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Ground Elder

RBMancRBManc Posts: 59
in Problem solving
Hello, 

I have quite an issue with Ground Elder in my garden and, as everyone who has ever dealt with ground elder will know, no matter how much I dig up or how careful I am not to snap the roots - it just keeps coming back. 

I want to preface this by saying that I am very much against the use of weed killers, but I am starting to see no other option now as it has entangled in a lot of large plants which can't easily be dug up for me to tease out the ground elder roots. I lost an azalea last year which, when I dug it up to bin it, the roots and base of the plant were solid and matted with ground elder. This has been an ongoing mission to remove the ground elder for about 6 years now by trying to dig it out... I also have an elderly neighbour who is a bit heavy handed on the weedkiller spray front and I am worried that she will spray the ones in my garden over the fence (which she has done before, she thinks she is helping) and damaging my nice plants so I'd like to get started before this happens. 

I've not really used weed killers before but I believe Roundup is best for ground elder. The gel is ridiculously expensive and I was wondering if you can paint the diluted concentrate version on the leaves with a paintbrush? I really want to limit any damage to surrounding plants and also limit the amount of weedkiller I use as I just hate the stuff. 

Also, I won't eat the young leaves as I have too much resentment towards it to ever get any kind of joy from it...  :#
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  • JennyJJennyJ Posts: 10,576
    edited April 2023
    Check the small print to make sure that you get a systemic weedkiller not one that just kills the top growth. I'd be looking for something with glyphosate but it's being phased out and is getting harder to find. I'm sure you could paint the solution on with a paintbrush. I wonder if mixing it with some powdered wallpaper paste to make a thicker mix would make it easier?
    PS wear rubber gloves.
    Doncaster, South Yorkshire. Soil type: sandy, well-drained
  • LoxleyLoxley Posts: 5,698
    Yes you can paint it on with a paint brush. You can also use pieces of cardboard, plastic bags etc to shield adjacent plants. And you don't need to worry too much about the spray getting onto the stems of dormant plants, so if the elder is in full growth at the base of deciduous shrubs, you can just spray it as long as they aren't in leaf. (Be careful about it getting onto young stems though). It also won't affect perennials that are fully dormant below ground.
    "What is hateful to you, do not do to your neighbour". 
  • GardenerSuzeGardenerSuze Posts: 5,692
    @RBManc The only way to try and tackle ground elder is to empty the border of plants and clear the area over years. Whatever you do your plants will have some in their roots which need to be washed.
    A membrane or carpet is an alternative for 18 months. I have known membrane laid and bark placed on the top but over time more bark is needed to cover the membrane.
    The biggest problem is when it spreads from garden to garden, it is always the neighbour we blame.

    You could continue to live with it ,clearing what you can see. I have worked in gardens with this problem, hard work can be applied and you think you are winning then back it comes.

    I wouldn't buy a house with this weed, it should be hi lighted as part of a survey as pernicious.
    I have worked as a Gardener for 24 years. My latest garden is a new build garden on heavy clay.
  • RBMancRBManc Posts: 59
    Thank you for your input so far, I'll remember to wear rubber gloves if I do try weedkiller! I don't fancy trying a spray so will try painting it on but I'll bear in mind trying a shield for the neighbouring plants. 

    @GardenerSuze I would love to do that and I did partially do that a year or so ago only to be disappointed that the ground elder came almost straight back - I dug out the perennials and smaller shrubs and completely emptied them of as much soil around the roots and washed them with a hose - then, lo and behold, it grew back so I had missed some. The borders it affects most are fairly large - the main one affected being around 12ft by 5ft with large shrubs and a very old large rose, both of which I would struggle to dig out. Similarly with the other affected border which is about 30ft by 3ft and the main affected plants being a large lilac tree and a large ribes sanguineum which I'd have no chance of digging out. It also has tangled its way into the hosta roots which I could dig out, to be fair. 

    I do think there are worse weeds (horse tail, for example) but ground elder really takes some beating :( apparently the older couple who lived there before me left it unchecked for a few years because they liked the flowers, but then it ran rampant and they weren't really able to keep on top of it. My neighbour is always having a go at us because of the ground elder even though she sees us out and weeding it all the time! 

    It would be good to have surveyors bring problems like that to light, but they'd need an some training! I'm a property solicitor and a few years ago a client got sent into a mad panic because the surveyor raised an issue about knotweed shoots in the garden - as it turned out, they were just peony shoots! 

  • Hostafan1Hostafan1 Posts: 34,889
    GardenerSuze said:
    @RBManc The only way to try and tackle ground elder is to empty the border of plants and clear the area over years.
    Incorrect, you can  use glyphosate.
    Devon.
  • didywdidyw Posts: 3,573
    I feel your pain @RBManc.  We spent a lot of lockdown clearing the garden of ground elder.  We had a lot of work to do in the garden anyway, having had builders using it as their yard so it was a good opportunity to tackle it.  I think I must have filled a good three of those big white builders' sacks with it.  I became obsessed, pulling at the roots then sifting through the soil for the tinier hairlike roots. We then laid new lawns and replanted.  It still comes back of course, but I can pull it out when I see it.  

    Frankly I think lifting your plants, getting the ground elder roots from out of their roots and then thoroughly digging out all the g. elder you can find is the way to go.  The roots travel so far, I think it would take longer and be more of a faff trying to spray them with glysophate whilst shielding your existing plants - you would have to do that many times.
    Gardening in East Suffolk on dry sandy soil.
  • GardenerSuzeGardenerSuze Posts: 5,692
    @Hostafan1 I would never recommend glyphosate it isn't 'incorrect'. For gardeners who do, thought needs to be given to a world without it.
    I have worked as a Gardener for 24 years. My latest garden is a new build garden on heavy clay.
  • GardenerSuzeGardenerSuze Posts: 5,692
    edited April 2023
    @RBManc We are in the process of moving and there is paperwork regarding pernicious weeds. Maybe it is seen to be beyond the remit of a property surveyor but ground elder can spoil the enjoyment of a garden for gardeners. 

    You can take the live and let live approach but as you say a few years of completely neglecting it can result in a serious infestation. There is no simple solution and you do have my sympathy, to paint it on won't be practical. Not sure treatments will be powerful enough to be taken up systemically either, due to the length of the roots which can be found 2/3 feet underground once established. 
    I have worked as a Gardener for 24 years. My latest garden is a new build garden on heavy clay.
  • alfharris8alfharris8 Posts: 513
    @RBManc - your last paragraph made me laugh 😂 
  • GardenerSuzeGardenerSuze Posts: 5,692
    @alfharris8 I remember someone cooking ground elder on The Great British Menu it tastes bitter and no one liked the dish.  A shame, if it tasted like fresh peas or runner beans maybe we wouldn't mind. 
    I have worked as a Gardener for 24 years. My latest garden is a new build garden on heavy clay.
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