VX wrote:
On Sun, 29 May 2005 18:30:43 +0100, Pam Moore wrote
[...] Leave it long enough for the glyphosate to get down to the
roots.
They say the best time to use glyphosate is in September, when the
sap is naturally going down, and it takes the chemical with it.

Ok, that's useful to know. I'll cover it up till September and then
be
prepared for whatever is underneath! And maybe just cover it all up
again after that.
[...]
I've been thinking about this, and I'm not at all sure it's right.
I'm not a big herbicides fan, but a gardener's gotta do what a
gardener's gotta do. Surely the way it works is by entering the
plant's system _while it's in active growth_ : this would make autumn
a bad time, not a good one.

I don't think sap actually _does_ "go down" in quite the literal
sense hinted at. We may share an awful lot of DNA with plants, but
sap isn't really like blood.

There's a bit of advice from the RHS at:
http://www.rhs.org.uk/advice/profile...ding_fruit.asp
and no doubt in other places too. What caught my attention was their
warning against using glyphosate in summer around some fruit trees: I
don't understand why. (It's obvious why one mustn't use it around
cane fruits; but apples and pears??)

When they say use it on couch in late winter, I'm sure this is to
protect the trees, not because that's the best time for killing
couch. I'd want to hit couch in spring and summer.

--
Mike.