Plant Doctor Archive

Solomon's seal taking over

I HAVE a problem with Solomon's seal taking over my garden. I started with just a few plants several years ago and they have multiplied quite considerably. Have you any ideas how I can get rid of a lot of the root system?

ONE gardener I mentioned this to suggested you could try contacting local nurseries as one of them might be interested in digging it up to propagate more plants!

Seriously though, Solomon's seal can spread if growing conditions are ideal. If the soil is relatively open, you could dig it up during winter. As long as you remove all the fleshy roots, there should be no regrowth.

If you want to use a herbicide, try Activated Amitrole or a glyphosate-based one, such as Roundup or Glyphosate. Probably the best time to spray for maximum effect would be mid- to late summer when there's a lot of mature foliage to absorb the spray, which will be taken down into the root system. Of course, it will be the following spring before you know for sure if the spray has been effective.

Reproduced with permission from the former Weekend Gardener magazine. The views expressed here are not necessarily those of the RNZIH.