Here in SE Virginia and NE North Carolina my wife and I run a
landscaping/yard cleanup business. When we run into monster weeds like
yours, especially the "pokeweed" we get around here, we have found that
Roundup is a pretty good "safe" chemical. We pull as much as we can trying
to remove as much root as possible. Anything remaining above ground gets
sprayed and if we notice a taproot tip missing a good soaking in the hole
usually gets enough on the remainder underground to prevent recurrence.
Don't go for the namebrand either, Home Depot and places like John Deere
stores sell concentrates as formulated as high as 90% sodium glyphosate and
a little underdiluting when mixing doesn't hurt and increases the likelihood
of a sure kill. Good luck.

Chris McVey

http://www.geocities.com/cwmcvey

"The Ranger" wrote in message
...
My "resting" garden plot has been invaded by several dozen tree-like
dandelions. Inattentive maintainance allowed this. At first I dug
the buggers up individually but the roots are 18-20" deep. Worse,
those that I have managed to dig out successfully show off-shooters
from broken or missed pieces.

I don't want to start throwing down my consumer-grade agent orange
but it's now reached epidemic proportions. My plot looks like I'm
cultivating the yellow buds for commercial distribution throughout
my neighborhood. Is there a way of ridding my garden area of these
pests without resorting to chemical purfication?

Many thanks.

The Ranger