[Mike.white]

Any ideas, anyone?

[pushrod]

looks very much like ground elder, does it keep coming back but dies back over winter.
 
http://www.fwi.co.uk/blogs/lincolnshire-farming-blog/groundelder.jpg

[Christine]

It looks like ground elder to me. Get hold of a trusty fork and loosen a small patch of ground where it happens. If there is a mass of roots there - yep it's ground elder.

Happy digging  It's a swine to remove.

[Mike.white]

Thanks a lot both of you - certainly a lot of roots, and yes - it does die off totally in the winter - and finally, yup - it's a swine to get rid of!

Thanks again!

[Ropster]

yes defo Ground elder, * to get rid of even with roundup

[celjaci]

Looks like ground elder. Difficult to fork out as even a tiny bit can re-grow and rapidly re-colonise. Difficult to clear with Roundup - needs several applications.

we cleared a large area of ground elder ( and other noxious weeds ) without recourse to chemicals. The heavy duty, woven, weed supressant membrane ( Mpex or Phormisol ) works a treat - 97% kill first year  !00% second year with a crop of squash grown through it. One important factor is to cover right to the edge of the plot. It helps to make a slit trench and push the membrane in with a spade.

[andreadon]

definitely ground elder - you will never get rid of it - it doesn't get killed by roundup, it grows around black plastic, if you pull up the roots, you'll miss tiny little hairy roots that will grow into big roots and keep growing!
we're completely inundated by it and all you can do is keep pulling it out (loosen the soil first or the leaves'll just come off in your hand.

earlier on there was a thread that suggested putting in potatoes where it grows and then the GE will come out when you pull out the potatoes, but I think that was just for if it spreads under your hedge. (it came from Percy Thrower originally)

i have to envy celjaci, though - i wish it had worked for ours! we used very thick black plastic sheeting that was really big (after having pulled out as much as possible and all the roots etc) and held down with bricks and stones so there was no way out, and shoots just kept coming round!

[poultrygeist]

We've got it in a bed and spreading well into the lawn. Planning to remove anything of worth and systematically deroot the area. Then nuke anything that sprouts afterwards.

Could be a hard summer ahead 

Rob

[richyrich7]

yep ground elder, spray with round up and hoe off any re emerging growth persistance is the key, we had it for years but it does give in eventually. It's edible 

[Chuffy]

It's edible 

Yup. More info here.

[iwantanallotment]

Wow, what a beast.
As for eating, I tried munching my way through chickweed last year in order to view it as 'more than a weed', but soon got fed up of it. Can't believe I actually rustled up a chickweed soup  It IS a weed, whether edible or not, and tried to strangle my veg. It had to go - and not down my gullet.
(I've since come to realise that "edible" means it won't kill you....not that it's 'tasty'!)
So have no mercy, Mike...eat your fill and get rid of the rest!
Seriously, I'm making light but do wish you all the best in being rid of it.
I moan about chickweed, brambles, sticky dick & dandelions but am thankful not to have this beast.
Good luck to you    Will you please keep us posted?

[andreadon]

Romans' fault eh?
typical!
i've enough of the stuff growing in my back garden to completely eliminate the hungry gap!!

[Babstreefern]

I'm glad I don't have ground elder.  This is probably a stupid question, but have any of you tried burning it with these flamethrowers you can use?

[poultrygeist]

The roots are VERY persistant. If you use weedkillers, anything in contact with the roots will die too.
I can dig the roots out of my border but the groundelder in the lawn will re-invade it unless I can put a barrier along the edge of the lawn.
I can mow every week to keep the top growth down and hopefully starve the roots in the lawn. But it is spreading and I don't know if takign top growth off will halt this or increase it (in an attempt to seek out new ground).
Rob

[richyrich7]

Keep mowing Rob, I suppose you let your Ducks roam on the lawn ? else you could try a selective lawn weedkiller to give it a blast.