In article ,
says...
Subject: Ho hoe ho
From: Martin Brown
Newsgroups: uk.rec.gardening

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.


Our rainfall is increasing; to counteract the swamp effect I've been
raising the height of some beds with compost and mulches. A (gardening-
clueless) neighbour who meant well, offered me a load of winter topsoil
which a contractor was excavating from his garden. The contractor was
glad to dump it here for free; I was glad to take it and spread it
around three beds.

Come spring, abundant ground elder and horsetail sprung from the free
topsoil :-(((( Probably among the top three weeds dreaded by gardeners.
Just grateful he didn't donate Japanese knotweed.

It's taken two seasons of meticulous prompt hand+fork extraction of
every new sprout but I have finally, totally eliminated both.

Janet

---
This email has been checked for viruses by AVG.
http://www.avg.com