How Do I Kill It!!!!!

[Guest *Ice*]

Right,starter for ten!!!

What the heck is this stuff and more importantly,how do i kill it?

Every year,i try and pull the stuff up,but as you can see,it spreads like wild fire and takes over half of my garden.

Please help!

Thank you.

[SnowBear]

Looks like a form of Buddlia?

[Portland Paul]

Hi Ice,

This looks like a Spiraea ( pronounced Spy-ree-ya), but not the attractive sort you would find at your local garden centre.

I don't know it's variety name, but, I know that it can become a very invasive nuisance. I spent hours and hours digging out a 40' long by 8' wide border of it at a garden I maintain, one winter a few years ago. A little of it still remains, but I will make sure it never reaches the epidemic proportions of before!

If your feeling energetic, and really loathe this spreading shrub, then start by cutting all stems hard back - to make the job of removing the plants easier. If the plants have formed a 'thicket', you (or a helpful male hand :huh: ) may find using a pick-axe will help break up the condensed mass of suckers. This is certainly a job to keep you warm in winter ( and the fresh air will do you the wolrd of good! ), and you may find the soil underneath remarkably dry, even at that season.

Dispose of the plants, and dig in lots of bulky compost, and then you'll have an exciting new patch at the ready for spring planting.

[frogesque]

Yep, Spiraea japonica sounds like the culprit.

As Breezy Brum has said - you just have to be ruthless with it. It's not enough just to get the roots out though, you have to be alert for self sown seedlings. Keep ripping anything out that remotely looks like it. Turning and improving the soil will help. It will get those seeds germinating and the seedlings will be easier to pull without breaking them off. Also it will give any other plants a head start and they will compete better. Unfortunatlely, if you want to grow anything else getting rid of Spirea is largely a backbreaking exercise. Domestic weedkillers strong enough to kill it will affect your soil and the woody stems render Weedol and the like ineffective.

[Guest *Ice*]

So a flamethrower would be out of the question then? :huh:

[PersianPaladin]

So a flamethrower would be out of the question then? :blink:    

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Have u tried hydrochloric acid?

[Bilz]

What about Roundup? Kills the root. Kills the weed.

[Guest *Ice*]

Yeah but for the amount of the stuff ive got,id need a soddin' tanker full of roundup! :blink:

[Guest Phil_Uk]

Block paving is the answer.

And after a year, and two massive Cedar trees outside your house that Solihull council refuse to cut down because they can't be arsed to refuse to (Or can't afford it as they say! Yeah right! :blink: and all the leaves fall into mine and my neighbours front guttering which in itself causes damage. Can cause moss to form on block paved rear ends of the house too.

See below.

And the leaves are now starting to fall, so another job of cleaning the bloody things up around November/December! I'm not impressed!

Phil.

[Methuselah]

Yeah but for the amount of the stuff ive got,id need a soddin' tanker full of roundup! :blink:

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Or a gardener??

[I can't believe it's not better]

Or a gardener??  

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Yeah, you need to be vigilent and determined and keep picking at any new bits to keep it weak - suprisingly works for Bindweed.

Edit: But I suppose you'd finnish it off with a systemic, so would have to leave a bit growing to treat it.

Edited October 19, 2005 by I can't believe it's not better

[Stratos Ferric]

Block paving is the answer.

And after a year, and two massive Cedar trees outside your house that Solihull council refuse to cut down because they can't be arsed to refuse to (Or can't afford it as they say! Yeah right! and all the leaves fall into mine and my neighbours front guttering which in itself causes damage. Can cause moss to form on block paved rear ends of the house too.

See below.

And the leaves are now starting to fall, so another job of cleaning the bloody things up around November/December! I'm not impressed!

Phil.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Phil,

A pet subject of mine. I had a most amusing passage with about the nearest thing I have to a neighbour a year ago because she wanted me to cut a tree down. Within two minutes of each other she managed to come out with "it's rather big isn't it" (seeing as it's about 250 years old - yes it is) and when I asked her, somewhat tentatively, whether she hadn't noticed it when she bought the house the previous year "well, no".

It strikes me that there ain't no helping some people. Thank heavens for the NHS eh.

[crimsone]

Phil,

A pet subject of mine.  I had a most amusing passage with about the nearest thing I have to a neighbour a year ago because she wanted me to cut a tree down.  Within two minutes of each other she managed to come out with "it's rather big isn't it" (seeing as it's about 250 years old - yes it is) and when I asked her, somewhat tentatively, whether she hadn't noticed it when she bought the house the previous year "well, no".

It strikes me that there ain't no helping some people.  Thank heavens for the NHS eh.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

heh! 250 year old Cedar? get a tree preservation order slapped on it. That'll upset her! A Cedar of 250 yrs old certainly deserves one!

On the subject of the abbove garden invasion, annoying though it is, just thank the skies that youve got what you have, and not Himilayan Balsam!

(see, a bright side to everything :lol: )

[Gray-Wolf]

Chop it down, root killer on the exposed 'stumps' then old carpet/black plastic for a few years over the site (nice cover of sharp grit or bark to cover the 'treated area') to keep it 'useable' for the period. When done you'll have a weed free patch for you to 'play' with .