I accidentally posted this in the wrong spot!!!
I have this elm which is overtaking my roses and other plants in my front yard. The roots are too strong to pull by myself. I have been cutting it back. Does anyone know what I can use to kill this?
Thank you
Very Novice Gardener!
You probably have an Ulmus pumila or rather a Siberian Elm. Makes no difference because Ulmus japonica suckers like a fiend too however cut it down with a chain saw to about a foot and after you are done taking it down, take the edge of your bar and run it up and down the sides of the stump a few times stripping it of bark to expose the cambium layer. Now take a 1" disposable paint brush and dip it in your bottle of RoundUp and paint the exposed stump and the areas where you stripped away the bark. That should do you and you will be rid of this plant. And, Siberian elms do sucker as you've already noticed so this time there is no way around using a chemical this side of drilling a hole the size of a baseball down the center of the cut stump and detonating a small hand grenade down there.
Now is the time to do this. It won't work in spring when the sap is running.
I hate chemicals with a passion but sometimes there is no viable alternative for a regular homeowner.
Now is the time to do this. It won't work in spring when the sap is running.
I hate chemicals with a passion but sometimes there is no viable alternative for a regular homeowner.
We had a big huge Norway Maple that somebody thought was beautiful and just for yucks, my husband stuck a stick of dynamite down the middle of it. And, yes... you can get sticks of dynamite legally or at least you could back when he did it. Barely phased the tree although the hole was considerably bigger after my husband blew up the tree. I suspect a hand grenade might have done a better job than the stick of dynamite. We ended up having to pour 3 cans of Stump Out down the newly enlarged hole and then we hired somebody to grind it out. Would have simply been better to cut it down and strip some bark off the sides then stump treat it with chemicals. We have one more big huge Norway Maple to remove from here. I'm sure my husband would love to try a hand grenade if he could get his hands on one however I think we'll go the hack and squirt and stump cut route. Seems a lot safer route to take.
Ummm, have you used a chainsaw before? If not, please ask the person you are borrowing the chain saw from to come over and take care of the Elm for you. I had to take two sets of classes to be able to use mine and although it's years later, I'm still afraid of the darn things and will not even attempt to bring down anything beyond 40 or 50 feet myself. I've taken down thousands of trees but nothing outside of my skillset or comfort level. Please don't use the chain saw yourself unless you have used one before and have the safety wear such as chaps, hearing protection, and eye protection.
Ummm, have you used a chainsaw before? If not, please ask the person you are borrowing the chain saw from to come over and take care of the Elm for you. I had to take two sets of classes to be able to use mine and although it's years later, I'm still afraid of the darn things and will not even attempt to bring down anything beyond 40 or 50 feet myself. I've taken down thousands of trees but nothing outside of my skillset or comfort level. Please don't use the chain saw yourself unless you have used one before and have the safety wear such as chaps, hearing protection, and eye protection.
Oh, only 2' tall. No problem. Take a hand axe and scrape off the bark with downward strokes. Just don't try to hang on to the saplings with your hand while you're using the hand ax and you should be just fine. Now go ahead and paint the little buggers. That will take care of them. That size should easily be able to be dug up. I know I could get those little ones out with a weed wrench without having to resort to any chemicals at all.
If even the mere mention was made of blowing up a tree with a hand grenade... our neighbors would all come over with lawn chairs for the show. Sheesh, they'd even bring a dish to pass so the "boys" could gather for some fun. Oh how they love to burn and blow things up around here.
If even the mere mention was made of blowing up a tree with a hand grenade... our neighbors would all come over with lawn chairs for the show. Sheesh, they'd even bring a dish to pass so the "boys" could gather for some fun. Oh how they love to burn and blow things up around here.