How To Kill A Shrub

[haha]

I have an elderberry bush that I want to cut down and kill for good. I think I remember about something that you can paint on the raw cuts and kill the plant, roots and all.

Anyone know what that is? Or something else that will eradicate this very hardy bush?

Ha

 

[kumquat]

Roundup?

 

[SarahW]

How big is the shrub? Boiling water will kill almost anything...but it would be difficult to carry a 55 gal drum of it.

 

[haha]

How big is the shrub? Boiling water will kill almost anything...but it would be difficult to carry a 55 gal drum of it.

It's taller than I am. Also, I believe that the cold ground would quickly cool the water.

 

[SarahW]

*patiently waits for "The Knights of Ni" reference to appear*

 

[happy2bretired]

Pound a nail into the stump (after you cut it down) to make a nice deep hole then paint it with Roundup and it won't come back.

 

[SarahW]

It's taller than I am. Also, I believe that the cold ground would quickly cool the water.

OK! Then, back to the drawing board.

 

[VaCollector]

My ex-FIL had a neighbor's tree roots "traveling" into his garden space....part
of his morning ritual was to enjoy a cup of coffee in his garden...spread salt
on the tree roots....and water them....amazingly, the neighbor's trees died and
had to be cut down....it was [-] one of the happiest days of his life[/-] as he
always proclaimed ~ a shame!

 

[SarahW]

What are the best chemical to kill tree and shrub roots - Weeds Forum - GardenWeb


What are the best chemical?? argh.

 

[W2R]

My ex-FIL had a neighbor's tree roots "traveling" into his garden space....part
of his morning ritual was to enjoy a cup of coffee in his garden...spread salt
on the tree roots....and water them....amazingly, the neighbor's trees died and
had to be cut down....it was [-] one of the happiest days of his life[/-] as he
always proclaimed ~ a shame!

I have a kinder neighbor.

I had banana trees that I simply could not eradicate. They spread and spread in our tropical heat and moisture and threatened to take over the world. They have a common underground root system by which they spread.

About 4 times a year I would cut all of them down even with the surface of the dirt (hundreds of them, with trunks 2"-10" thick and the consistency of celery). I tried dumping large quantities of salt on the freshly severed trunks. Didn't work. I tried spraying much Roundup on the freshly severed trunks. Tried oil, kerosene, and so on to a lesser extent. Nothing worked.

Then Hurricane Gustav caused a tree branch to knock down the privacy fence, which was my neighbor's. He was out there putting up a new fence, and offered to get rid of the bananas for me while he was out there. He did so, and said he dug up the roots, down to a couple of feet deep, and then used Roundup down in the holes. It worked! No more banana trees, thank heavens.

 

[freebird5825]

My ex-FIL had a neighbor's tree roots "traveling" into his garden space....part
of his morning ritual was to enjoy a cup of coffee in his garden...spread salt
on the tree roots....and water them....amazingly, the neighbor's trees died and
had to be cut down....it was [-] one of the happiest days of his life[/-] as he
always proclaimed ~ a shame!

I second this motion.
Rock salt would be perfect and cheaper than buying a case of Morton's Iodized.

 

[TromboneAl]

Pound a nail into the stump (after you cut it down) to make a nice deep hole then paint it with Roundup and it won't come back.

I'm not sure that would work. I think the roundup has to be taken up by the leaves.

I'd recommend: cut it off at the ground, then see what happens. If it starts to come back, and is most vulnerable, you hit it with round up.

Or, spray leaves with roundup now, wait a few weeks, then do the above.

 

[Nords]

I'm not sure that would work. I think the roundup has to be taken up by the leaves.
I'd recommend: cut it off at the ground, then see what happens. If it starts to come back, and is most vulnerable, you hit it with round up.
Or, spray leaves with roundup now, wait a few weeks, then do the above.

It works whenever the wood cut is fresh enough for liquids to be absorbed. Our local gardener's column recommends getting rid of haole koa trees by cutting them down and painting the stumps with not just RoundUp, but the concentrated RoundUp.

Anything less is just schlurped up and laughed at.

