Removing saplings?!"�£�£

Hiya All
Have a question for you experts!

I have a sycamore sapling growing between my house wall and the patio floor - i.e. right into my foundations. We tried to cut it out when it was a lot smaller(i.e. last year) but it has come back with a vengeance (which was a risk I know). I've bought some proprietary systemic weedkiller stuff, and I'm hoping I can use this on it as it is really only small still, (about 1-1.5m high but only with a stem about 2cm in diameter!)

So my question is, do I paint it on the leaves like with smaller plants, or do I cut the 'trunk' and then paint onto the open surface?

Or is there another way that's good?

I really need to remove this plant, which is a shame as I love trees, especially british deciduous, but it will cause major structural damage if left to grow even for another year.

Thanks!



[ 22. August 2005, 01:33 PM: Message edited by: Seal ]

 

Hi Seal. I once used something called "root out" to kill some leylandii that were growing right up against my house. I'm sure you can still get it or something very similar. You cut the tree then paint on the root out. It kills the tree and starts the rotting process. Your local garden centre should be able to help

 

Hi Seal, Rotten luck! they do spring up in the most strange places! They seed everywhere!
You don't say what surface your patio consists of - is there any chance you could remove the paving units around the offending article & dig it out? I believe also, if you are going to resort to herbicide, that you may need to go for a specialist stump killer (the chemical heads on this site will have more of a clue ) + make sure if you do go that route,that there is no danger of the herbicide leaching into pipes/drains etc! As a matter of interest - the sycamore was only introduced here in the 15th or 16th century, so is not truly a native! Good luck on getting rid of it!

 

Thanks Guys - I saw some tree root killer, containing the same active chemical as the systemic stuff I bought, but it involved a complicated looking process of scoring the sides of the trunk and then folding the bark down, holding it with an elastic band for two weeks and then painting it - and the sapling diameter is so small I just don't think I can do this without special micro-tools!

I'll ask my local proper garden centre for some help on the best stump killer to use - I don't think the staff at B & Q garden setion are particularly clued up! Unfortunately my patio is (currently) concrete, so not likely to be able to dig it out without bringing forward the major changes I'll eventually make! For such a small plant its caused a lot of problems!

Poor little tree, it looks so eager to grow, I feel like a murderer! Any more hints and tips, let me know!

Seal

 

I have two ash saplings 6ft high growing in the gap between my garage and my neighbour's garage. The gap is only a foot wide and I can't reach them. I doused them both with 'Deep Root' from above in the spring, the leaves have died away and to date no more leaves have appeared - hopefully they are dead! Perhaps you could try a similar method...