I had 2 relatively small trees in my backyard that I had removed. The trunks were about 6 inches in diameter. I even went the extra mile and had their stumps ground down.
So why kill inncent trees? These were ornamental plums and their droppings seem to inevitably land in the swimming pool. Anyway, months go by and everything seems fine, then all of a sudden I started seeing shoots come up out of the ground near where the trees had been. I figured these shoots were coming from roots that didn’t get pulled out when the trees were removed. I carefully pulled out the shoots whenever I saw them figuring that sooner or later the roots would just give up and die. :dubious:
No such luck, it’s been over a year since I removed those 2 trees and I am still fighting new shoots on almost a weekly basis. So what’s the deal? Do roots live forever? Doesn’t a plant eventually run out of energy if you deprieve it of green material? Do I have to stab the roots with a wooden stake?
So now what should I do ? Continue to remove the shoots when I see them? Poison the roots somehow? Try to dig down and find all of the roots and pull them all out? :eek:
Ornamental plums are very persistent. My parents had one and after they cut it down it took several years for no shoots to come back. If you can just mow over them when you cut your lawn, they will eventually give up. Or you can try Roundup.
