what is this and how can I eradicate it?

 
hello, this is my first post on what appears to be a great forum,
pleased i found the place!


my sister quite enjoys weeding, says she finds it kind of therapeutic
... i on the other hand hate it with a vengence!  in my front garden
there are 4 x borders surrounding a regtangle of grass, there's also a
circle of earth in the middle.  i've been in the place for just over a
year and have recently planted up the borders with various evergreen
shrubs as the previous owners seemingly gutted what had been a really
nice garden, so i'm starting from scratch i suppose.


the thing is the garden is being plagued by this stuff:

'[image: http://img89.imageshack.us/img89/2804/garden1d.th.jpg ]'
(http://tinyurl.com/3uregru )


bit more of a close up:

'[image: http://img847.imageshack.us/img847/7500/garden2d.th.jpg ]'
(http://tinyurl.com/3v8jbud )


it looks innocent enough, as if it will just pull up quite easily and
without resistance, no chance!  it has a fine (thread like) root system
that seems to run everywhere under the surface!  i've tried turning the
soil and pulling out as much as i can, turning the soil and using a
weedkiller etc etc but give it 2-3 weeks and back it comes bold as ever
:(


is there anything else i can try that might keep it at bay for longer or
maybe eradicate it altogether ... or am i destined to have to weed every
other weekend during warmer months for the rest of my puff?!?


oh and any ideas what it is?




--
cheeky chappie

 
cheeky chappie;935256 Wrote:

Looks like Sheeps sorrel, Rumex acetosella, a member of the dock family.
You can it eat - it has an acid tang.


If you got that bed fully covered with shrubs, you'd have much less of a
problem with it - it likes disturbed ground.  Meanwhile, use glyphosate,
and try not to keep turning the soil.




--
kay

 "cheeky chappie"  wrote

Get yourself a decent hoe and keep using it on the bare soil.

--
Regards. Bob Hobden.
Posted to this Newsgroup from the W of London, UK

 
cheeky chappie;935258 Wrote:

It will if you get it on the shrubs.
It's absorbed by the leaves (and presumably stems) of the plant and
absorbed into the plant's system, whereby it interferes with the growth,
and a couple of weeks later the plant wilts and dies. It becomes
inactive in contact with soil. Therefore, if you make up a solution of
glyphosate and apply it carefully to the sorrel (eg using a paintbrush)
avoiding your shrubs, then it will kill the sorrel and not the shrubs.


Once your shrubs are large enough to be covering all that bare soil
you'll have much less trouble. Sorrel apparently likes disturbed ground,
which is an indication that it's not too happy about competition from
other plants and about shade (and so it responds by getting in early on
to ground that's recently disturbed and therefore without vegetation).




--
kay

 On Sun, 4 Sep 2011 18:25:23 +0000, cheeky chappie


As others have said, one of the sorrels. I have it in grass on a
stone-wall-top and it also pops out from between the stones on the
faces of the wall. A selective weedkiller as used on lawns will kill
it e.g. Verdone, but it may need two or three applications to
eradicate it completely. The trick is not to let it re-establish in
any strength after the first lot had died away. Kill off any
re-appearance fairly soon. There may also bee sorrel seeds in the soil
which will germinate from time to time and need treating.

--
 
Chris

Gardening in West Cornwall overlooking the sea.
Mild, but very exposed to salt gales