Gardening with Gary

Gardening Advice from an Expert

Horseradish

Mary writes~
Gary, first let me start by stating that I thoroughly enjoy your part of the Goldmine newsletter and I always look forward to reading it and seeing if there's going to be a tidbit of advice that I'll be able to apply to my own gardening. The question that I have for you is this: How do I get rid of a patch of horseradish? It used to be next to my strawberry patch, but it is now in my strawberry patch. I tried digging them up deeply with a spade, but I'm never able to get all of those hairline roots which take on new life of their own. I've contemplated simply digging up the strawberries and moving them in order to avoid the horseradish, but I'd much rather get rid of the horseradish as I've never figured out how to really use it anyway.

A. Horseradish is difficult to eradicate and can become a weed once it is established. New plants regenerate from root bits left in the soil. It is unlikely that you will succeed in removing all of the lateral roots from the ground. If they do not freeze over the winter, the roots left in the ground will produce new plants the next spring. In this way, the horseradish plant can become a hard-to-eradicate weed unless kept confined by deep cultivation. Try covering them with newspapers with much dirt and compost on top. Smothering may lead to not coming back. Otherwise you may need to move the strawberries.