Topic: How to eradicate Lords-and-ladies Arum maculatum please - a real PEST

[Galette]

We have an infestation of Lords and Ladies in a shady area under a group of large, established fruit trees.  During the past six years we have have sprayed at least once a year with glyphosate and this spring we dug it all over, carefully removing every trace of plants and the corms.  Or so we thought.  In this mild autumn weather they are coming up again, as strong as ever.

Has anyone successfully eradicated this plant from their garden?  If so - please, please tell me how you did it!

[artichoke]

Sympathy....my tiny back garden is also infested. All I can do is grab a handful of their leaves and yank them out leaving the corms behind, in the hope that this discourages them. Have to admit that over about 15 years, they are not discouraged, but maybe it would be worse if I were not doing this? Same goes for the very invasive "Spanish" bluebell. What if you were to strim them back regularly?

[small]

I'm another with these pesky things coming up everywhere. I just keep pulling the leaves out when I weed, the corms are too hard to get at, all inbetween my perennials. Horrible plants I think.

[goodlife]

I actually quite like them...but they are trouble to get rid of once they set their foot in.
Try sieving the soil with more finer riddle..you will remove those bulby things much more effectively ..what comes out won't grow there anymore..repeat it every so often and each and every time you get less and less.
Not allowing seed head to set/ripen will help too.

[Galette]

Thanks for your suggestion Goodlife, it's interesting to see your suggestion.  Though the thought of sieving the soil under the trees does not appeal, especially now that we have laid down a generous layer of bark on the top.  It is a lovely wild area where we have been planting daffodils, (English) bluebells, cowslips and primroses, but they are getting overwhelmed with these pesky plants.

[goodlife]

If you don't want disturb the soil and want to have a go with weedkiller again...you will need to tackle them early on the year when the new growth is young, vigorous and actively growing. You need weedkiller that is for perennial growth and slow acting...like glyphosate ...I would buy concentrate rather than ready made solution and make the mix slightly stronger than recommended rate..choose nice dry day for it and give good wetting for the foliage. Ideally if the ground would be slightly dry too and no rain in forecast for another few days so the plants feel like they want to make the use of the 'moisture' and suck all the poison in.
Leave the plants be and don't clear any of it away until they are truly dead. You will get some regrowth from bulby bits that were dormant, so it is case of repeat application as and when necessary...it won't happen all in once!