Does anyone know what these weeds/plants are?

[Lucindaroo92]

The root to this is huge! It’s actually grown from under next doors artificial grass under our fence and up the side of our weed sheet! We’ve cut it down but it grows back so fast! As does the smaller weed below but it’s also got a root that’s absolutely huge ! It’s so thick it’s like a tree root! Does anyone know what these are and how to treat them so they don’t keep coming back? Thanks

The small one is a dock leaf/plant. The back one might be one in flower but I can't tell from the picture. You can weed these ones, but more will pop up. You won't entirely eradicate them (like dandilions).

If you paint glyphosate (RoundUp) onto the leaves it will absorb it and kill it from inside. Friend used this method for a small bit of Japanese knotweed. Very toxic however so wouldn’t do this if you have pets or small kids.

Hello Lucindaroo92,

It A dock

https://www.rhs.org.uk/weeds/docks

Dig it out and if you can all of the tap root. If it comes back have another go.

Happy gardening
TheSustainableGardener 👩‍🌾

I'd put a kettle of boiling water on that , thats what I do on weeds on my paths where there's no other plants or grass to kill .Cut it down to the ground first so the water can get right in.

@Lucindaroo92 chia plant by the seems of it

Another vote for dock! They are both docks but the tall one at the back is in flower so cut the stem off quick and put it in your garden waste bin before it sheds its seeds in your garden!

With both plants, you need to remove the tap root (looks like a carrot). Use a spade or garden fork to remove it, otherwise it will just keep growing back.

I doubt that they will keep coming back once you've removed the root (unless previous plants have already gone to seed in your garden, in which case lots of baby docks will grow...dig them out once they've got a few leaves). You've got a solid fence so the seeds are unlikely to blow in from next door, and each plant is self-contained so they don't spread by rhizomes running underground. If you've just got these two, it should be fairly easy to get rid of them.

Everyone has insects. Please don't use roundup on something as innocuous as dock. I might make an exception for knotweed but there really is no reason to use such a toxic chemical.

Definitely this- not Roundup, it's horrible stuff that will damage all sorts of other plants and creatures.

Hello Lucindaroo92,

Here is an option I picked up from the legendary TV gardener Geoff Hamilton which he used on dandelions I have slightly adapted it for docks.
For docks dig out with a hand trowel or fork some soil to enable you to expose the top of the taproot, cut away the top growth and place a small amount of salt on the cut surface. Geoff’s method he used on dandelions also a tap rooted weed was to get an old screwdriver 🪛 and push it into the centre of the rosette of leaves moving it around to a depth of a couple of centimetres thus creating a cavity in which to tip a small pinch of salt. The salt will work to dehydrate the dandelion drawing the moisture out of it including the taproot. When you do this it works best if the weather is dry for a couple of days afterwards.
The pictures show the method I used for docks on a dandelion. Any additional salt on the soil should not cause any problems to soil life.

Happy gardening
TheSustainableGardener 👩‍🌾

Fair enough, I had thought the painting it on method would limit it to just that plant but perhaps not.

If you dilute roundup in water then paint it on, it works like a charm . Just follow the instructions.

Dock can be very very difficult to dig up- OP, From your photo the plant in that position with all those pebbles and boarders, it looks terribly difficult to dig up.

I would cut the flowers down to stop the seed spreading and paint a bit of roundup on the leaves.

You're not going to harm any other plants. You don't actually have any other plants near it.

I wouldn't use salt anywhere near my garden bed or veg patches. Also it rains nearly every day in England these days.

When you do this it works best if the weather is dry for a couple of days afterwards.

Well this is proving to be difficult, this year.

is salt bad for gardens?

Yup, it’s a couple of docks. It’s not an easy weed to remove but honestly you don’t need to go to chemicals like roundup. Get as much of the roots out as you can, and just keep going back and keeping on top of it as it shoots back. It’ll give up eventually. Better than spreading toxic chemicals round gardens

Yes, hence the expression 'salting the earth'.

Just dig it out; please don't use toxins or kill organisms with boiling water.

Hello All,

The question here has to be asked is how much damage is a pinch of salt actually going to do in a garden 🌷🪴🌻of any size or allotment 🫛🥔🧅🍅🍒🍏🫐

While hot water is an option for treating annual weeds should you find yourself faced with a dandelion or dock that has self seeded itself into a block paving driveway and you don’t want to use chemicals a pinch will sort it out along with it’s taproot.

Happy gardening
TheSustainableGardener 👩‍🌾

Yes it will limit it to one plant. And dock is not “innocuous”, it’s actually quite difficult to control.

is salt bad for gardens? Yes. Coastal areas with high salt levels have a whole range of plants specially adapted for the conditions. Probably a small amount on one plant isn’t going to be enough to have an effect.

Huh?

OP whatever you do decide to do, you might want to cut those seed heads off right away before they self seed everywhere and give you thousands more to deal with.

Excellent advice I completely agree 👍👩‍🌾

the tall ones, thasts what my plant finder app suggested it was

No it is a dock flower head.

This is the danger with plant apps.