Herbicide Application

• Herbicides that contain glyphosate can kill large areas of invasive plants. Avoid spraying this herbicide around ornamental plants and trees. If you want to apply the herbicide on an invasive plant near your ornamental, paint the herbicide on the leaves with a paintbrush. This is a good method for using on vines like English ivy that are growing right next to your ornamental vine plants. Apply the herbicide on a dry day so it is absorbed into the foliage. Reapply in a few days if the plant hasn't succumbed to the herbicide. Glyphosate kills plants by inhibiting their ability to produce proteins. Remove dead plants from the area.
  
  

Digging

• Digging involves some labor, but it gives you peace of mind that you aren't using chemicals in the yard. Dig at a depth that unearths the root systems of plants from underneath. Make sure that you remove all of their roots or the plant can sprout back up. Japanese knotweed only needs a few remnants of roots to sprout. For invasive trees, dig 2 to 3 feet away from the base of the tree and at a depth of at least 6 inches. Use a chain saw to cut the top of the tree, leaving only 3 feet. Create a trench around the tree. Press a landscaping bar underneath the root system of the tree and lift it up. Cut the remaining pieces and burn them or throw them away.
  
  

Girdling

• Girdling exposes the inner bark of invasive trees to interrupt the flow of sap, according to the Ohio State University Extension. With an ax or hatchet, create grooves that go 1/2 inch into the trunk of the tree. Make the grooves 1 to 2 inches wide all around the trunk's circumference. Apply a herbicide that contains 2,4-D + 2,4-DP to the exposed bark. You want to completely coat the wounds made into the tree, without having the herbicide drip from the invasive tree down to the lawn grass. Several applications of herbicide may be needed to eliminate the invasive tree.
  
  

Landscape Fabric

• Landscape fabric may be used to smother invasive ground cover such as carpet bugleweed. Cut the landscape fabric to fit the size of the area where the ground cover is growing. Secure the landscape fabric to the ground using landscape pins. Spread a 2- to 3-inch layer of mulch over the landscape fabric to help generate heat. The heat will not only smother the invasive plants, but it will also prevent the plant's seeds from germinating. Wait four to six weeks before lifting the fabric.