[eli]

hi all :-)
i've been drafted in to help clear up a friends garden cos i'm keen to get any experience at all of gardening related things.
its a decorative affair that was mulched a couple of years ago with wood chips and now has ground elder coming up everywhere, literally, everywhere.
i'm not sure where to start really.
though i know i'd prefer to do whatever it is that needs doing by hand and without any non-organic stuff if possible.
any tips and strategies VERY welcome, regards, eli

[Yorkie]

The two options are really to use weedkiller or to dig.  In either case, remove the woodchip mulch first.  If the ground elder is in the middle of other plants you really are going to struggle to dig it out without damaging the roots of the other plants.

[compostqueen]

It's a terrible weed and it forms great big mats of spagetti-like roots. It does succumb to weed killer (glyphos or Roundup) You can trample the weeds to bruise them a bit to make them more receptive to the weedkiller. You will end up hand weeding some of it. Make sure it all gets burned or goes in the council green bin as you don't want to move it to other parts of your garden. 

I read that drastic measures are often called for and beds are grubbed up and the affected area laid to lawn so repeated mowing will finally put paid to it

Good luck with it

[viettaclark]

I had it all through a bed. We completely dug it up 2 years ago and got out loads in 2 days of deep digging. Combed through the roots of the bedding plants making sure there were no stray elder roots in there and replanted.
6 months later and it was back so now I use it as ground cover, thinning out when necessary and making sure it doesn't spread any further by digging up wandering roots as soon as I see the leaves.
Can you eat it?.

[savbo]

Can you eat it?.

yes, I think it was introduced by the Romans as a pot herb, cooked like spinach. But it's one of the wild foods I haven't yet cooked...tried some raw last year, was quite tasty

[Hobnails]

I havea  book by Lawrence D Hills published nearly 40 years ago in which he clears ground elder by  planting  Tagetes Minuta among the weeds. The plant is supposed to secrete a substance from its roots that attacks ground elder. Seeds available from Garden Organic
I haven't tried it as I am (fortunately) free of the weed, so cannot verify its effectiveness.
am sure somebody on here will have tried it.
Good Luck with your clearance.

[Chrysalis]

Our hens love it!  So when it's a bit too rampant (when isn't it?), we put the girls in a rabbit run for half an hour and move it around when it's clear.  Other than that, it's weeding, weeding and more weeding...