Killing Trees using Copper Nails?

And illegal till we leave the EU

 

Doubt if it will change then

Two reasons, I've heard of in the past 1) The tree is on somebody else's property. 2) It has a TPO on it In both cases it was related to property development, or the trees were blocking a view.

 

Sadly not necessarily, if a tree dies slowly then it may just have died naturally, stress, honey fungus or other disease. Many people/councils would not investigate.
For property developers the additional value added to the land significantly exceeds the typical fine.

 

@Marley Farley I'm sure it isn't and it's just my cynical nature.

 

Anyone know if there's an alder equivalent of dutch elm disease/ash dieback/acute oak decline I could find somewhere in the world and introduce it into my garden?

 

I'm assuming that as we have now left the EU I can use sodium chlorate again....

 

Possibly: however introducing it into the UK would be both foolish and illegal.

I wouldn't make that assumption at all. Certainly there has been nothing publicised and many "EU regulations" were put into UK legislation and so unless the law is repealed still apply.
This is from 2019 by Public Health England https://assets.publishing.service.g...rate_PHE_general_information_January_2019.pdf
The other reason for banning the public sale of Sodium perchlorate is that it can be used in explosives. See here for Regulations and banned substances Supplying explosives precursors and poisons Section 7 is a list
Sodium perchlorate was never particularly good as a weed killer as it migrated sideways in the soil and was persistent: also after treatment with sodium perchlorate plants burnt a bit too well.
Ammonium sulphamate would have been a better bet it was sold as "Root Out" and breaks down within a couple of months and is less dangerous to the user. this was also banned due to the cost of testing as a weedkiller. Still available as a compost accelerator.
The RHS have a list of permitted weedkillers https://www.rhs.org.uk/advice/pdfs/weedkiller-for-home-gardeners.pdf

 

"Thank god we are not in the EU anymore and can start poisoning nature again because the thing that is producing the oxygen I breath also blocks the view into nature from where I sit...."

 

Some

going on.

Guess I shouldn't ask if anyone knows where I can buy some Agent Orange....

 

Agent Orange was never available as such to the general public, as far as I know.
One of the ingredients 2-4-5 T is pretty much banned worldwide.
The other main ingredient 2-4-D is still used in weedkillers.
2-4-5 T has been replaced as a weedkiller by Dicamba and Trichlopyr.
So if you bought a 2-4-D containing weedkiller and one containing Trichlopyr; diluted according to instructions added some Sunset Yellow and you should get a pretty good looking substitute.

 

I know this is an old post but does anyone know how long this method would take noticeable effect ?

 

At this time of the year it's pretty fast as the rising sap takes it up the tree.
It's debatable if it will kill the roots though.

 

I tried it once but it didn't work.
Maybe I didn't use enough nails !
I think it's illegal to kill trees these days, unless they're in your own garden with no preservation order on them.