practical ways to kill foxglove
- Hand-weed Hand-weeding can be very effective, and for small areas might be all you need. In some places (creek banks for example) it is the only practical method. New growth in the disturbed soil is a problem, but there are ways to deal with it. More on the hand-weeding tips page.
- Spray For larger areas, selective spraying is usually preferred. It is often the only practical method.
- Cut and paste works well on mature foxgloves. Cut the flower spike off, then immediately apply a dab of herbicide (glyphosate is good for this). In a perfect world, you wouldn't let your foxgloves get big enough to be worth cut and pasting, but in real life it happens.
- Mowing People have reported success simply by mowing regularly with the blades set low. Obviously, this only makes sense in areas where very short grass is desired long-term (such as the area immediately around a house). If you try the mowing method, first make sure that there is no seed on the plants. If you get seed on the mower, you will spread it everywhere and end up much worse off than when you started. (Remember that foxglove is toxic: don't breathe it or get it on your skin.)
- Prune and spray Late in the season, when the flower spikes start maturing, the plants will still drop seed even after you spray them or pull them out. Foxglove is tough and it will produce seed if it possibly can. This is where combination methods come in: snip off the flowering tops first, then spray the remainder, along with all the younger plants. Dispose of the seed-rich tops in the usual ways. For more detail on this method, see the prune and spray page.
- Cultivation Possible but requires an open site, access to suitable machinery, and follow-up because even deep cultivation will see fresh germination. If you are going to have to spray afterwards anyway, why not just spray in the first place? Just the same, there may be places where this is a useful tactic.
- Cover Like almost any plant, foxglove will die if you cover it up with something like black plastic sheet for long enough. However, it's a lot of work to treat a small area, and the result is bare soil, which will be a magnet for fresh infestation. Covering is probably best reserved for weeds which are hard to kill any other way (such as Blue Periwinkle).
- Hand-weed and seed Some people recommend spreading grass seed after hand-pulling foxglove. The idea is to provide the next generation of foxglove seedlings with some competition. Be aware that this is not something you can do in areas of native bush: you are just replacing one non-native invasive plant (foxglove) with several other non-native invasive plants (foreign grasses - nearly all commercial grass seed is non-native). But the basic idea of getting something else to grow where the foxglove was is good. As with all of these methods, you must judge what works best for your own circumstances.
- Brush cutting is not a control tactic in itself, the plants will grow new heads, smaller ones, lower to the ground, which are harder to see and cut. But it can be an important part of an overall plan. Be aware that brushcutting foxglove exposes you to far more poison than most other activities and you need to take great care.