No, I didn;t use SBK - I applied glyphosate with a watering can in May, waited a month, reapplied glyphosate to any new green parts, waited another couple of weeks, then dug it all out. What the glyphosate seemed to do was kill off the fine, hair like roots that are usually impossible to extract. I kept an eye on the area, but didn't have a recurrence, though if there had been, I'd have used the same method again.

So I should use something like "round up" then problem is I cannot use a watering can as I'm worried about killing a neighbour hedge. My patch is fed by it coming in underneath a hedge on 3 sides

OK thanks unfortunately I can't use a watering can as mine is surrounded by a hedge that is part mine and another side is my neighbours it's spread from a grass verge by the side of the road into the garden and it's creeping in slowly. So I guess I use "round up" then. Thanks anyway

as long as you don't water the hedge foliage it wont hurt the woody stem.

You could also put the weedkiller into a aerosol/squirty bottle. I use a spray bottle and you can get a very accurate dosage on the leaves.

Yes thanks a lot I'm going to use "round up" in a bottle like you said thanks great idea. Went out in the farmers field at the back today and its got large patches of ground elder supposedly the farmer gets a subsidy for keeping it tidy he comes round once a year with commercial strength "round up" and trims the hedge on his side.

I;d prefer you used just basic glyphosate with a squirt of washing up liquid in it - its a bit less toxic than Round up to both you and the environment, but if Roundup's what you've got, well okay.

As Seaburn says,it only kills through the green growth - I used a can because there were woody shrubs nearby and I didn't want a spray to drift onto their leaves.

So when looking for ordinary glyphosate am I looking for a brand? The expensive "Whitehall" is the only place open here near pewsey

Just look for glyphosate concentrate; available on Amazon though mostly large containers but have a look through, and Wilco's sell it, maybe on line, not sure.

OK thank you

If you are anxious about affecting other plants you can get a bar attachment for your watering can which makes it easier to control where the weedkiller goes. As the droplets are bigger they are also less likely to drift on the breeze on to other things.

I know it's a bit old-fashioned, but a piece of curved or bent cardboard, held in one hand behind where you are spraying, will help with drift.

Thank you