Herbicide for Lilly of the Valley

[Chester11]

My lawn is being taken over what I believe is Lilly of the Valley. (The previous owner seemed to love ground covers - like English Ivy and Creeping Virginia). It's a yearly battle.

Everything online says Round-up for Lilly of the Valley - but I don't want to nuke what little grass I have, and digging it out has not worked.

Anyone have any suggestions? I was going to spray and pray with a 2,4 D solution and a surfactant. I don't use a ton of chemicals, so I am guessing here.

 

[MParr]

Looks like RoundUp may be your only choice. You could try 2,4-d or Triclopyr with a surfactant. Call your county extension agent for more information.

 

[Leo99]

Yeah, might have to nuke and start over.

 

[wpod]

Looks like RoundUp may be your only choice. You could try 2,4-d or Triclopyr with a surfactant. Call your county extension agent for more information.

Try a blend. Surfactants really make a difference.

 

[MParr]

Try some king of broadleaf herbicide or better yet a blend. Can you let is be and use it a green?

Some broadleaf herbicides fix to the soil and can kill surrounding trees. Some non selective herbicides can do the same thing.

 

[MParr]

This might do the trick.
https://nufarm.com/usturf/product/manor/
Read the label. This stuff is active in the soil and can kill trees if sprayed too close to the drip line. My choice is to nuke them with RoundUp. You will have to make another application next year. It makes my blood boil when people plant invasive plant species.

 

[mattwithcats]

Round Up Ivy Killer....

https://www.roundup.com/en-us/produ...iller-products/roundup-concentrate-poison-ivy

 

[Chester11]

Thanks folks.

I tried Roundup on a few spots, a couple years in a row. I thought I was good to go, threw down some seed, and now the Lillies are back. So now I have bare spots, lousy patchy grass, random spreading Lillies. This stuff even grows in deep mulch over landscape fabric, and into my brick patio.

I was looking at Manor (the active ingredient anyway) - but I have cool season grass, and could not determine if it would kill what I already have in place. (I have no idea what type of grass it is, I'm guessing a fescue mix). Good suggestion - the price scared me off, but I will file that away.

I have had good luck with Triclopir on the other stuff that was here. (Creeping Virginia that my neighbor swore was poison ivy - I know very little, but have a couple neighbors that spend thousands on lawn services and think they are Roger Cook - anyone name the reference?).

I am going after wild violets this weekend anyway - I will try a mix with a surfactant.

 

[Fattylocks]

I'd let it go. Lily of the valley likes shade and turf grasses don't.
Easy low maintenance ground cover.

 

[Popsy]

I'd read the novel from Balzac

More seriously, good luck to get rid of it, if you don't want to destroy everything around

 

[DBMaster]

You could use it to poison someone like Walter White did.

 

[Chester11]

I'd let it go. Lily of the valley likes shade and turf grasses don't.
Easy low maintenance ground cover.

That was my plan - but it's moving into sunny areas where it doesn't grow well enough to look nice, but just enough to kill grass. Plus it supposedly isn't good for pets.

I did send an email to the ag extension as someone suggested. Waiting for a response.

My wife says burn it down. So Roundup might be getting the call.

 

[Chester11]

You could use it to poison someone like Walter White did.

Huh - I forgot about that. I did read that it is poisonous.

 

[Hall]

You could use it to poison someone like Walter White did.

I was waiting for someone to reference this !

 

[Chester11]

So the Ag extension says cover with cardboard, and cover with 6 inches of mulch for the whole growing season. If it was one area, I would be game, but it's a good chunk of lawn.

Can someone school me up on RoundUp? The premix never seems to work well, so I was looking at concentrate. Home Depot only had an 18% with something else mixed in for something like $20 (35 oz of concentrate).

I was thinking of ordering generic or heading to Tractor Supply, where they have a gallon concentrate (41%) for $20. The same at Home Depot (name brand Roundup) was $100.

What am I missing? (A gallon of concentrate will last me the rest of my natural life x4 - I really only need a quart max - but I'm cheap).

I am going to mix in a surfactant unless someone says otherwise.

 

[tom slick]

I use the generic 41% glyphosate from tractor supply with success at 4oz/gal. Just remember to be patient, it may take a week or more for the weeds to desiccate enough to look like they are dying. You can also spike it with some 2-4,D to control more types of weeds.

 

[Chester11]

Thanks. I'll give it a shot. Is that the Farmworks brand? The also have a Compare N' Save that is on sale.

I'm pretty much hooked on that place. I don't exactly fit in the demographic, but I bought workpants that spend more time in my home office than out in the yard.

 

[MrPlow]

Maybe try an iron-chelate based weed killer? If you use it over the whole lawn, it helps to make the grass healthier and deeper green while nuking many weeds. I use it with 100% success on dandelions, but have no clue how Lily of the Valley reacts. Only issue is that if you use it in select spots, it leaves dark patches of grass.

I do a little bit of lawn restoration for work, and in many cases, when there is a bad weed/plant growing in the lawn, many home owners try to use band-aid fixes, wasting their time. Sometimes it's best to either rip everything out, or cover the lawn for a couple months during the middle of summer with black plastic after watering the soil super heavily. There isn't much of anything, even the seeds, that can live through that or go without sprouting and dying. Then pull the plastic off and do a deep de-thatching, then reseed. Sometimes you can get black plastic used from construction companies or private home owners who are looking to get rid of old stuff. If it blocks light and holds heat, it will nuke your lawn clean.

 

[JHZR2]

I'd let it go. Lily of the valley likes shade and turf grasses don't.
Easy low maintenance ground cover.

Agree. Not a fan of using much chemical, especially for something like this, personally. I get it that a consistent lawn looks nice, but I just try to maintain what I have, and occasionally overseer with grass or micro clover.

 

[tom slick]

Thanks. I'll give it a shot. Is that the Farmworks brand? The also have a Compare N' Save that is on sale.

I'm pretty much hooked on that place. I don't exactly fit in the demographic, but I bought workpants that spend more time in my home office than out in the yard.

Either one is the same chemical, both are made by the same company.

it might be hard to fully control without digging it up but it’s worth trying a topical treatment first.