Grow Your Own Magazine

I need some advice!

I have a wall of about 6 Ceanothus shrubs...well, small tree's really! They have been in the ground for about 4/5 years max and I want to get rid of them. They take up the whole of the back wall in the garden and they just annoy me!

They are pretty established though ~ I took a hacksaw to them last year and literally cut them back to the main stem in an attempt to control them but they are huge again.

Can anyone give me any advice on how to get rid of them please? I am guessing I should cut them down to a foot or so but I'm not convinced that I will be able to get the roots out easily. On the other side of the wall in my neighbours garden are lots of trees and I would imagine that the roots would be intertwined with those...

Any help pretty please???

cut them down , dig round the trunk and use RootOut

I had one that har grown to about 12ft in all directions CV and we cut it down to a foot of the ground and it's coming back again!!! I think if you can't control it it's best to get it out but it will be a pig of a job.

__________________
ntg

Never be afraid to try something new.
Remember that a lone amateur built the Ark.
A large group of professionals built the Titanic

http://grief-encounters.blogspot.com/

I had one about 12ft high in (all over...) my tiny front garden. It got cut down and main roots removed by a bloke with a pickaxe before I dug around with a fork and pulled out as much as I could of the left over bits. We removed it to a foot under the ground! It has not returned. If your neighbour's trees are well established they should survive the accidental removal of a few bits of root.

__________________
You are a child of the universe,
no less than the trees and the stars;
you have a right to be here.
Max Ehrmann, Desiderata

blog: http://allyheebiejeebie.blogspot.com/ and my (basic!) page: http://www.allythegardener.co.uk/

Thanks a lot folks ~ I found Root Out in my garden centre but it was a large 25 quid box and I didn't have the cash on me so will have a look in the other one at the weekend.

There are 6 of these triffids in my garden that the last owner planted and called landscaping! But they are along the back wall and my neighbour has trees on her side of the wall that I think my roots may have entwined with.

I was in the garden yesterday and the flipping things are huge again

I'll have to wait a couple of weeks as my darling OH fell out of a loft and broke both his arms so digging isn't high on his list at the moment

Thanks for the tips folks ~ it'll be his first project when the casts come off! His second one is to double the size of my vegetable patch

You could try the old trick of banging in a copper nail. The theory is the copper is supposed to poison the tree and kill it - not sure how well it works.

I tried it on a monster of a mock orange that was killing a holly tree in our garden - the mock orange hasn't been seen for two years but there is some regrowth or possibly a new seeding in the same spot this year.

Terry

Am debating on making 6 large Ceanothus sized bonfires at this stage Terry Only thing stopping me are the 12 brussel sprout plants in front of them ~ not partial to roast brussels