Not sure this is where this question belongs, but I'm confident our friendly and helpful Admin will see to it that it gets to where it should go. There were a bunch of ..... bushes? weedy things? .... growth in Ed's front garden that he had Grayson just cut down flush with the ground. He didn't want them there, didn't plant them, didn't know how they started to grow there. But the garden has been neglected for a long time, so these plants became firmly rooted and grew unchecked for a few years. I just assumed that if they were cut all the way to the ground they'd just go away. Boy, how wrong was I????? They're all putting up shoots and growing furiously, and I don't want them to! What do I do? Is there any way I can just make them go dormant, stop growing, kill them off so all that's left is the stumps (which I thought cutting them to the ground would do.) I've planted things around them because I, in my uninformed state, didn't realize that they were going to come back. I DON'T want to have to dig them up because it will destroy all the planting that I've done in that front bed so far. Suggestions?
The roots are what control growth not the stems, branches or leaves. As long as they are alive and in the ground they will continue to regrow. You might have to dig up the new plants and keep them in pots until you take care of the problem child. Any killers that you put on it could kill the plants you want to keep and digging it up will certainly disturb and possibly kill them. Without seeing the leaves there is not much hope of knowing what it is. As far as how it got there, birds and squirrels are the usual culprit if it wasn't planted on purpose. If the plant produces seeds or nuts they can be spread around. Squirrels bury the nuts for later (then promptly forget them) and birds eat the seeds of a plant then poop in some elses yard and plants spread. There are Fig trees all over our neighborhood from birds who ate the figs in our backyard.
Yeah digging up the roots might be your best option. Laying out several layers of news paper will help with the smaller ones until the roots are dead. Once they're dead and under control you can dust the garden with cornmeal to stop new seeds from germinating. Cornmeal is a pre-emergent. But it's indiscrimenent. So if you plan on growing anything from seed you will want to rethink using it.
I can't tell what kind of bush that is. If you cannot at some point discover the name of the bush, knowing exactly how to approach it's removal could be tricky. I have the idea that it would be best to remove the smaller plants surrounding the bush roots and transplant them in a shady and moist place in the garden. Then ruthlessly remove the roots as well as you can. The plants can go back in october. Good luck with this tough problem.
Make a thick salt paste with salt, just enough flour to hold together and water. Apply the paste thickly to the cut top of the one you want to eliminate. I have used salt on privet hedge ,,and almost nothing will kill it. It comes back in spades every time it is cut down. Usually thicker than the original plant. I would move any plants that are very close that you want to keep.
You could also spray the plant with vinegar. It is a great killer of vegetation.Just be careful not to spray it on other plants around it.
