Ground Elder

:pala:I am now waging official war on Ground Elder. Last year I dug up an entire bed of geraniums to remove the entwined roots of ground elder. (Ironically now this bed which I have yet to start work on is absolutely carpeted with celendines!!) But through areas in my garden which I cannot dig deeply through I have ground elder again entwining itself through all my plants.

I did a google on search and saw a post on another gardening forum. One forum dweller said he had never found it a problem since he decided to use the tree stump killer 'Root Out' on it. He said he used loads of granules and mixed it with water to form a paste and painted it onto every leaf he could find. The mighty elder was never to be seen again!!

I think this sounds like a good option, as it is so intertwined spraying it is damaging my other plants, no matter how careful I am.

I presume this would not damage any of my other plants, as long as it isn't painted onto them.

Any thoughts on trying this approach?

 

In situations where you want to apply a 'spot' weedkiller if instead of using a brush you wear a rubber glove with a cotton glove on top you'll get much better coverage and it's a lot faster.

 

Very clever! I'll need to buy rubber gloves and cotton gloves though...

 

Packs of disposable gloves are pretty cheap, you'll get small packs in some supermarkets. We buy them by the box as we use them for all sorts of other mucky jobs.
You don't have to use a cotton glove - an old sock would do provided it was absorbent

 

I think it might just be enough for my neighbours to think I've finally lost it if they see me out in the garden fumbling about on all fours with socks on my hands like some hooved animal. I might get my fifteen minutes of fame in the parish magazine!!

I will try it with gloves, thanks for the tip.

I'll let you know how I get on.