Will it work? Fancy grass V ground elder!

I have a broad leaved fancy grass in my carpark bed which has become a big thick dull mass (well it always was small one). As I have been having an ungardeneing week (chucking out all plants that have disapointed me)I suddenly thought that this grass which was a near impossible fibrous mass to dig out, may work in doing battle against the weeds that come in from the field which borders the garden - mainly ground elder.

So as an experiment I have divided it up, and planted it at the back of my prunus lucitanica hedge which borders the field. Will it work? Any tips for keeping it alive please.

 

Don't know, Waco - but certainly worth a shot! Please report back on success or lack of it! Anything that works in keeping out ground elder has to be worth trying. Good luck! As for tips at keeping it alive - looks like you've been managing it ok!!

 

Thanks, I am just a bit worried it will inhibit growth of hedge as it is so dense.Could be interesting experiment but I have to say I am not really hopeful that it will replace roundup.

 

To be honest, the only thing I've found to be effective against ground elder is really thorough digging up, and you're never free of the threat of invasion from next door. I don't like to use chemicals - and this is one place I don't feel it works all that well anyway (unlike slug pellets - I can't find any good alternatives to those)

 

I think we are very like minded.

 

Hasn't worked here. Now got a lovely mix of undiggable grass infested with ground elder AND couch grass too.

 

whoops!! forget that one then!! :rolleyes:

 

You could borrow a Goat... :D :D :D

 

the goat will eat the hedge but won t eat ground elder, it mite nibble grass, but sheep would be better for that

 

how about rabbits!!! :D

 

rabbits will only eat carrots, lettuce and anything else you just spent an enormous amount of time and effort in growing!

 

LG you are absolutely right, I have sheep and lams in the field and they love the prunus, but would not consider the ground elder. They also ate my purple sprouting brocoli - they knew when it was just right!
As far as the grass then - probably only one thing worse than diging up ground elder is the mass that palustris described - ah well back to round up then!

 

The ground elder season is in full swing here so I'm digging out a little every day - sadly just lost another lily which I toppped when digging out a small patch of the dreaded stuff. Somebody has told me that I must keep snapping off the shoots and it will eventually die off - am going to try in one area of the garden..........

 

No don't do that, it will just multiply! It loves to be broken up, the worse thing you can do is to dig the patch before you spray as it fragments, and bits miss the spray.