Scottish Rock Garden Club Forum
Cultivation => Cultivation Problems => Topic started by: Mark Griffiths on February 25, 2012, 05:28:39 PM
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Is there such a thing available to the public in the UK? I have borders with grass ingress..also pots outside and so rock garden plants I've been trying to pull grass out of for years.
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Like Weed out? Sadly there does not appear to be a grass killer available. I could use one.
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"RoundUp" was advertised as a grass killer, I think, and is still available. (I thought it killed everything :-\ )
The latest RHS leaflet on Weedkillers for Gardeners is here :
http://www.rhs.org.uk/media/pdfs/advice/WeedkillersForGardeners
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thanks for having a look - unfortunately it does kill everything - it's included in the contact herbicide list
"Systemic herbicides are non-selective and non-residual"
But it might be worth asking the RHS - I am a member
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So how about this?
http://www.scotts.com/smg/catalog/productTemplate.jsp?proId=prod70094&itemId=cat10030012
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Looks promising... but is it available in the UK?
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I don't think so, at least I cannot find it on any British suppliers site. I think it is probably banned in the EU, like all these herbicides.
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In Germany Kerb 50 W is recommended against as a grass specific
herbicide, but I am not sure if it is available
in your country and for the use by amateur gardeners.
I also would not use it beside tender and valuable plants.
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So it's an American product? I'll see if I can find something here. My usual plan is remove all plants I want then spray with Roundup but realy that's crazy. I need something that can be used in ground, over ornamentals. Grass is one of the worst ever garden weeds. Its amazing that someone hasn't come up with something efficient and safe.
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Herbicides specific for grasses of all kinds do exist, the problem is wether they are available in a given country or not. Roundup at 10-20% will kill all grasses; better if the application is during warm weather when the plants are active. It is irrelevant if the plants/weeds are well watered or under drought stress.
Based on the principle that you do not need to spray the whole plant to kill it, it is very effective to use a latex glove as a "paintbrush". Just dip the tip of the fingers in the Roundup solution and gently hold the grass, etc. stem, branch, etc, within reach. Hold it by the base and gently move Up/outwards so the wet fingers of the glove can paint as much of the stem as possible. Of course the Roundup must not touch the plant one wants to protect. With a little practice and patience one can efectively get rid of volunteer grasses and other kinds of weeds in pots and in borders with this method. With bulbs it is very easy to spray the weeds while the bulbs are dormant. Excessive herbiciden concentrations can burn the foliage but not kill the plant giving the false impression that the weed is inmune to tne product.
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Grass-B-Gon has the same active ingredient as Fusilade, Fluazifop-P-butyl. I've had to use Fusilade a few times myself in the past year or two. It isn't recommended for the control of things like Poa annua, and it's more expensive than glyphosate-based herbicides. My experience of it (applied at the recommended rates) is that it is rather slow-acting (frustratingly so at times). I've never seen any collateral damage on non-grasses but my advice would be to try glyphosate using Alberto's method first.
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I went down to Wisely today and asked at the members' advisory desk - the answer was "no, not anymore".
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I went down to Wisely today and asked at the members' advisory desk - the answer was "no, not anymore".
That's it then.... back to the donkey work on hands and knees.......... :(
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wait..I can get a donkey to do this? Brilliant!
And they don't eat everything else?
Can you get them online?
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wait..I can get a donkey to do this? Brilliant!
And they don't eat everything else?
Can you get them online?
There's a sanctuary in Devon I think... with HUNDREDS of 'em.... but yes, they do eat just about everything else.... not as much as a goat, but nearly! :-X
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That's it then.... back to the donkey work on hands and knees.......... :(
A donkey on its knees probably has footrot. :o Donkeys will eat anything just about, as do goats, including gorse and broom and Californian thistles. Pity they don't dig for the roots as well.
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That's it then.... back to the donkey work on hands and knees.......... :(
A donkey on its knees probably has footrot. :o Donkeys will eat anything just about, as do goats, including gorse and broom and Californian thistles. Pity they don't dig for the roots as well.
That's why people keep pigs :)
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but yes, they do eat just about everything else.... not as much as a goat, but nearly! :-X
When I was a small child, maybe about 5 years old, I owned 2 prs of black Fuji silk knickers. They were hung on the clothesline in the paddock, at my farming aunt's place and a donkey ate them totally. MY mother was furious and never forgave her sister for taking such poor care of my precious underwear. ::)
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"RoundUp" was advertised as a grass killer, I think, and is still available. (I thought it killed everything :-\ )
The latest RHS leaflet on Weedkillers for Gardeners is here :
http://www.rhs.org.uk/media/pdfs/advice/WeedkillersForGardeners
It kills (nearly) everything Of course you can use it around a shrub or tree since it is taken up by the leaves. To advertise it as a grass killer is like advertising sulfuric acid as a stain remover. "Apply it on he stain and you will never see the stain again" ;D
It seems, however, that some mosses are not much affected perhaps because mosses have no true roots.
Cheers
Göte
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Agil (propaquizafop) is available for farmers here in Norway, and apparently also in the UK: http://www.plantprotection.co.uk/HTML/Ingr/Ingr478.htm
ETA: ...and there's two more, clethodim and cycloxydim, the latter is also available in the UK: http://www.plantprotection.co.uk/HTML/Ingr/Ingr194.htm
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Roundup WILL kill everything, except clover, which is what I want it to kill, in the driveway. Gradually as other things are killed over time, the drive becomes more and more infested with clover. Clover killers in general are very toxic.
Roundup will damage trees if sprayed on the trunks, small trees at least. I have a Sorbus sargentiana with a trunk about 6" in diameter. Roundup was accidentally sprayed near the base of it and the new leaf growth above, when it duly appeared, was discoloured and distorted. and has never been really right in the 5 years since.
It kills moss and liverwort TEMPORARILY. Both then come back with a vengeance, healther and stronger than ever. When weed cover is destroyed by Roundup, as soon as the area is rained on or watered, moss takes over even if there was no moss there before.
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Lesley, any high nitrogen fertilizer will damage clover until it declines. The cheapest one will do, urea, for instance.
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Really? I'll try that then. :D
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Is there such a thing available to the public in the UK? I have borders with grass ingress..also pots outside and so rock garden plants I've been trying to pull grass out of for years.
Be careful what you wish for, Mark
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Death_of_Grass (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Death_of_Grass)
;D
And, yes, couch grass has to be our worst weed at the moment!
cheers
fermi
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If the grass is not overly established I have had good success with roundup applied with a sponge applicator like the ones used to hold dish washing soap. Mix the Roundup as instructed on the label put it in the applicator and dab the grass blades. It takes patients but over time I have had good luck removing grass from beds. It is better than pulling the bed out and starting over.
Bob