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How do I get rid of this monster?!

FledglingCottageGardenerFledglingCottageGardener Posts: 26
in Problem solving
Help! How do I get rid of this? It is in my new garden and it is huge- that is a 6ft fence.
Am I going to break enormous tap roots if I try to dig it out and create an even bigger problem for myself?
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Posts

  • DovefromaboveDovefromabove Posts: 88,147
    Reach in with some shears, big scissors or a knife (wear gloves and long sleeves and mind your face) and cut it off near the base ... then get a fork and dig around it to loosen the soil and then you'll be able to gently ease the roots up and out.  Just keep an eye on that area through the summer in case there are bits left behind which begin to grow and you'll be able to dig them out before they become monstrous.   :)

    Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.





  • FairygirlFairygirl Posts: 55,117
    Cut it down. Dig it out. If it regrows [ it will ] apply weedkiller whenthere's enough foliage to be worthwhile. Repeat as it reappears until it gives up. 
    Everything around it is a weed anyway, apart from what looks like a Japanese anemone [and some folk regard those as weeds!] so you won't be killing anything particularly desirable if the weedkiller gets on it.
    It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....



    I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
  • JennyJJennyJ Posts: 10,576
    Get a fork in to loosen the roots and lever it out. If bits get left behind you might need to have another go when they regrow, or you could carefully paint the young regrowth with gel weedkiller. Get them before they flower so that it won't spread by seed as well.
    Doncaster, South Yorkshire. Soil type: sandy, well-drained
  • SkandiSkandi Posts: 1,723
    It'll be a lot easier to get out than the ground elder under it!

    Depending what type of thistle it is you may be looking at one thick root which will be easy enough to get out or ones that crawl around, those are harder but still Dove's advice will work on either.
  • LoxleyLoxley Posts: 5,698
    I'm sorry to admit, I'd glyphosate it and all the weeds around it. Spray it on a still morning when there's no rain forecast for 24hrs. You can remove the vegetation as soon as the leaves start to turn yellow - by that point you'll be sure the weedkiller has got to the roots and started to kill the plants.
    "What is hateful to you, do not do to your neighbour". 
  • LoxleyLoxley Posts: 5,698
    I would not be fussed about the possible Japanese Anemone lurking in there, but it you want to keep it, pull off all it's leaves - then the weedkiller will not hurt it.
    "What is hateful to you, do not do to your neighbour". 
  • DovefromaboveDovefromabove Posts: 88,147
    I'm not averse to a spot of targetted glyphosating when the need arises, but in my opinion the problem with glyphosating that lot now is that once you've sprayed it'll be at least ten days, probably more, before the roots have been killed and you can dig them up ... and it's the time of year that a new gardener wants to be getting on with creating their new garden ... and if you spray you've still got to dig the roots up later, if you're going to create a border and replant ...  so I'd not wait ... I'd get it all dug out properly now. 

     A bit of 'spot weeding' with glyiphosate gel later on if a few things grow again will be possible even if a new border has been created and planted up.  

    Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.





  • LynLyn Posts: 23,190
    We are just using a pick axe or mattock to get under the roots of big stubborn weeds.
    i have painted SBK on the ground elder which is now in glorious flower,  (I did pick the flowers off first before everyone jumps on me) 
    Gardening on the wild, windy west side of Dartmoor. 

  • GardenerSuzeGardenerSuze Posts: 5,692
    They will have definitely set seed you will get a second generation at least.
    I have worked as a Gardener for 24 years. My latest garden is a new build garden on heavy clay.
  • punkdocpunkdoc Posts: 15,039
    Cut the top off it.
    Dig out the roots.
    Spray any re growth with weed killer, which you will probably need any to kill the Ground Elder which appears to be there.
    How can you lie there and think of England
    When you don't even know who's in the team

    S.Yorkshire/Derbyshire border
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