Hey all, I'm new to the forum and hoping that I can get some advice as a novice gardener on how to remove a troublesome plant. For context, my girlfriend and I decided to get into some gardening trouble this season and tackle some of the weeds that have taken control of her garden. However, one larger weed/tree (?) is proving difficult to remove. The pictures copied here show what we're dealing with, but we're having trouble finding the end of its root system so we can pull it out (I dug about another half foot beyond what's in the picture and it's still about as thick). I'm hoping somebody here may have advice on how to proceed. I can keep digging, but some rather large stones near the foundation of her house are in the way. Would simply cutting the main root stalk and then burying under about 2 ft. of soil and rocks kill it? Should we spray something to make sure? Or, is this the job for professionals given the proximity to the foundation/facade of her house? Many thanks in advance for any advice, I will be sure to pass it on as I become knowledgable myself! Sincerely, Stumped
That looks like a sapling of a tree. When we have hackberry trees come up, we dig down about three inches, cut off the stem, and then spray it with a weed killer. Leave the stump exposed in case it starts to grow again (little green bumps along the stump) and we spray again.
you could try filling the hole with water and jam a spade blade as low as you can into root part of the trunk try to pop it out of that hole. otherwise Jane's instructions are about the other easiest way to deal with it.
Many thanks, marlingardener! I appreciate the quick reply - I'm sure that these simple questions can be somewhat tiresome on these forums, but they are invaluable to us. I'll be sure to post an update here once we've seen the results. Hope you're well!
Stumped, we love questions, simple or not! That is what we do--ask and answer and exchange ideas. I do hope you can get rid of that pesky weed.
I think that that thing has been cut off before. I see two "knuckles" that appear to be scars where this tree has been lopped off before and continued to grow. I may be wrong about this, but I do feel pretty sure that it is some sort of tree. You could wait ~two weeks and see what the leaves look like, perhaps you can then determine which method of combat is required. I always dislike fighting something that I cannot identify and thus understand. Here is something else--do you have any trees growing anywhere near this sapling? I ask this because some trees send out root-runners and sent up new trees. I have a couple of plum trees that do this. I really would like to see the adult leaves of this creature, but if you do not want to wait just follow Jane's wise advice and then you can move on. I see your problem as an intellectual challenge, and therefore interesting to try and help solve; however, it it is a tree, you would be wise to remove that thing before it damages the foundation of your home. This time of year is good to begin chopping as you will have the strong sap surge of the plant working in your favour. You can see the buds on the top of that stem, so there is upward-flowing sap. Therefore if you pull out the loppers and cut it off the sap could bleed out of the stump and that alone could kill it. Please do let us know how you get on with this. Good luck.
