On 13/04/2012 16:33, Jake wrote:
On Fri, 13 Apr 2012 10:28:06 +0000, rockitdog
wrote:


i've had the dubious pleasure of renting a property that has a severe
ground elder problem (approx 4/5 of the garden completely covered) but i
suffer from 2 frozen shoulders, so digging is not recomended. i've also
got neighbours that are trying to sell their property so i don't want to
cover the garden with carpet as it's going to look really pikey and not
please my neighbours.

can i kill this horrible stuff with weedkiller alone? so far i've tried
SBK stump and root killer which seems to knock it back a little but
nowhere near enough, glycophosphates don't even touch it.

if it was my own place, i'd spend the cash on removing the whole garden
and starting afresh.

i know the best thing to do is move, but trying to find a rental
property that accepts pet dogs is like looking for rocking horse dung...
anyone got any helpfull advice?

Glyphosate is usually pretty effective against ground elder though you
need to reapply every 4-6 weeks until growth stops. Some people
recommend applying in the evening as this gives more time for the
plants to absorb the weed killer before the sun evaporates it. IME
this is the way to go if you are using a pure glyphosate solution but
when I've used Roundup (which contains more than just glyphosate) I've
found it better to apply on a sunny day when I'll see results before I
go to bed that night! Pure glyphosate, though, needs time to work - it
will go down to the roots and kill the plant from there up so don't
worry if nothing seems to happen for a week or two.

There are too many "Roundups" now and not all of them are pure
glyphosate. I object strenuously to Monsanto's extremely cavalier
attitude to GM crops and have always used generic products.

You really should not see much difference in glyphosate treated plants
until nearly two weeks after application when things start to go wrong
at the growing tip with yellowing. They are usually tinder dry after 4-5
weeks unless they are very waxy or parlty resistant.

Ivy, holly seedlings and for some odd reason buttercup survive
glyphosate scorched earth policy.

You'll know, I'm sure, that you need to keep your dogs off the garden
until the weed killer has completely dried.

Indeed. Grass can be exquisitely sensitive to glyphosate so be careful
where you walk with weedkiller overspray on your boots.

--
Regards,
Martin Brown