 

[calmloki]

Crossbow woody brush herbicide. Cut the plant down in the fall and paint the cut areas - fall application gets the Crossbow heading in the direction of the root rather than toward the leaves and fruit. Spendy, so see if you can't find a neighbor with some. As an alternate method, try pounding copper nails into the trunk - see if that doesn't make it all discouraged. That's based on the content of septic drain line root killer.

 

[travelover]

I cut some buckthorn, which is a small invasive tree, on my property and painted the fresh cut stumps with undiluted Roundup. They did not send up shoots - just died.

 

[Martha]

There is a formulation of Roundup (glyphosate) specifically for brush/stumps. Follow the directions. Usually it is not better to apply a stronger solution than recommended.

Given the size of the bush I would cut it down and paint the cambium layer near the trunk, where there is live tissue. Do this immediately so the tissue takes up the poison. I emphasize that it is poison. Don't do it on a windy day or get it on anything else. Herbicide drift is a problem.

Some plants are resistant to Roundup but I would try it before other chemicals as it doesn't hang around in the soil as long as things like Tricolopyr or 2-4-D.

Or dig out the entire stump and feel good that you aren't using poison.

 

[Rich_by_the_Bay]

Round here, they just fasten a length of chain around the waist of the bush, tie the other end to a truck or car, and just yank it out roots and all.

 

[Martha]

Round here, they just fasten a length of chain around the waist of the bush, tie the other end to a truck or car, and just yank it out roots and all.

Duck!

 

[Notmuchlonger]

Round here, they just fasten a length of chain around the waist of the bush, tie the other end to a truck or car, and just yank it out roots and all.

Out on the west coast folk are much more sophisticated. Pffft neanderthal.


I was thinking chemical warfare.

 

[Goonie]

I've used Ortho Brush-B-Gon on several occasions, and found it to be quite effective. I just mixed up a small batch and sprayed the stumps of the trees/shrubs right after I cut 'em off. Sometimes it took two applications a few days apart, but they wuz killed dead!

 

[Notmuchlonger]

I've used Ortho Brush-B-Gon on several occasions, and found it to be quite effective. I just mixed up a small batch and sprayed the stumps of the trees/shrubs right after I cut 'em off. Sometimes it took to applications a few days apart, but they wuz killed dead!

YEAH ! Fight fire with fire!

 

[thefed]

i have this little thorn/pricker bush that has plagued me for 5 years. first, i whacked it down to 1" above soil with a hatchet....low and behold it grew right back the next spring....i let it go for a while just because i was so impressed.


soon thereafter i said enough is enough, mutilated it with axes and sawzalls....doused it in roundup....3 months later it sent up more shoots


then i tried to dig down and get the roots....but it was impossible...even paid my 16 yr old brother 50 bucks if he could get it....no go.....and even though 1/2 of the roots were severed...it grew again.... i doused it in gasoline.....still growing


so i gave up...and just prune it now...very healthy looking bush too....

 

[Goonie]

i have this little thorn/pricker bush that has plagued me for 5 years. first, i whacked it down to 1' above soil with a hatchet....low and behold it grew right back the next spring....i let it go for a while just because i was so impressed.


soon thereafter i said enough is enough, mutilated it with axes and sawzalls....doused it in roundup....3 months later it sent up more shoots


then i tried to dig down and get the roots....but it was impossible...even paid my 16 yr old brother 50 bucks if he could get it....no go.....and even though 1/2 of the roots were severed...it grew again.... i doused it in gasoline.....still growing


so i gave up...and just prune it now...very healthy looking bush too....

After all that trying to kill it, and it being a strong, healthy survivor and looking good now....it will probably succumb to some mild fungal disease and die off on it's own. You try to kill it, and it lives. Then you decide to let it live, and it dies! Been there, done that!

 

[haha]

Thanks all for the suggestions. I am kind of wary of poisons, and I am not going to hitch my car to the thing. Did plenty of that with my truck and tractor, but I don't have either any longer. So it'll be the pick and shovel try for me. Cheaper too.

Ha

 

[travelover]

Thanks all for the suggestions. I am kind of wary of poisons, and I am not going to hitch my car to the thing. Did plenty of that with my truck and tractor, but I don't have either any longer. So it'll be the pick and shovel try for me. Cheaper too.

Ha

I definitely would skip the chain to the bumper trick. A suddenly loose chain can do spectacular things to your rear window - or you.