This year it has to be marestail / horsetail for me. Darn stuff is everywhere. At least with brambles and bindweed you can win the battle in one season if you try hard. Marestail just laughs at you.
I was fortunate that when we moved in the garden was pretty much empty and I was young and fit. I dug out the bramble roots and went over the borders by hand removing all the bindweed I could find. After that I just sprayed weedkiller when new growth appeared.
I have a great deal of ground elder, bindweed and Russian vine at my new plot. In terms of size and damage, the Russian vine wins. It was about 40 feet across, and had swamped and killed a range of large apple trees and shrubs. Killed everything it climbed over, except holly, which somehow survived the experience.Â
After the slash and burn it’s cropping up everywhere, but I have high hopes of winning.Â
Long term I think it will be ground elder that drives me mad, though the speed of bindweed is quite something.
Voting for willowherb here since it just always spreads back into any part of the garden no mater how many times it is dug out. Particularly the smaller type that has such brief flowering before it turns into a mass of seeds. Definitely reduced it a bit but sure if I checked about the place I'd find some new ones have sprouted up. Also have a ground elder issue in one corner that got a bit more extensive this year but will do some more planting to try contain it in winter. Read somewhere that comfrey can make a good root barrier to prevent some weeds spreading so going to take some root cuttings and give this a try.
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Not that I would prefer MarestailÂ
Decrepit plus garden not touched for 30 years, Conservation Area and TPO's - not so easy peasyÂ
This should probably be on the Curmudgeons thread.
Geum urbanum, ash, arum and oxalis not far behind.
But I'll take all of that lot over bindweed or horsetail (touch wood...)