Hello Jonathan,
If there are any green shoots on the perennials, cover with an upturned flower pot with a piece of old newspaper inside. Don't have the mixture too strong.

I asked a similar question last year Jonathon and Doctorbob was very helpful with his advice.
I watered it onto the back of a herbaceous border where a hedge is.
I watered the area where the hedge roots are and everything was fine ..... the nearby perennials aswell were fine, as were the roots.

Thank you Louise, so glad everything is fine.

So, I should prevent it from splashing onto the leaves of perennials, but if it goes to where their roots are there should be no harm. Keeping it off the leaves will not be difficult. I will just be careful where it goes when I am applying with a watering can rose. Very strong smelling stuff. It makes my jumper smell, even without physical contact or splashes. The airbourne vapour just seems to transfer it to clothes.

It will not harm your plants as they are dormant at the moment. Wear a plastic mac and gloves, also a face mask to keep the smell away. It only lasts 3 or 4 days.

Would it be OK around hellebores, which are becoming 'active'?

Yes Jonathan, make sure you keep it off the foliage. Put a screwed up piece of newspaper on the plants in case there is any drift from the rose of the can.

It's basically what 'Jeyes fluid' used to be before they took out the Coal Tar.(EU again) I use it all the time. Sometimes I even wash in it (Coal tar soap) I look at it as a strong disinfectant rather than a plant killer. As others have pointed out, be careful not to get it on 'green ' stuff (including yourself) and it will be just the ticket for cleaning your soil. Any time now I'll be applying it to my roses, stems and surrounding soil.

Just out of interest it's made by a small private company, in 'the Potteries' I think. They want to sell it as for what we use it for but The EU want something like 4 million pounds to have it approved. I have raised beds in my GH and this year I'm going to apply it as I suspect I've got Vine Weevil. The theory is that if I was a Vine weevil, I'd hate the smell and scarper...or die.

How should this be applied to the stems of roses? By what means of application? Presumably it is to kill any disease spores overwintering on the stems. I tend to get spraying with sysyemic fungicide as soon as growth is reasonably underway.

With Roses just before the buds start to open, apply Armillatox with a watering can all over the plant and the soil .

Have you tried vine weevil killer Heron? or sacrifice a couple of branches off your Hydrangea in April/May, lay them on the ground and catch the beetles, (black), as we do with lily beetles. The vine weevil killer does not smell either. Most liquid chemicals, fungi, weed killers etc. have a smell and a bad taste for anyone who is likely to drink it.

I bought some Vine Weevil killer last year Dr Bob, I applied it only once but I'm not sure if it did the trick.Timing maybe, I'll have another go when things warm up . I'm intrigued about the Hydrangea idea, would you elaborate. As for smelling chemicals, do you mean that it may affect any salad crops?

Good morning Heron A second application may have worked. I have just put on a blog about pleasant smells and obnoxious smells and that will explain the Hydrangea idea a bit clearer.

Have you looked on the Armillatox website? It is very informative and even suggests other uses for it that they are not allowed to put on the product bottle.

It was years ago when I was first told about Armillatox while at 'Fryer's' roses. It led to me making a phone call to Armillotox and a very helpful lady sent me some literature. I think they had only just started the company then.