Gloucestershire,
United Kingdom 
I have ground elder all over my garden. When preparing new beds for planting , is it wiser for me to dig out as much root as I can, or should I leave it be? It seems to me that cutting off exposed root is just a recipe for it to grow more!! I haven't seen ground elder leaves in the bed I am currently preparing ; it is just that I have come across the root as I have been digging. What's your advice? Is there any chemical I can use specifically on the root or do these only work on the leaves. Thanks for any useful tips you can offer me.
7 Jun, 2010
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Glyphosphate is the usual treatment for this, and that works through the leaves. Some people say it kills it, but that's not been my experience, so suggest you spray with glyphosphate when the ground is damp but no rain is expected, wait a week or ten days, spray again, wait another week and then dig it out - the glyphosphate does seem to kill off the finer, hairlike roots, which means you are then able to dig out the rest of the roots with some success in terms of its returning.
7 Jun, 2010