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Has anyone managed to eliminate ground elder?

(18 Posts)
jeanie99 Sat 01-Nov-25 08:05:05

I noticed this plant was growing about three years ago, it seemed to have come from nowhere. I’ve religiously tried to dig it out digging the huge root system. probably like most people it grows between other border root systems. Any ideas?

M0nica Sat 01-Nov-25 13:32:16

Not to my knowledge

I battled it for 30 years in my last home, it kept co ing under the fence from my neighbour.

In the end I moved house! No ground elder in my small town centre garden.

J52 Sat 01-Nov-25 13:33:15

I have some in a border courtesy of next door. I have learnt to live with it by planting spreading Crainsbill Geraniums on top of it. The Cranesbill roots seem to be stronger than the Elder, it’s still there, but I remove stray bits that pop up.

Primrose53 Sat 01-Nov-25 13:35:53

You have to get every bit of root out. We occasionally get it coming under fence from next door.

CariadAgain Sat 01-Nov-25 15:33:17

Darn annoying if a neighbour is at fault! Wondering if those with a neighbour like it have "asked" (yep...that British "asked" meaning = told them politely) to remove it?

It is actually edible - and yep...pretty okay and not one of those "famine foods" that one eats only if desperate. I've tried it and wouldnt mind having some more.

Admission time - when I saw "summat of the very alarming kind" just over the boundary from my garden (on wasteland! - not someone's garden) there might possibly just have been a very one-off bit of use of summat rather drastic on it - ahem! followed by pouring quicksetting cement over it (so no-one else going onto that wasteland could accidentally/easily start digging it back up - and those stems still having some life in them - stems which I could see were either bamboo or Japanese Knotweed - and I seriously didn't like the thought of either of those things and I do know that no-one in this area I've helpfully notified of the fact that that plant on their land is JK has ever had the appropriate response yet (ie "Oh dear....oh dear...agh! Thanks for telling me - I'll get right on the case"). More like "Oh! #shrug....oh....hmmm...ho-hum".and a CBA expression on their face....Hence my drastic actions - having learnt I'll have an inappropriate reaction if I tell the owner of the land concerned.

Patsy70 Sat 01-Nov-25 15:41:37

It’s impossible to get rid of ground elder, so I do the same as J52 and grow herbaceous geraniums as ground cover.

dalrymple23 Sat 01-Nov-25 15:50:58

Don't mention Japanese Knotweed. We did not have any but the neighbours did Because of this we lost £60,000 on the sale of our last house. Even though it had been treated. Everyone is paranoid about it. Firstly it is not as drastic as it is made out to be and secondly, you can eat it!

CariadAgain Sat 01-Nov-25 16:08:06

I gather one can indeed eat JK - though I've never tried it yet. Back where I've come from - I never ever once came across it. But here - over here, over there, over someplace else - and I reckon it's because I've seen for myself that a fair number of people warned about it "shrug and do nowt". I've watched someone I know here sell her house to what she describes as a "friend" (!!!!) who paid her exactly the same price for it as she had paid herself nine years previously - because of the JK. It was obvious her garden had JK and at least she's honest enough she wouldnt lie and say it didnt. So that must have been tens of thousands less for that house - though the woman she thinks of as a friend (still!) did take advantage to not pay her a penny (literally) than what she'd paid all those years back. The "friend" has since dug it all up - hopefully well enough - though, as the next door cba neighbour hasn't bothered = it will probably be back again at some point.

Casdon Sat 01-Nov-25 16:36:39

According to the RHS, laying turf over an area containing lots of ground elder and mowing regularly should eradicate it within a few years. A bit drastic.

CariadAgain Sat 01-Nov-25 16:43:07

I hadnt heard of that Casdon. Though it sounds pretty logical - as long as I'm correct in thinking that ground elder doesn't have the same problem JK does (ie JK is something that can regenerate from the tiniest little bit - and therefore great care has to be taken when removing it).

I don't think that's the case with ground elder??

Gwyllt Sat 01-Nov-25 16:45:52

Battled with ground elder for 25 years We moved and have not seen any in this part of Wales Couldn’t believe it Other weeds make up for it though

Casdon Sat 01-Nov-25 16:48:54

I think Japanese knotweed is a much more serious problem, ground elder doesn’t threaten buildings, so although it’s a real pain if you have it, the root system must be much weaker than Japanese knotweed, which needs a specialist contractor to kill it over a long period.

grannysyb Sat 01-Nov-25 17:36:36

I had it in a previous garden, the roots are impossible to get out. I used to hoe any little shoots, it seemed to work quite well.

Wheniwasyourage Sat 01-Nov-25 18:56:45

I'm trying to remove as much as I can and then plant lamium where the (temporarily) bare patches are. The results so far are encouraging! Lamium also spreads quite easily, but the roots are shallow so that it easy to remove from the wrong place.

jeanie99 Sat 01-Nov-25 21:58:26

Thanks everyone for your comments, mine is in my borders so no turf and mowing for me. So I'll just carry on digging out the huge roots.

olderme Sat 01-Nov-25 22:14:42

I spent a previous summer digging out ground elder which had infested a border. Last summer I watched for any shoots and sprayed them with very strong weed killer, making sure that I put plastic around it to protect other plants. I worked. Just continuously watch for new shoots.

nanna8 Sat 01-Nov-25 22:23:23

We don’t get that but we get so much oxalis and that spider plant everywhere I could scream. They both seem to come up overnight.

Boadicea Sat 01-Nov-25 22:43:15

Any tips for removing creeping bamboo?