# How do I kill a rose gone wild?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-kill-a-rose-gone-wild/449269>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [May 14, 2008, 12:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-kill-a-rose-gone-wild/449269 "2008-05-14T12:51:21Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![VunderBob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/839c29/32.png) [@VunderBob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VunderBob)\
**Post date:** [May 14, 2008, 12:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-kill-a-rose-gone-wild/449269/1 "2008-05-14T12:51:21Z")

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I had a rose in the front flower bed that was let go by the previous owner, and it became this wild thing, kind of like kudzu with thorns, threatening to overgrow the house. After a long, hard fought battle, I cut it to the base. then dug down and cut out the big taproot, too.

The wild rose has fought back. The remaining roots all have sprouted, and now I have 5 new kudzu-with-thorns to replace the original.

How can I kill them off? I have Roundup, and I’m not afraid to use it, but will it do in roses? Continued digging is not practical because of other plants in the bed I do not want to disrupt.

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**Author:** ![Scumpup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce73a5/32.png) [@Scumpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scumpup)\
**Post date:** [May 14, 2008, 1:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-kill-a-rose-gone-wild/449269/2 "2008-05-14T13:00:36Z")

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Get Ortho Brush-B-Gon or one of the other similar brush/poison ivy killers and apply it directly to the rose plants with a brush. Don’t spray. Poison ivy and wild roses can both be real SOB’s to eradicate, especially when surrounded by desirable plants but this method will work.