kill Asian jasmine

Question

Long before I bought my house (which was almost 9 years ago) a neighbor planted Asian jasmine as a ground cover. It has totally invaded my yard and I am constantly pulling plants out of my flower beds and pebble paths. We tried woody plant killers, ground clear stuff, and nothing kills the jasmine. Straight white vinegar kills it, but also kills the earthworms, which we don’t want to do. We tried weed blocking fabric, but that doesn’t even slow it down. My zone is 8.5, I think – north Florida?

Answer 1

When you applied the chemical controls, did you mow or weed eat the jasmine first? Mowing/weed eating wounds the leaves and stems a little to allow the spray to better penetrate the jasmine. The waxy foliage of the asian jasmine tends to cause sprays to roll off. As far as chemicals go, my research yielded recommendations to try Imazaquin (Image) or Triclopyr and a surfactant or Imazapyr (Arsenal).

When you tried the weed blocking fabric, did you mow the jasmine down to the ground as low as you could prior to laying down the fabric?

Elbow grease might be best option – pull it out, getting as much of the root as possible. One extension site recommended the use of a sod cutter after cutting it low the ground which might be a little less labor intensive. Another option I read about was using a roto-tiller to chop up the jasmine’s roots after cutting the jasmine to the ground.