In message ,
redclay writes

hkw wrote in message
ws.com...
Hello all,
I'm new here! And a pretty inexperienced gardener, although I'm trying
to learn....
Here's my problem; I have a flowerbed running along one side of my
garden, in which I'm trying to grow roses and some other shrubs.
However, someone who lived here previously has planted MINT at one end
of this flowerbed, and its gets completely out of control and threatens
to take over the whole bed!
The only sure way is to dig it out root by root. Dig whenever you see a new
sprig poking out. If that is not acceptable and Roundup is too expensive
for you; go to your local hardware and get a bottle of industrial strength
ammonia (10% NH4OH). Pour some of it into a dropper bottle with a couple
drops of dish detergent and sprinkle the mint sprigs as they come up.

That is a crazy way to see off any weed. Almost as bad as piling up
table salt on them. You would have to use huge amounts of industrial
strength ammonia to have the same effect and risk caustic burns and
potentially serious eye damage if you make a mistake and get splashed by
it.

Glyphosate is unbelievably effective against green plants. And
considering how toxic it is to plants is relatively benign in the
environment to mammals and birds. The wetting agents used in the
commercial herbicide formulations are much more dangerous than the
active ingredient.

Mint will probably fold pretty easily under repeated application of
glyphosate. The roots store enough energy that it will come back two or
three times. Weedkiller followed by physically digging out is probably
the faster method. That way the bits you miss are seriously weakened and
less likely to grow back.

Regards,
--
Martin Brown