front garden. Looks like this year is going to be ground elder! What fun!!!! Any chance you know if this is any more/less difficult than eradicating bind weed?

Topbird · February 2019

Glyphosate should be sprayed onto green leaves during the growing season. I don't think spraying the roots ( think I'm reading your post correctly?) will be effective.

As you've pulled it up I'd dispose of it (but not in your compost bin). Keep an eye out for fresh little green leaves appearing in your nice new border. You can then spray those if that is your chosen method of control. If, however, it's only a light infestation and you keep on top of digging out the roots you'll probably get rid of it fairly quickly.

I imported a large quantity of compost / soil improver when I made a new border 2 years ago. Now I have ground elder there - grrr. But it's not a heavy infestation and I'd rather weed it out than risk spraying some of my plants.

Hostafan1 · February 2019

You can also use the gel "roundup". a bit fiddly , depends on the size of the patch.

Alchemist · February 2019

Thanks Topbird and Hosta. My thinking was if glyphosate is to enter the root and kill it, then spraying the root and shoot should speed this process. Good to know you are able to keep it under control. The border where it is is well mulched with only a few weeds. So I should be able to pay attention to this. Not sure of the source yet but it seems to be radiating from close to our grape vine by the fence or neighbours garden. I will visit our nice neighbours to see what's going on there. I have given up on the gel for the exact reason you mention- quite a faff. I can swear by the £1 glyphosate from a popular pound store. Our bindweed problem was eradicated entirely with this.

Hostafan1 · February 2019

don't spray the roots. It's best absorbed through foliage when it's " in active growth" . The good thing is , ground elder starts growing early , so you can get on with it.

Alchemist · February 2019

Right. I can see them sprouting already. Will start my assault straightaway!

Paul Scholey · February 2019

In my experience any of the weed killers will only set the ground elder back, it will always re-emerge - the only way to properly get rid of it is to dig it all up, making sure you don't leave any behind.

Once you think you've got it all out, leave the area clear and when any of the bits that you missed the first time start to sprout new growth, dig them up as well.

BobTheGardener · February 2019

Glyphosate needs to translocate from the leaves to the roots for it to work effectively. Wait until there is a large amount of leaf area to spray - it is generally recommended to wait until ground elder is just starting to flower. I advise this because the roots of this plant have a substantially large volume of tissue, so spraying when it first emerges will only slow it down, if it is well established.

Having said that, the best way is to dig out as many of the roots as you can and then spray the regrowth (I was going to say "any regrowth" but there *will* be some!) as hosta says. Unfortunately, if it is coming in from another property, it will be back no matter what you do. In that case, I would avoid any permanent plantings and use the area for growing annuals, pulling it up whenever seen.

Is this ground elder?

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