How do I get rid of this weed?

It has bright blue flowers, bees love it, hairy, stingy stems %26amp; leaves, roots go down to Australia! I always garden organically to preserve wildlife but this has now taken over my garden.I think it's called Akhlanet or Alkhanet or something.Help! Am in south U.K.

How do I get rid of this weed?
Alkanet, common bugloss (a perrenial herb) is a very evasive plant to get rid of it you must its .



Mechanical – Cultivation, digging and pulling can all be effective if sufficient tap root is removed, Try to pull out when still young plant, if old plant with flowers on it, need to be taken out, place plant inside bag and cut off at root, this will avoid seeds been scartered ready for next year. Dig as much of the root out as you can, and keep doing this until all gone and can invade the garden or fields very fast indeed.



Chemical – Are not that effective, but you could try individually treating each plant with weed all or path clear, or bush killer, normally these dont work very well as seeds are awaiting the next season in the ground. So may take a while to see results.



Good luck with this very troublesome plant, once established you must have patience to get rid of it. Also wear gloves when dealing with this plant, as skin problems are common as the stingy hairys are actual posion, even though nobody has every been reported as dying from this, Irritant to skin
Reply:Round-Up will kill this plant easily, but be sure to "bag" each plant so the seeds don't end up on the ground.



Good luck. Report It
Reply:hi put fence preserve as near to the root as possible i.e. cut above ground foliage off and also a few short lengths of copper pipe into the ground. tried and tested also in south west,
Reply:Oh dear! looks like you have got Alkanet, a real nasty type of herb which gets absolutely blinking everywhere.

There is really only one way to get rid of it, and that's to pull up all the roots. As you say these roots are sometimes small and stingy, and pulling them up can be a real ball ache.

Because the plant is very fast growing, one has to try and rid the roots in one go. Unfortunately, weed killer is not too effective on Alkanet, as the roots are wide spread. Like another contributor said, wear gloves, as the roots are stingy and can cause irritation and blistering.

I had this same problem a couple of years ago, and since I up-rooted the plant I have suffered no problems. Good luck, and I hate to say it, aching knees. Lol
Reply:Tell the local 'possy' it is an illegal substance.



They will all be round your garden clearing it for you in no time.
Reply:I pour a little gas on it when all else fails. Last resort but it will die.
Reply:Try pouring boiling hot hot water on it....i kill weeds like that instead of spraying..

Good Luck