Ground Elder ... again
NorthantsJohn
Posts: 3
There is a shallow bank at the front of our house which is infested with ground elder which I want to get rid of. So far I have applied two treatments of glyphosate (Clinic Ace) and the leaves are beginning to turn brown at the edges and most plants appear to be beginning to wilt after 6 weeks.
I want to grass the area this year and my idea is to spread topsoil over the area and seed it. However, my question is will this work if I simply remove the dying ground elder foliage or do I still have to dig the roots out before spreading topsoil and seeding? There are also snowdrops and a few bluebells in this area and I'm hoping that next year they will still make their way through the new topsoil and grass. They are the second reason for not digging here as I don't want to disturb them if it can be avoided ... the first reason is I don't like digging!
Any advice would be much appreciated.
Posts
You really need to wait until the foliage has died down completely (ie when it is all brown and crispy.) If you remove the leaves and stems before that happens there is a good chance the glyphosate won't have translocated to the roots and it could come back with a vengeance. Assuming you do wait, I think your plan will work and you can spot-treat any reappearing ground elder. As long as you didn't spray the snowdrops and bluebells they should come back even with a raised ground level as both bulbs are capable of coping with that. If planted too deep the flower stems swell at a point nearer the surface and these swellings become the new bulb.
Many thanks Bob ... I will certainly do as you suggest.
Great advice, Bob!
John - Clinic Ace is a superb weedkiller. What dose did you use per litre? Ground Elder is a tough nut to crack and will likely reappear - even if it looks dead.
If you've got the spare cash, I'd recommend buying a bottle of Kaskara. It's not cheap at £50+ for a litre but goes a VERY long way (only 3ml per litre required). It's selective so won't harm established grass unless over-mixed. There is probably nothing else like it on the market and it's been discontinued, so once stocks run dry, it could be a nightmare to get rid of the thuggish weeds like Ground Elder with alternative approaches which won't kill your grass.
Hi MowTastic,
Many thanks for the additional info. I used about 30ml per litre of water in a pump up spray. The instructions seemed a little complicated and obviously aimed more at commercial use of the product so I do hope I did the right thing?
From what you say, it does seem that it will be worth me investing in a bottle of Kaskara if it's likely that the ground elder will pop up again in places next year. I also have a lawn at the rear of the house which I'm trying to improve so a selective weed killer is bound to help there too.
We moved here just over a year ago and frankly the garden was a bit of a mess having been sadly neglected for some time so I'm expecting it to take a year or two to get things ship shape.
Again, many thanks to you and Bob for your prompt and helpful responses ... much appreciated.
Thanks for your kind words, John
Clinic Ace is an agricultural-grade weedkiller and the instructions are per hectare, which is quite confusing. It's brilliant stuff though... so versatile!
For future reference - 30ml per litre will kill off grass and most annual weeds (some take a few weeks to fall over); 60-100ml for tap rooted or weeds (docks, dandelions, hogweed, cow parsley, creeping cinquefoil etc) or rhizomous weeds like ground elder, bindweeds, creeping thistle etc); 200-250ml for large spear thistles, serious infestations of brambles, Ivy or small infestations of Japweed or field horsetails.
Kaskara is particularly effective for destroying field horsetails as the acids dissolve the silica coating. If using as a selective weedkiller, only ever use 3ml per litre on grass as overdosing will kill the grass. It has a thick, milky viscosity and a syringe is ideal for getting an accurate measurement.
It is slow-acting on many weeds (except horsetails) so be patient. It is very different to Glyphosate (Clinic Ace) and contains 2,4-D and Dicamba which lingers around on sprayed areas or in soil for a lot longer. Just bear this in mind if you have pets that are likely to eat sprayed grass an leave a few weeks between apllications. Also, young children are best kept off sprayed areas for a whille!
Last edited: 08 May 2017 18:16:09
Please note that Professional Pesticides (in Herbicides) may only legally be used by suitably qualified persons. Professional products like Clinic Ace are desinated as such and MUST NOT be applied by thoose who do not have a certificate of competence.
Amateur products such as those sold by most reputable garden centers may be used by anyone competent to handle such products.