Spot weed killer is about the best you can do. Mind if it is in the hedge, as it is in ours. then it is going to return no matter what you do. I am about to try putting a grass weed killer (ie broadleaf, but not grass killing) spray over the verge outside to see if I can reduce the problem by turning the verge into grass.

Hi Janpled, My brother has been trying to get rid of it for years and it is resilient coming back each year after spraying it. He found he had to dig the soil over and manually remove all the little roots as it will regenerate from a fragment. Sorry but its hard work,

All bad news I am afraid! I have this in a top bed and just to make it even worse, there is also bindweed. I spent hours digging the whole lot over several times and picking out miniscule pieces of root, but it's still back! I shall try the weed gel and crawl about in the garden carefully rubbing each leaf with it and see if that works - should amuse the neighbours if nothing else. The other alternative is the theory that if you keep pulling up pieces as you see them the plant will weaken over time and eventually die - years of work though!

Thank you all for your replies. I didn't expect a quick fix so I am just going to mow it and mow it until one of us gives in.

I also had ground elder in my wild area where I did not want to dig. I just kept picking it, and it eventually gave up the ghost. It's not an ideal solution, but it did work.