A Gardeners Forum Forums General Discussion Landscape trials and triumphs Eradicating burdock

So...anyone had any luck or have any ideas about eradicating burdock from my back yard? I mean, I'm glad to know the stuff taking over my back yard isn't poisonous like we originally thought, but it's covering a 25X10 plot of our small back yard. Any advice would be helpful.

The limited luck I've had with taprooted weedy perennial's is to keep any plant material cut off at the soil line and dig down to remove as much of the taproot as is possible. That will be quite a chore with the area you have.

If I've cleared a small area of weeds with taproots, I place a large plastic trash can cover over the spot to block out light for a few days at a time. The cover is lightweight enough that the soil doesn't compact and is easier to lift up to access soil condition then mulch covered landscape fabric. If you see any above ground growth, repeat the process and cover again for a few days.

You could invite an herbalist over to dig up their year's supply of burdock root.

These are bienials(sp?!). They grow vegetatively the first year, flower and set seed then die the next. What you want to do is let them go to seed and cut off the seed stalk just before/as it matures. Then the parent plant will die fulfilled and not spread any children. Biennials will persist if not allowed to go to seed. It just depends upon how much of a hurry you are in.

lawnmower.

If you don't mind using round up, cut at the lowest point you can on the main stalk depending on how big they are, and spray with roundup on the wound area, it kills it dead.
The lot next door to me is woody and unused but just full of burdock, so I end up spraying just on the other side of my fence in yard, otherwise, I am pulling burrs off of my dog. :(
The smaller ones I just mow and they tend to die out.