Doing battle with dock leaves

Hi,

I've just stumbled upon this wonderful site. I'm going to be a regular visitor! Apologies in advance for the barrage of questions that I'll be posting. I'm a very novice gardener - an urbanite who has just turned forty, become a dad, and suddenly finding myself absolutely gripped with gardening. We live in Glasgow, in an old 'tenement' flat which has a shared garden at the back. Quite spacious, rather shady, and completely untended and underused. I'm determined to change that and make the most of it. I've spent the last few weeks clearing away debris, rubbish, old leaves etc - getting the compost bin up and running, creating a woodpile, cutting back some of the tree foliage which is obscuring a lot of the light, and creating a couple of small beds in the sunnier corner of the garden. I hope to get some flowers, herbs and maybe a couple of vegetable growing for starters.

But for now, my main concern is weeding the main part of the garden. The main culprits are dock leaves. I've been digging them up manually, trying to get them out at the roots - hard work! I'd prefer not to use chemical intervention if possible, but am equally aware that my time is not infinite, being the dad of a young baby etc, and am also conscious of preserving my back. Can anyone suggest any useful techniques/approaches for getting rid of these critters?

That's it for my opening gambit. Look forward to picking the brains of the seasoned gardeners on here over coming months.

Cheers,
Dan

 

Docks have tap roots that go down really deep, so digging them out is an exercise in futility unless you are really persistent.

I'd just get them with Round-Up. Its active ingredient is glyphosate, which the plant absorbs through its foliage and acts to cause the whole plant, roots and all, to starve to death. Once its done its work, it is quickly broken down and rendered inert on contact with soil. There is some controversy over some of the ingredients in Round-Up that make it stick to the foliage, but the active ingredient, glyphosate, has been shown to be completely harmless to animal life with the exception of aquatic life. This last point means you shouldn't use it near a pond or watercourse.

 

thanks for that folks... advice heeded and duly followed

 

follow up question: how long should one leave the round-up to complete its work? and should i then just assume that the roots are dead and content myself with mowing/strimming the infected area?

 

I find it best to repeat spray every few days. After a couple weeks it will be fairly obvious that the target plant is dead, as it will go yellow and/or black and just look like a half rotten plant. Don't physically damage the Docks until they go like that, as glyphosate needs the plant to be actively growing in order for it to work.

Once it has gone all black and yellow, just cut it down and mow.

If they are in close proximity to any plants you want to keep, including grass if its in a lawn, you can make makeshift shields to prevent the Round-Up drifting. I use a range of old plastic pipes and chopped up pop bottles for this purpose when tackling Bindweed in my garden. Simply slot the tube or cut up pop bottle over the target, and spray into it.

 

The "Round Up" i have has a foam spray if needed, so if you are in a very tight area you can manage it better,

Keep the questions coming ,the more the better ,all knowledge is useful, sometimes i have a problem and i read through the message board and frequently find the answer, :hehe: