Invasives: Goutweed / Goatweed / Bishop's Weed / Ground Elder / Aegopodium podagraria

We bought a house in the winter, and come spring found that the back yard is rapidly turning into a monoculture of goutweed. It's connected to patches in 3 of our neighbors' yards; two of them are fighting it to various degrees, and one doesn't care and has a history of not cooperating with their neighbors about things like this.

My plan for managing this thing is as follows:
1) Chop out as much of it in the spring as possible, making sure not to put the roots anywhere they can come back (like compost) - maybe trash bags in the sun for a few weeks to cook it?
2) Dig a trench around the edge of the property and put down a rhizome barrier to limit the spread from our neighbors. I hate to put plastic in the soil but I don't know if there is an alternative.
3) Cover the ground with cardboard and then mulch (branches, leaves, and wood chips).
4) Wait and weed vigilantly, probably for years.

Do I have a chance? How do I keep it out of the raised beds I'd like to put in near the edge of the patch?

I know some people eat the stuff but I'm not keen to. Are there other ways I can turn this plague into a resource? Having animals browse it is not really an option for us on our small urban lot.

An update, years later.  Digging it up was futile.  The rhizome barrier helped.  Covering it in cardboard failed, as the stuff came up through every gap, and then through the cardboard when it got wet.

What (finally!) seems to be working is the rhizome barrier combined with smothering the weed, using canvas drop cloths overlapped at the edges and held down with landscape staples, then covered with a thin layer of wood chips.  The weed sent up a few sad sprouts at the edges and places where the cloth tore, but hand weeding those was easy, and the weed actually seems to be succumbing.

I used canvas instead of plastic because I hate plastic and don’t want plastic bits in my soil, and because I didn’t want water sheeting off plastic toward the house when it rains or the snow melts.

First of all, I understand your frustration. When we moved to our little acreage eleven years ago, I tried everything to pull it out but to no avail. We still have it everywhere in our front yard, but now, I have actually embraced it. I know that doesn't answer your question, but I truly find it a beautiful plant that I enjoy harvesting on a regular basis. I tried a few things to get rid of it, too, but something switched in me, and I actually started to see it as attractive. Sometimes it even flowers, and the flowers are gorgeous, like baby's breath. Have you ever tried eating it? I put in as green with whatever I am cooking, and it adds a nice flavour. Mowing helps keep it under control, and you try overseeding your grass, too.

I will say, though, that now there is actually less of it than there was when we started. Us just "leaving it" has actually resulted in it less of it overall. I have no idea why that it is, but just reporting what has happened. We just mow what's there with the rest of the lawn, and although it's not a monoculture,  it all flows together.

Shari,

All I can say is that our experience has been very different.  The goatweed destroyed much of my vegetable garden, including a substantial stand of asparagus, and was spreading steadily through the yard.  Mowing was not effective, and I hate the taste of the stuff.  Smothering it works for us.

Steven Kovacs wrote:Shari,

All I can say is that our experience has been very different.  The goatweed destroyed much of my vegetable garden, including a substantial stand of asparagus, and was spreading steadily through the yard.  Mowing was not effective, and I hate the taste of the stuff.  Smothering it works for us.

Wow, Steven, that sounds awful. That's so good you found something that works for you. I relate to you, when it comes to the loads of poison ivy in our yard. Similar to you, I am trying to smother some of it with other weeds, like thistle.