Hedge-o-cide

tansy · Post by **tansy** » Wed Jun 18, 2008 10:00 am

also you might want to wait until the fall of the year when things turn brown anyway, it just won't come back in the spring. I do hate the use of chemicals but sometimes it may be warranted.

The Weekenders · Post by **The Weekenders** » Wed Jun 18, 2008 10:03 am

Goats.

Ronbo · Post by **Ronbo** » Wed Jun 18, 2008 11:09 am

Use the dilute stuff and put it on the leaves. It is growing like crazy now, so you get your best shot at killing it. If you buy the ready to spray stuff, you can set the sprayer so that it shoots a very small stream, and you can hit the hedge without a lot of side damage. Dont use the concentrate under any circumstances, except to inject. If you do use the concentrate on the outside of the plant, it will sit there until the next good rain, then kill everything in sight.

Dark is your friend, unless you can relabel the roundup as plant food. If your local bureaucrats hassle you, just cut off a lot of the poison whatever, and send it to them in an anonymous bouquet.

dwest · Post by **dwest** » Wed Jun 18, 2008 11:22 am

djm wrote:Okay, if you are bent on death and destruction, some other effective methods are:

a). Pour boiling water over the plant, especially down near the bottom. This has proven effective on Chinese alder and poplar.

b). Pour gasoline around the base. This has worked on maple and oak trees up to 10". (DO NOT get caught doing this).

djm

What! No!I can't believe I'm doing this, and may the great reference librarian in the sky forgive me http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roundup You can put it in a jar and even put an indicator dye in there that will make it look like a liquid plant food and then paint it on with a brush as suggested earlier. And do it in the morning not at night and make sure the weather forecast is calling for clear skies. BTW what is the hedge material itself?

The Weekenders · Post by **The Weekenders** » Wed Jun 18, 2008 11:33 am

You might try copper nails. In the old days, people who wanted to clearcut trees, but didn't yet have chainsaws, put copper wire around trees, tightly. It was called "ringing" the trees and was extremely environmentally incorrect behavior. Mostly done by sheepherders who wanted mo' grass.

dwest · Post by **dwest** » Wed Jun 18, 2008 11:47 am

The Weekenders wrote:You might try copper nails. In the old days, people who wanted to clearcut trees, but didn't yet have chainsaws, put copper wire around trees, tightly. It was called "ringing" the trees and was extremely environmentally incorrect behavior. Mostly done by sheepherders who wanted mo' grass.

Shoot, I have found trees on mitigation sites I monitor that have died because the plastic flagging tape left on by the installers has girdled the tree. Imagine a 6" dia. pine falling over only to discover that at the base it was constricted down to about an inch and a half. The copper itself causes no problems. Remember copper is a commodity metal don't waste it.

Copper nails belong in wood boats and slate roofs.

Jeferson · Post by **Jeferson** » Wed Jun 18, 2008 11:48 am

Just don't try this!

CHasR · Post by **CHasR** » Wed Jun 18, 2008 11:53 am

djm wrote:
b). Pour gasoline around the base.

followed, of course by gold, diamonds, truffle oil and platinum, eh?

and the inevitable:

c.) run like hell when some passing moron throws a fag-end into said hedge.

This isnt some cute 'landscape grennery'...

it's a 20+ foot long, 4 to 5 ft high , thorny, english ivy, poison ivy and sumac-encrusted being out of a Dr. Who episode...
lemme get a picture up:

this is after being properly hacked for an hour last night.
Dont be deceived by its tame appearance, and mediocre size.

missy · Post by **missy** » Wed Jun 18, 2008 12:41 pm

Could you find someone that drives an old junker to run through it?

Several times?

dwest · Post by **dwest** » Wed Jun 18, 2008 1:28 pm

Does it actually have thorns? You could claim that thorns combined with poison ivy presents a clear danger to the public and it would be in the best interests of the civic association to have you replace the hedge with more appropriate material for use in public spaces. In addition it looks like it traps debris which is unsightly for the community. Otherwise please consider watering it well, maybe even a little liquid fertilizer then when it is looking particularly vibrant with a burst of fresh new foliage...kill it

Maybe take off another three inches all around just to make sure you get new growth everywhere. Then claim that a natural gas leak under the sidewalk killed it or Irish Hedge Blight a virulent blight that first appeared in Ireland sometime after the Penal Laws of 1695

djm · Post by **djm** » Wed Jun 18, 2008 1:38 pm

The methods I listed are tried and true. I am not a librarian. After seeing your picture, I think you would do well to rescue that hedge. Try the spot treatments mentioned to get rid of the invaders. Prune out some of the denser interior growth to get more air flow to the inside of the hedge. There's no reason to lose a nice hedge other than it's going to cost you a bit of elbow grease.

djm

dwest · Post by **dwest** » Wed Jun 18, 2008 2:10 pm

djm wrote:The methods I listed are tried and true. I am not a librarian. After seeing your picture, I think you would do well to rescue that hedge. Try the spot treatments mentioned to get rid of the invaders. Prune out some of the denser interior growth to get more air flow to the inside of the hedge. There's no reason to lose a nice hedge other than it's going to cost you a bit of elbow grease.

djm

But we can't even identify the dominant species. It could be a species completely inappropriate for that space, just because it looks nice is not sufficent reason to keep it and if it is appropriate I can tell from the photo that it would be better to rejuvenate it by taking it all the way down to ground. Personally I like trifoliate oranges, they puncture everybody indiscriminately and you can use the fruit to throw at the civic association, best hedge on the planet.

brewerpaul · Post by **brewerpaul** » Wed Jun 18, 2008 7:33 pm

I'm thinking Brush Hog... that hedge is awful, and it's so thinned out that it does not look like it stands a chance of ever improving.

CHasR · Post by **CHasR** » Wed Jun 18, 2008 7:38 pm

Although I have other generic organic matter in mind for the civic ass'n,
I have no intention whatsoever of letting the thing live. Asphalt is a much more appropriate species for the space, IMHO. I have PLENTY of other foliage I would nt dream of giving the 'hedge-treatment' to on my property.

So this is what I have to work with:

*pouring gasoline around the base
*injecting 'roundup' (or other toxin) into the roots
*driving copper nails into the ground around it
*burying a fetid cheese in the plants midst
* '92 1/4 ton Ford pickup attack

What would YOU go with???

(PS: cutting it down hard wont work: it'l just take it as a challenge to grow back-trust me., and NO, its not in my interest to 'save' it: it encumbereth my frontage, yaknowwhatimean?)

AND>I cant just cut the blasted thing down; it has to LOOK like it's died a natural death...

.

I.D.10-t · Post by **I.D.10-t** » Wed Jun 18, 2008 7:52 pm

CHasR wrote: it has to LOOK like it's died a natural death...

Ever think of incompetence? Trim it daily, water it until the roots have rotted, add fertilizer until the roots have burned out (much like the burn stains left by a dog). I mean, if you are stuck with it, it would make sense to try to revive it. You know that you are torturing the plant, but everyone else will think you are a saint. You watch as the plant puts up with what you throw at it. The bane of your lawn withers as you wonder "what will finally do it in?" When all that is left is thriving poison ivy and sumac the home owner's society will try to talk to you and ask that you "take care" of the dead twigs and you can say "No! Look! (pointing at the ivy) It is still green and alive!" "You wouldn't dare make me kill my dear Ralphredrick!"