Sounds weird, but I need to kill my shrubs

I have shrubs which were planted as foundation plantings. We're estimating that they were planted about 30 years ago, but they are so close to the house that the only way I can paint is to cut them down to the ground. Does anyone has suggestions on how to kill them off completely? We've been advised not to try and uproot them with a come-along or dig them out due to the location of the sewer pipe and gas line. The neighbors tell me they've been cut down to the ground before and they came right back, bigger than ever. I don't know the type of shrub - it's not a boxwood, but it is evergreen and never flowers. Would covering the stumps with black plastic for a year or so work?

AnnMarie

If it is a sunny side of the house the plastic should work to bake them to death.
If you are not opposed to chemical use you might try round up but this must be done by spraying the leaves top and bottom to be effective and you will wnd up with some big dead bushes that still need to be dug out!

You may have to dig them out after cutting them down. Time consuming and tricky to do under the circumstances...a hand trowel job that can take orever to accomlplish! I had to dig out a couple that were over a water line once and it took a lot of work. But once I had dug up and cut at the root enough it never came back again.

Good luck! Maybe someone else will have a better solution for you!

More on the chemicals idea. You can cut the stump down real short (as close to the ground as you can), and then, using a paint brush, coat the top of the stump with triclopyr, like the brand "Brush Killer", by Ortho.

That will stop any new growth, and slowly kill the root.

Dave

Thanks Dave - that's a great idea. I even have some triclopyr that I once used for poison ivy before we had so many animals (now I just stock up on Benedryl.) I never thought about using it on shrubs, but I guess one person's "shrub" is another person's "brush".

I'm not planning to dig the stumps out - there are too many of them (at least 20!) It looks like the original plantings were only about 6 inches from the foundation and I plan to keep that area clear in the future so I can get to the house to paint, run phone lines, etc.

This may be a little late to answer your question, but I had the same situation and thought you might want to know what has worked (so far) for me. I was told by a landscape professional to cut the shrub as close to the ground as possible and pile dirt several inches over the top. Don't let any light get to any of the roots. I did this back in April and have not seen any new growth. I want to plant something smaller in the area, but was told it will take a couple of years for the roots to decay enough to do that. As the roots decay they rob the soil of nutrients, so other plants won't do well there until that process is finished.

Thanks bulblady - I'm still in the process of chopping them down so I will add dirt on top after I "paint" them with BrushBGone. Also appreciate the tip about the roots robbing the nutrients as they decay. A neighbor suggested I plant tall annuals or bulbs there that could be easily removed if I need to get to the house for painting or wiring. I'll wait several years before I try that. Glad to see a fellow Austinite here at DG!

I am in a similar position to Amari. I have several decade old foundation plantings. In my case, however, I have not yet decided whether or not they all have to go. In any case, the branches of all of them are VERY close together and they are just too big for the area. I have the idea that I might try some hard pruning [say half or more of the branches]to see if I can decrease the size by at least a third to a half. The ones that end up looking like a 5 year old gave them a bad haircut, I would then want to kill and replace with something I like better. Most of these guys are boxwoods. But there are some evergreens and some GIANT holly as well. Has anyone had any luck making giant boxwoods smaller and more manageable?

Thanks.

C

Amari
Cut your shrubs way down...sprinkle with Epsom Salts and cover with plastic and then tie shut and in a few months they should start to decay. Can also do this with stumps

I am a little late in responding(new to this site) so just in case you have not found something, check with your local county extension office, and also your electric company. Our electric co, cut down 26 large growth trees in the power line(without notifying us)we have to use a stump removal service to get out the dead trunks, there is something they use to spray them with to keep them from re sprouting.

I have learned so much from all of you. I now have newspaper under my compost and am using White Vinegar and black poly to get rid of my much hated Sumac. Great tips! This tree sends shoots up under the compost and into the lawn, 15 feet from the stump. But I will win and it will be gone, (eventually) The Vinegar is also working very well in my gravel driveway.
Thanx for all your help. Hope this helps you too Ann Marie
CB

why kill it? Around here we tie a chain around the base of the plant, then it's attached to the back of the truck...then we pull it out with "modern horsepower",,,just a thought...
Kelly

Amari, I can attest to the 'cover with soil/mulch' idea. I had a small maple that continually sent up dozens of new shoots around the base, despite numerous time of cutting them off. Since I didn't want that maple anyway, I finally cut it all off, and made a raised bed covered with at least 12" immediately over the tree stump area, tapering to about 8" at the edges of the bed. That was 3 years ago, and everything planted in that bed does nicely, with no maple shoots emerging.

I also must add that Brush-B-Gone is really serious stuff, it practically kills the SOIL,...I'd never ever use it anyplace where I planned to plant again in the next year or so. Try the other stuff first. I'd probably take the time to find out exactly what kind of plant you're dealing with also: some really overgrown monster-plants can be cut down to the ground & then re-shaped when they grow back & kept a manageable size. You might be losing something you could grow to love. Just a thought.

don't know if anyone is watching this anymore. and it is probaly to late anyway but if you want to kill something after you cut it down hammer some copper nails, pennys, heavy copper wire etc into the middle of the stump and that will kill it

Or pour copper sulfate on it.

I love all these ideas, just when I needed them..I have finally given up trying to battle a huge ugly laurel, the more I try to keep it back the bigger it gets. It's gotta go, I've had enough of struggling to keep it in line!

Carena:
dig it up and give it to someone else.
bye bye problem