[Zyg]

Hi
I joined today after finding the really useful pics of chicken poo, which put my mind at rest.  I was wondering if anyone has any advice on getting rid of ground elder?

[compostqueen]

Ground elder is a real pain in the wotsit!  Difficult to get rid of but not impossible. Don't expect to tackle it in one go though.  You can trample it underfoot to make the plants more receptive to weed killer (glyphos which is sold as Roundup) and then spray it.  I'm usually anti weedkiller but I've tried to get this stuff out by hand and I think disturbing by forking and digging it out might have made things worse. 

You could corale the chickens into that area and let them live there til the ground elder is all eaten.  It is edible     

[allotmenteer]

Hello and welcome to the forum.   

Take it easy as trying to get rid of ground elder is tiresome.

Best of luck.   

[allotmentann]

I have ground elder in my garden and I think you can get rid of it by digging it out, but you do have to be persistent.  I use a daisy grubber for mine as the roots are only just below the surface, and the daisy grubber lifts them nicely without disturbing the roots of surrouunding plants. The only reason I get it back at all, I think , is because I can't get it out from the roots of older shrubs, where the space is too small even for the daisy grubber, without digging up the shrub as well. It will regrow from small pieces left behind, but if you are diligent and catch these bits as they pop up, the root will be very tiny and easy to remove and each time less is left behind. 

[Madame Cholet]

you can eat it but its not the best flavour small quantities. just keep it under control like allotmenann suggests

[Springlands]

Another important thing is not to let it flower as it will spread all over the place - - this is hard though if the seeds are coming from someone else's land.

[compostqueen]

It all has to be destroyed by burning or put in the green bin as it's the devil if it gets chopped up and dropped

It forms mat-like roots.  The patch I had in my front border were so extensive that it was like dealing with pans of spagetti. There was tonnes of the stuff. This was in a garden in a house I bought.  I ended up taking all the plants out. It's a real bad one.  The leaves are tough and resistant so chuffing them up by treaded on them helps for the weed killer to be absorbed. Also adding a bit of fairy liquid to the mixture is said to help make it adhere better.

Good luck

[adal]

a big hello and welcome to the site

[Zyg]

Thanks everyone.  Some useful advice.  I am doing a bit of everything suggested so I hope with perseverance I might get it under control.  It is in dense mats around plants.  I am literally digging up four inch thick mats of roots. Thank you again.

[snow white]

My chickens love it, so I harvest on a daily basis.  Hope to eradicate this way with no chemicals. And if I don't then my chickenls still get a treat.

[Stree]

Boiling water does it too.