Does anyone know how to get rid of Briony?
The roots are enormous and go down very deep. Are they OK to touch or should I wear gloves. I am always worried someone might think they are a parsnip and eat one.
definately wear gloves, they are very toxic, apparently spring is the best time to remove them, damage the plant wait a few weeks then dig. good luck.
I sympathise,Digeroo. I've been unable totally to eradicate mine, but at least I've learned not to let it berry (this is in boundary hedges, not my veg patch!) because they grow very easily from seed. I pull out as much as possible whenever it pokes up, I assume like me you don't spray. And yes, I believe it's one of the most toxic plants there is in all its parts, but I wear gloves for all gardening anyway.
A mate of mines girlfriend is called Briony..... you can sewe why this thread made me chortle.....
chrisc
Sorry I have no wish to get rid of any girl friends. It just these huge nasty roots.
The odd things about it being so toxic, is that it also has multiple uses in ancient herbal medicine.
Unfortunately there is a lot of is about locally and so the birds bring in the seeds. But in my front garden it is just the old roots sprouting up again. It has the ability to produce a mass of green shoots which seem to feed the root, and cuts out the need for a long climbing shoot until there are lots of other things to hide it. It almost seems to be intelligent. I could swear I had removed every green part yet every year I dig up more huge roots.
The normal nearly-organic treatment for troublesome roots (horseradish, comfrey etc) is ammonium sulphamate. It is fertiliser made with a twist and goes right through the plant before it 'finds out' it's poisonous.
Generally best sprinkled on the cut root tops.
It makes the treated area deadly to plants but is gone in a month or two - this degradeability is well documented. You still need to be careful if you don't want to kill everything within a metre - maybe more if there is a slope or anything else to spread it.
Unfortunately it is no longer sold as a weedkiller (the manufacturers couldn't afford to re-register it) but is still available as a compost accelerator.
More expensive than Sodium Chlorate but safer in every way.
You shouldn't be able to get hold of amonium sulphamate anymore because it isn't licenced. See here (http://www.pesticides.gov.uk/garden.asp?id=1997).
An enlightening post from here (http://www.allotment.org.uk/garden-diary/189/ammonium-sulphamate-weed-killer-banned/).
QuoteDax Products did supply a data pack to the authorities. However the Regulators decided to declare it incomplete because it did not have the results of animal testing on Dogs and the authorities were not prepared to review the data that had been provided and which independent experts felt was sufficient for an evaluation. Dax felt that UK Ministers demands on animal testing having to be justified and necessary were being ignored by the Regulators to suit their own ends and that too much suffering and too many deaths would be pointlessly caused by the Regulators intransigence.
I certainly support their position.
Ammonium sulphamate isn't licensed as a weedkiller, true. But it is legally available as a compost accelerator. It is still used a lot by folks wanting to rot down woody waste quickly. some links are:
http://www.garden-products.info/rootout.htm
http://www.stantonhope.co.uk/Tools_26_Equipment_101305_AMMONIUM_SULPHAMATE_per_872kg_.asp
I understand that the dilution rate was 200 grammes of ammonium sulphamate in 1 litre of water when it used to be applied.