ground elder and asparagus

[motherhen]

Hi
I'm now 3 weeks into my first allotment.  I've been preparing a bed for some asparagus plants, since I just have time to get some in this year.  However under all the nettles, buttercup and brambles I've found lots of big fat white roots which I've matched in one of my gardening books to ground elder.  I think, being organic, that what I have to do is remove every root I see and then pounce swiftly on any shoot of the pervasive monster that grows and remove it, together with as much root as possible.  I've found an old thread on the forum that suggests impermeable mulches such as plastic and carpet won't help in the long run.  I've also found a website that suggests planting annual flowers for one year after clearing roots to find any missed roots as they turn into plants, and other suggestions that tagetes minuta may discourage ground elder.

So much for the research, now I'd appreciate some advice from experts please.  Having removed all the roots I can find from the future asparagus bed, am I being foolish in planting asparagus this year?  Would I be better to wait a year and use annuals or a green manure to cover the soil while I see evidence of the roots I've missed and deal with them?  If I do succumb to my desire to have lots of lovely asparagus asap will I be able to keep on top of the ground elder I've missed by cutting off the shoots and leaves as soon as they appear?  Advice and experience much appreciated please.

[motherhen]

[Robert_Brenchley]

Black plastic will do it as long as you dig it well in round the edges. If you don't, the roots just run underneath and get their nourishment from the plants outside the plastic.

[Marymary]

I have been grappling with the horrid stuff since we moved here 6 years ago, IMHO covering it in black plastic doesn't really work - it stops it being visible but underneath you get a build up of an enormous web of roots.  If you have got it really bad I would suggest not planting asparagus just yet.  Or planting it somewhere else.  I have tried to deal with it organically but have given up & bought a spray of glycosphate which I just spray on the GE & nothing else.  I have been doing it for about a month [3 times so far] & it is beginning to die back.  I mention this cos if someone had told me 6 years ago that it would just get worse & worse & choke everything I think I would have resorted to chemicals then. Good luck with the plot.

[allaboutliverpool]

I have only had to deal with ground elder at one of my houses and I took heed of the old adage "never let it see a Sunday". As your asparagus patch cannot be too big, I would suggest digging a trench all round and inserting some sort of barrier, paving slabs, or even plywood or chipboard to which you have stapled old plastic compost bags to a depth of at least a foot. When the wood rots away the plastic will remain to hinder encroachment from outside the bed
You can now pull off every small piece of ground elder once a week and within 2 years it will have gone. An asparagus bed will last for 25 years so the effort is worthwhile.

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