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Weed identification please
DebbieMars
Posts: 12
At the end of the winter I noticed this weed in my boarder it's now spread into the grass. It has a huge root system. What is it and how can I stop it. Thank you in advance for your help.
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Posts
Its ground elder. Its impossible to eradicate unless you can remove all of the root system as it will grow back from the tiniest piece. You cold use a systemic weed killer applied to leaves, Roundup is the usual one, and you will probably need to keep doing this until it is too weak to fight back. Its funny how we all hate the successful plants and persist in trying to grow weak things that need constant attention.
Thank you both for your help. I've lived here for 14 years and have never seen it before
My mum has this in her garden, two years ago i dug up every plant in her garden and removed all the roots from around her plants and in the surrounding beds etc but because her neighbours on both sides don't keep on top of it it is back in her garden again with a vigour
I've just looked over by neighbours fence and her garden is covered in it. She doesn't do any gardening and lets it grow wild. Don't think I'm going to win this battle
Thanks for your advice.
If you dig down about 9" all around the fences and boundaries and lay plastic sheets, old compost bags will do, the roots won't get through, I did this in some places in my garden about five years ago and it's still not spread. its fairly shallow rooted.
i have dug it out from everywhere else, long job but on top of it now, almost.
If you apply the weedkiller (carefully!
) to the plants on your boundary, it will be translocated throughout the root system and kill some of the stuff on her side. Worth a try - otherwise it'll choke out everything else.
Bloody Romans.
Thank you, Lyn and Steve 309. To be fair she wouldn't care if I poured weed killer over the fence she hates gardening/gardens. If she could afford it she'd concrete the lot.
I've done the same Lyn and it's largely gone.
Good luck with it Debbie - the advice is good, ie a two pronged attack with a barrier and weedkiller. You'll probably have to do a few applications and just be vigilant. It's also ideal to tackle it now with the weedkiller because it's growing strongly and you have more surface for the weedkiller to stick to.
Infuriating when neighbours don't give a toss though. I had a similar one who had a lovely collection of Mare's Tail and Rosebay willowherb
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...