Garden Q&A: How do I go about getting rid of an invasive plant?

Whether you're a gardening beginner or expert, Irish Examiner columnist Peter Dowdall has the answer to your questions 

I have a small garden and this "poisoning plant" (see the picture) arrived from somewhere last year. I want to get rid of it. It's bigger this year. Please help.

ANSWER

This is gunnera and is going to get too large for all but the biggest of gardens. Think of large OPW sites and then you get an idea of the size garden that this should be growing in.

It is invasive and will crowd out everything else around it. 

It is not a plant that I am a fan of except when it is in the right place — by a lake in a vast estate, for instance. 

I advise getting rid of it from your garden and the only way to do that is good old-fashioned hard work, and having a strong man or woman at the end of a shovel.

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