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Ground elder!
Kelly Heaver
Posts: 1
I have read lots of advise on destroy ground elder problem is I'm doing up my sisters garden and her lawn is riddled with ground elder! is there a was to rid it through the grass or do I have to bite the bullet and lay down really strong week killer killing the grass in the process and re seeding after? Any help would be great 
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Posts
you could use Roundup gel, but if it's so bad, you might be as well to kill the lot .and then reseed.
I would be inclined to declare war and 'do it properly' but that could mean a lot of hard work which would be wasted if the surrounding conditions are not great. Are the borders of the lawn 'infected' with it too? Is it creeping in from next door? If you glyphosate the whole lawn, you would need to wait and see if it comes back and treat again before digging over and going for it with the grass seed. Unless you can be absolutely sure you have got rid of it, you will be back to square one in no time. In the same way only cockroaches would survive nuclear war, so ground elder has a habit of surviving weedkiller. You would be advised to recognise the root and carefully pick it out of the soil before replanting. It will be a hell of a job, and may leave your sister without a lawn for the summer, which would be a shame if the weather is nice.
Two thoughts - I have never had it in a lawn, but some weeds cannot survive in lawns if you keep them cut, because they can't stand having their growing tips repeatedly chopped off. We reclaimed a 'pitch' from a weedy paddock, and while the docks, dandelions and thistles will have a go at growing in the pitch, the nettles can't take the pace of the constant attentions of the lawnmower! So we never have nettles. The same could be true of ground elder, I don't know. Secondly, I presume you have tried putting weed and feed on the grass? This kills off broad leaved weeds, while feeding the grass. Again, having only dealt with GE in borders rather than on a lawn, I don't know if the weedkiller element of weed and feed will kill off ground elder, but if you haven't tried this, give it a go before declaring war and doing it the hard way. Good luck, you have my sympathies. Ground elder is the pits.
If it's just in the lawn use Weed & Feed according to the instructions and then keep mowing and mowing at least once a week in the growing season. That will see it off eventually - but as Busybee says, if it's in the surrounding area it will keep spreadng back in so borders etc will be harbouring it. and it may well be coming in from outside the property - it depends on whether you and your sister want to do a thorough job or whether you're prepared to just keep it under control.
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
I've started getting a few shoots of this through from my neighbours garden, growing under their fence. I dig down as far as possible but the roots always seem to come from her side. Anything I can doo? I've bought some of that gel stuff to dab on the new growth. Will it work on that sort of elder?
If she's amenable it might be best to dab it from the other side, but if she is a hideous old harridan who takes any criticism of her garden 'hygiene' as a personal attack (seriously, there are a shed load of neighbours who fall into this category), just keep digging it out or glyposating any leaves that dare to make an appearance. The gel stuff will work on that individual plant, but not the next one, or the one after that....
Mmm. Yes I think my neighbour would take it as a personal criticism, so I'll just keep treating and digging I think!
Oh dear - yes - diplomacy at all costs!!
as a professional gardener I lost count of the times clients would say, " oh that's not our weed, it's coming from next door" ( I sure " next door" said the same. tee hee )
Er! not guilty, Hostafan1. I've been in her garden and the blessed stuff is everywhere!
Glyphosate is the answer, early in spring when the leaves are growing,
drench with the glyphosate from a watering can. May need to repeat in
Autumn.
Good luck. [email protected]