How to get rid of pecan trees in flowerbeds

Don't get me wrong, I love squirrels except I detest trying to get rid of the pesky pecan trees that are constantly growing in my flowerbeds, because the squirrels love to bury the pecans.

I would like to know if there is any way to prevent the squirrels from planting the pecans in my flower beds. This is a constant battle and causes me much more stress than any bug! The pecan trees LOVE the weed killer I spray on them. They turn brown and look dead, BUT they come back with a vengeance. Look at the problem I have now with a pecan tree taking over my Yaupon Holly tree. Both trees will have to be dug up, and the Yaupon Holly will have to be replanted. I have been fighting this particular pecan tree for the 14 years I have lived here. Several people have tried to kill it, but it keeps coming back. I guess because the root is so far down there is no way to get rid of it. I would welcome any suggestions!

Here is a link to website where another person here in Austin has a classic description with the same problem.

http://www.noaura.com/pecans.html

The direct URL in the above message should be:

http://www.noaura.com/pecans.html

Sorry, I don't know why the link is not showing /pecans.html at the end.

I had problems with them planting walnuts in all my containers (a few in the garden, but most of them in containers), then I took that black plastic bird netting and put it over the tops of the containers and they stopped. I'm not sure if you want to do that all over your garden or not, seems like a lot of work, but I can't think of how else to do it. Unless one of the repellents that they sell would work to keep squirrels out of the bed altogether.

You might also try keeping an eye out for the trees when they're small and pull them rather than using weedkiller--I was able to easily pull up the walnut seedlings from the garden when they were small

Delores, I've had similar problems with dying trees that I've removed but left the stump. I think if you keep at it, it will sucuumb. Cut away most of it except a couple sets of leaves then spray the leaves with Roundup. As soon as new leaves sprout spray it again, keep doing that, eventually the plant will die, it has no way to make food.

Thanks for your replies! I have thought about using some type of net, especially during the fall when the leaves from the surrounding trees start to fall and during the time the pecans are falling. I live in a condo and we are surrounded by old, large pecan trees and elm trees--which also sprout in the flower beds. And, we have a multitude of busy squirrels!

I try to pull up the pecan trees while they are small--even the small ones are difficult to get the root and the pecan at the bottom, because the root grows deep very fast. The present trees got out of hand because we had so much rain this summer, and I did not tackle them as soon as I should have.

I have been using Roundup constantly for years--sometimes it works, sometimes not. It seems to be a losing battle, but I will keep trying. In the meantime, I will try to find some type of net--maybe it would help to keep out the roaming cats, also.

Thanks again!

Delores

Round up will kill some woody plants at a two to four percent solution. But thats the problem only some . Roundup is really for grass and weeds. Crossbow is for black berries and woody brush.I would spray all the leaves with round up to give the roots all they can take rather than just leave a couple then again if you just remove the bark from the trunk the tree will die without spray at all.