Ground-elder

How to recognise it

Growth habit

Perennial with white, fleshy, creeping rhizomes; leaves up to 30 cm tall, flowering stems up to 60–100 cm.

Leaf

Long-stalked and twice divided into three: usually nine oval, toothed leaflets, glossy green and hairless. Smells aromatic when crushed.

Flower

Small white flowers in flat umbels with many rays, without bracts beneath. From May to July.

Stem

Hollow, grooved and hairless, without spots.

Fruit/seed

Small, oval, ribbed fruits of 3–4 mm. The plant spreads mainly by its rhizomes, less by seed.

Confusion with

Poisonous umbellifers such as hemlock and fool’s parsley have finely divided, fern-like leaves; ground-elder has broad, toothed leaflets in groups of three. Only pick it to eat if you are certain of the identification.

Flowering: May–July · Pruning: June–July

Why grow it?

• A good nectar plant: in June the flat umbels draw many hoverflies, beetles, flies and small wasps.
• A dense, green ground cover for shady spots where little else will grow, such as under trees or in a wild corner.
• The young, glossy leaves are edible and were once eaten as a vegetable or pot herb.
• The variegated form ‘Variegatum’ grows more slowly and brightens a shady corner, though it spreads too.
• It keeps the soil under trees covered, which limits drying out and erosion.

Ground-elder: where does it grow best?

• In the wild: damp deciduous woods, woodland edges, hedges, parks and old gardens on rich, humus-rich soil.
• Grows in sun, part shade and shade, most lushly in part shade.
• Moist to normal soil; in dry sandy soil it stays smaller.
• Only plant it where it may spread, for example under large trees or in an enclosed bed, never in a border of perennials.

Goes well with

• Elder: A shrub for part shade under which ground-elder may form a green carpet.
• Common nettle: For a wild corner, with food plants for peacock and red admiral caterpillars; just as vigorous as ground-elder.
• Ramsons: Flowers in April, before the ground-elder is fully grown, in the same damp woodland soil.
• Holly: Evergreen in winter, when the ground-elder has died back.

Ground-elder: when and how to plant it?

1. Think first whether you really want it: once in the garden, ground-elder is almost impossible to get rid of. Often it is already there of its own accord.
2. Choose a place where it may spread, or plant it in a large pot or inside a root barrier at least 30 cm deep.
3. In March–April or October, plant pot-grown plants or pieces of rhizome 40–50 cm apart; they soon fill the space.
4. Water after planting; after that it looks after itself.
5. Never dig up plants from the wild; a piece from a neighbour’s garden is of course fine.
6. Never dump dug-out roots in the countryside or on a verge: they simply keep growing there.

Care

Water

Only after planting. In drought the leaves droop, but they recover after rain.

Feeding

Not needed; it grows more than enough already.

Mowing

Mow or cut the carpet in June after flowering: fresh new leaves appear and it does not self-seed.

Spreading

Each spring, cut the edges with a sharp spade and remove the white rhizomes from the border.

Getting rid of it

To get rid of it, dig out all the rhizomes and sieve the soil, or cover the area for a whole growing season with cardboard and a thick layer of mulch. Mowing the leaves every few weeks also exhausts the roots within a few years.

Tip: To get rid of ground-elder, mow or pull off the leaves every two to three weeks for a few years: without leaves the rhizomes become exhausted. Digging it out once is rarely enough.

Pruning and mowing

Pruning months: June–July.

When: In June–July, after flowering; no other pruning is needed.

How:

• Mow or cut off the faded umbels before the seeds ripen.
• Mow the leaves short at the same time: within a few weeks fresh young leaves return.
• In a wildlife garden, leave a few umbels for insects, but only where seedlings do no harm.

Caution: Do not put dug-out rhizomes on a compost heap that does not heat up: even small pieces sprout again. Let them dry out in the sun first or take them to the green waste.

Pruning: when and how · Pruning calendar and basic rules

Propagation

Rhizomes

Every piece of white rhizome with a bud grows into a new plant, at any time in the growing season.

Seed

It also self-seeds if you let the umbels ripen. Cut them off after flowering to prevent this.

Ground-elder: how does it get through the winter?

Hardy to −30 °C.

• The leaves die back in late autumn; the rhizomes overwinter in the soil.
• Fully hardy, to about −30 °C.
• Early in spring, from March, the first young leaves appear: that is when they taste best.

Diseases and pests

• Spreading: The main problem: it smothers low perennials. Slicing, digging out and covering all help; chemicals are not needed and harm soil life.
• Roots among perennials: If it has got into a clump of perennials, dig up the whole clump, pick out all the white roots and replant it.
• Rust: Sometimes rust pustules on the leaves; harmless. Mow off the affected leaves.
• Confusion when foraging: Young leaves can resemble those of other umbellifers. Only pick if you are sure, preferably in your own garden.

Through the year

• March: First young leaves. Cut the edges.
• April: Pick young leaves for soup or salad. Dig invading roots out of the border.
• May: Flowering begins.
• June: Full flower: lots of hoverflies. Then mow for fresh leaves.
• July: Cut off the last umbels before the seeds ripen.
• September: Cut the edges again.
• October: Plant in a pot or inside a root barrier.
• November: The leaves die back.

Did you know?

• The name podagraria refers to podagra, gout in the foot: the plant was once used against gout, hence also its other English name, goutweed. Aegopodium means little goat’s foot, after the shape of the leaf.
• Ground-elder grows remarkably often around old castles, monasteries and farms, where it was probably once grown as a vegetable and medicinal herb.
• A large patch of ground-elder is often a single plant, connected underground by its rhizomes.