Re: poke weed

> From: Ron & Penny Verow <rverow@earthlink.net>
> Short of dynamite, any suggestions  on ways to truly get rid of
poke 
> weed in one or two seasons.
----------

Yup...get a strong digging fork and dig it out; easier if the ground
is moist but old plants can have roots as big as my arm that go down
a long way.  Get as much as you can; if you don't kill it, you'll
weaken it enough to kill it off by pulling out any sprouts that come
up.  Younger plants have roots like large carrots - relatively easy
to get all of it out if the ground is moist.

NOT an easy task if yours are all old plants, but it can be
done.....been there; done that.  Have a neighbor who has the
healthiest stand you ever did see - gets about 12' high each year and
goes about 100 feet along the berm that separates our properties. 
Neighbor has a fence at the top of the berm and probably has never
set foot on our side of it...

I just go up and break those down every year, but they had
distributed seed that all came up when I cleared the brush on the
north side of the house.  The next year, the ground was totally
covered in poke seedlings - like a carpet; amazing!  Well, no way was
I gonna get all of those, so I just left most of them.  Hundreds
survived to grow into mature plants which I had the dubious pleasure
of digging out last year before they set seed....NOT my favorite
chore in August...

Marge Talt, zone 7 Maryland
mtalt@hort.net
Editor:  Gardening in Shade
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