In article ,
Jeff Layman wrote:

But it does work for the shallow-rooted ones, like ground
elder, couch grass and probably creeping buttercup. If you can dig
it over to a depth of at least a foot, leave it for a month or so for
the surviving bits to come through, and repeat, you will have almost
eliminated them. But it's damn hard work, and you have to remove ALL
the bits of roots that you see each time.

I was taking issue with David's "... and ready to use once done." As you
note, it needs a lot more than one digging over.

Agreed, though vegetables like potatoes and parsnips can be planted
immediately after the first digging, and will shade out things like
ground elder.

Field bindweed and horsetail are almost ineradicable. If you dig the
former up to a depth of at least 6" every time you see it, you will
kill it within about 5 years. Using half strength glyphosate whenever
it greens up will also work within a few years, but full strength is
a disaster.

I used full-strength glyphosate to eliminate bindweed and it worked in
just over year. If I remember correctly, it took four or five sprayings
over several months. But today I found a piece coming up in a different
part of the garden next to a bit of rough land. :-(

I find that it stopped it for a year, but it then grew next year as a
rosette. If those were not killed, they then recovered after some
years. Half strength takes much longer to act, but does more damage
to its roots, and my experience is that it takes fewer applications
to kill it.


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.