On 22/04/2018 08:42, Tahiri wrote:
I am fed up of being told I am a useless gardener because I won't use a hoe
on ground elder. 'Just keep on doing it. If it can't photosynthesize it will
die.' he says. I accept that in an empty patch of ground, in a dry area, if
I had time to hoe every day, that might possibly work, even on ground elder.

So will regular close mowing but a combined chemical and physical attack
will see it off very much quicker. The problem with ground elder is that
the tiniest piece of healthy thick white root will form another plant.
If it has been poisoned first you don't have to be quite so meticulous.

I can't think of a weed less suitable for control by hoeing or
rotivator. Dig it out every time you see a new leaf showing (or hit it
with the gel/wax formulation weedkiller if you don't have time).

Never allow it to have leaves in the sunshine without dealing with them.

However I still work five days a week and I live in relatively soggy North
Wales and the wind blows too often to use glyphosate accurately enough. I
shall continue to try and remove the ground elder from bulbs, soft friut and
herbaceous perennials by hand!

You can get glyphosate and broad leaf specific weedkiller formulations
in gel and wax which can be applied precisely to where you want it.

Thank you for 'listening'. I feel better for a good grumble.

I tend to hit ground elder with whatever weedkiller I have going and dig
out any larger shoots with as much brittle white root as I can get. It
has all but gone apart from right at the field boundary now.

Same applies to bindweed in hedges.

--
Regards,
Martin Brown