Ground Ivy in the Asparagus bed

CurlyCarly

Hi, What to do here??? There is a biggish patch of ground ivy in among my asparagus. Is hand weeding going to work? Any other suggestions please?

CC

Dovefromabove

When you say 'ground ivy' do you mean Glechoma hederacea which is a small plant with square stems, soft fuzzy leaves and little violate labiate flowers and a stong smell when the leaves are crushed http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glechoma_hederacea and which has the common name of Ground Ivy, or do you mean Hedera helix the common English ivy, with round stems and diamond shaped shiny leaves that grows up walls and trees and sometimes spreads across the ground. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hedera_helix  

Dovefromabove

Dovefromabove wrote (see)

When you say 'ground ivy' do you mean Glechoma hederacea which is a small plant with square stems, soft fuzzy leaves and little violate .....

Violet!!! 

CurlyCarly

Hi,  thanks for your interest everyone. It is definitely Glechoma hederacea not hedera. My own fault really. Unwittingly I was seduced by the pretty blue flowers and allowed it to grow outside the  (slightly) raised bed where my asparagus live. I suspect the roots have spread under the walls and are enjoying themselves amongst my asparagus. Knee pads and patience seem to be in order. I'm thinking this will be a long haul with no magic solutions

Dovefromabove

Hurrah!  That's really good news - in my experience it has fairly fine surface roots and responds well to hand weeding.  Remove all you can now and keep an eye out for the easily recognisable leaves of seedlings - you should be able to get rid of it fairly easily

CurlyCarly

Thanks Dove, I shall remember your encouraging words when I'm on my knees

Dovefromabove

I'm quite fond of Ground Ivy - it's one of the first plants I learned to identify as a child - it grew in the wood near our house   As you say, it is pretty - in the right place