Allium vineale (ramps) Was: Getting Rid of Allium triquetrum

Allium vineale (ramps) can be controlled exactly the same way.  When I see
the flushing out of clumps at the stage with the bigger bulbs sending out
florets but mostly (very fertile) bulbils, I know it is time to pull ramps.
I have red clay, and If I don't carefully grab the whole clump, I will break
off too many lf the stalks and leave a mess behind.  Ramps divides well, and
there will always be a few stragglers remaining for next year.  If I break
off too many clumps on a test pulling, I just wait 5 - 7 days more, and
repeat the cycle until they start coming out more easily. You know when the
time is right when the whole clump comes up, sometimes with as many as 40
small bulbs around the larger 3 to 6 in the center.  

This is a robust plant.  Some neglected lawns in North Carolina seem to have
more ramps than grass.

At 09:32 AM 2/25/2002 +1300, you wrote:

>The only effective eradication technique I found came from a study of
>its lifestyle. At the end of each growing season it has produced a nice
>fat resting bulb -a little round white "garlic" as big as a large
>
>In  season each bulb sprouts a new shoot and then quickly produces a
>flower spike. This is the vulnerable stage, as by the time the spike has
>formed the bulb has given up all its food and shrivelled to almost
>nothing, making the plant very easy to pull up roots and all. This is
>the proper time to attack, but there is a trick even about pulling them
>up. They tend to grow in dense clumps and one should never try to pull
>individual plants, but rather grasp whole handfuls which will usually
>come out with the greatest ease, without even the need for a weeding
>tool to loosen them. Work steadily through the patch and then pull any
>remaining stragglers.
>
>That's all for the first season. Next year the infestation should be
>greatly reduced, though there will always be the odd one which broke off
>and also seedlings from past years. Go through the area methodically a
>second time and I wager you will then have the situation under control
>in that particular area. However if you live in a district where the
>pest is rife you will need to keep vigilant to notice any new
>infestation starting.

Richard F. Dufresne
313 Spur Road
Greensboro, North Carolina  27406 USA
336-674-3105
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