Ground Elder - How to get rid???

[KTB1234]

We have a big bed which is overrun with this thug. Does anyone know of any method which will work. I have tried a complete dig up a couple of years ago and now you wouldn't know I touched it. I have tried Roundup but that doesn't even seem to touch it!!!
Quite desparate...

Roundup, then Roundup, then Roundup again. Bruise the leaves first by stamping on it.

If you can get Gallup (which is the commercial version of roundup, that is better but you will need someone who has experience of handling these pesticides.

All as Trefusis said, you need to dig it up repeatedly, it will get exhausted and only pop up here and there in a much weakened state.
It's the underground root network that needs breaking up & digging out, and this is best achieved by going in with a big garden fork and picking up the pieces. Little and often is the best plan - that way you don't get defeated by the prospect of having to achieve annihilation all in one go. Also if you can get some company, even for a short time, it can be quite fun!

What kind of soil do you have? I had ground elder in clay (literally 1/2 of topsoil) and gave up on the idea of digging it out after 5 minutes of trying - the roots break so easily I was just making more plants rather than removing them. If you've got a light, loose soil then it wouldn't be too bad but (IMO) life's too short to try and dig ground elder and its friends (bindweed, creeping thistle, etc) out of heavy clayey soils.

If you can't dig it then either smother it (old carpet left on for a year or two is meant to be quite effective although not desperately attractive) or go for the repeated application of weedkiller. Any time you see a green bit, bruise it then zap it. And keep doing it. And then do it again... Or you could try frying it with a weed torch - although that will probably take longer until the wretched thing gives up and dies. They are quite satisfying, though

It's the roots that hold the power to come back. If you smother them, they will just travel sideways and make the problem worse. Life will find a way, as the saying goes. I'm not convinced that there are any shortcuts, and chemicals are a costly waste of money, imo. In the past we have dealt with this in a clayish soil and subsequently a lighter loamy soil. It's a life style thing to keep on top of it tbh, as in you need to enjoy being in the garden, tending, on a routine basis. Or pay someone else!

Glycophosphate the only thing which will get rid IME.

Round Up, it kills the roots. Just need to be persistent.

A plant requires energy for roots to spread. A plant gets most of its energy from the sun. If you do a good enough job of smothering any plant for long enough then the roots will die.

How to handle it does depend on how bad it it is, what soil you've got, what plants its around and how much time and labour or money you're prepared to put in. If there are well established shrubs you don't want to loose then getting the roots of invasive weeds out from underneath them is nigh on impossible, especially in heavy soil. It can be done, but it becomes and extremely major undertaking.

I covered part of my ground elder in geotextile membrane for 3 years. I removed the membrane and it was back to full strength within 2 weeks. At that point I realised that it had to be the "no mercy" roundup/gallup approach.

I did it the "slow" way by digging up the roots and getting rid that way. It took a couple of years though. I got expert at recognising the roots though!

I was 3 -4 months pregnant when I started the first "attack". I soon decided that as I had had cats all my life, I was probably immune to toxoplasmosis, as it is impossible to "filter" through the earth to be sure you have got all the routes if you are wearing gloves.

Thank you for all the responses - I am amazed how helpful you all are!!!
To follow up on the comments/ questions it is in thick clay soil and the bed is approx 20ft by 15ft, so not a quick job however I do it. We back onto fields and have 3 silver birch trees within the bed so it will be a challenge with sprays. I quite like the idea of bruising the brute and may invest in a flame torch so I actually can feel as though I am doing something. However, I am gradually coming to the opinion that I have to loose all my wonderful plants under some mats/ carpet etc. They would probably be smothered within a few years anyway if I don't go with that approach.

Can anyone inform me whether it actually grows from a 'trunk' at all - I seem to have an enormous tree trunk in the bed and it appears to be coming from that. Is it possible???

Thank you

Be careful about using Roundup. It was suggested to me on here, and in real life, by many people to rid us of Japanese Knotweed. But please see this about the dangers it poses to health. I decided to just go for the regular weeding method instead.

No, it doesn't grow from a trunk - it is stoloniferous. You are seeing it regenerate from those stolons from under the tree trunk where it is more protected.

If you can do what you can this summer (maybe getting some of the glysophate that you "paint" on to the leaves of weeds) and then as the plants die down, you may find it easier to dig up the ground elder plants.

I'm sure it helped me "break the back" of the infestation that I did so in March before everything was in active growth (I'm in Scotland).

In some cases I had to dig up the whole of a perennial plant to untangle the ground elder roots from it.

I've since got to recognise the smallest of ground elder leaves so as to be able to nab it before it gets bigger.

I sympathise. We have a bit of ground elder, but lots of farkin' horsetail and bindweed. We just keep pulling up the new shoots and as much root as we can and keep on top of it. I'm sure in a few years it'll be under control. The trouble is, the roots can go very deep so it's impossible to eradicate it totally. Ours come up from next door (who don't keep on top of it at ALL )

Good luck.

I'm fortunate that I don't have any bindweed. I've read that the best way is to wind it on to canes and then paint/spary the elaves with glysophate.

Horsetail is a nightmare. We have a long rockery that is infested but impossible to dig out. However, for the last few years I have been vigilant about pulling out every little bit that I see and seem to be getting on top of it . However, it does seem to have some sort of "perception filter" as I can do two "patrols" along the rockery looking for sprouts and not see anything and on the third, find platns that I swear I didn't see two minutes beforehand!

I'm the same prettybird. I'm on patrol every night and try and get any little bloody bit that sticks its little head up. Then the next morning there will be one massive one sticking up that I must have missed.

It officially goes in my Room 101...

I wonder if Russel T Davies got his idea for a "perception filter" from the stuff?!

I think we need a horsetail support thread....