How do I get rid of volunteer trees?

Question

I have a badly neglected raied bed next to the house. There are several species of annuals - oliander, pin oak, maple - that have been growing there and cut back for years - they all have multiple shoots comming from a common root. I sprayed Round-up on the leaves to no effect.

I also need to find out how to get rid of these stumps.

Answer 1

There is some stuff you can put on stumps to kill the tree and make them rot. I've seen it at nurseries but can't remember the name.

Since I don't care about the little stumps, I have some stuff that you squirt on it that kills the root, but doesn't do the rotting part. It seems to work very well.

Answer 2

You've tried the stuff most of us are willing to do. Time to "call the guy"? (That's what we say in our family when we've had enough!)

Ask your neighbors for recommendations on tree services. They can come give you a quote. For a few hundred $, they bring a big noisy stump grinder and get it done.

Answer 3

You'll have to dig them up using a sharp spade.
.
Pin Oak ? hmm, too bad, I know someone who digs up his stray Beeches and sells them!
.
The maples, I know are a real pain, I just cleaned out a thousand of them! And...I've got maples growing on my barn roof!

Answer 4

dig them up by the roots and backhaul dirt to fill the holes