I need to kill a crape myrtle tree. What is the best way to do this? I have many other plants planted around it's area so digging it out is not an option. Plus it's huge. I have cut it down to about a1ft tall stump for now. All suggestions would be very welcome. Thanks in advance.
KILLING Crape myrtle
If it were mine I would put something around it to protect the other plants and put stumpkiller on it.
Drill holes in the top of the trunk and pour in roundup, mixed 4 to 1.
If I were determined to kill it, I'd probably be inclined to have a go with the poison, too, but it depends on what's around it. (Honestly, I'd probably leave it and just snip the new sprouts, but that's just me.) There is some risk of the other plants coming in contact with poison from the roots. Note that what you're trying to do is kill the rootball, so you want to put the poison where it will be carried down to the roots through the tree's normal transport system. The ploem, around the outside just under the bark, not the heart wood which is mostly structural.
If you don't want to use poison, then you can kill it slowly by blocking one of the things it needs for photosynthesis (food) - water, air (carbon dioxide), or sunlight. Sunlight will probably be the most practical. Take _heavy_ black plastic and wrap it around the little stump, all the way to the ground so that any root flares are covered, and that any new canes will emerge inside the plastic. Wrap it up tight with duct tape. Then wait for a year or so (no peeking). If any suckers do pop out of the roots further out, cut them imediately, and figure out how to get that area covered. (More plastic held down by rocks or wood?) It's slow, but it won't hurt anything else, and it sounds like you've got enough other plants that the plastic wouldn't be unsightly.
If you mange to kill this, please let us know what did the trick. I removed 3 of them when we first bought our current home, that was 7 years ago. I even had the root balls dug out by guys with pick axes. I thought we were in good shape and I put in a raised bed of roses there. I've been pulling up crepe myrtle suckers for 7 years now. They will sprout from the smallest bit of root left in the ground. They're not just hardy, they're indesturctible!
Good luck and please keep us posted on your methods and results.
Crow
I killed 4 in my yard this year. Got sick of trying to do the nice way. Drill big holes in the cut off stump and pour in BRUSH KILLER straight from the bottle (per directions). Do this twice and it's dead as a doornail. Stump killer will not kill the tree, it is a decomposing agent that makes the stump rot quickly once the tree is already dead. Get your hubby or whoever to find the biggest drill bit they have, like 1/2" or 1"..
I guarantee this works!!!! I will come mow your yard if it doesn't, haha! If you need photos of mine I will provide them, they are indeed doornail dead finally, after years of trying everything. It was the Brush killer that did the trick for me. It is stronger than Roundup.
This message was edited Jul 19, 2010 10:05 AM
Darkmoondreamer, thanks for correcting me. I did mean brushkiller instead of stumpkiller. I just use it mostly on stumps in the concentrated form and I guess that's the way I was thinking of it.
Thanks y'all. I'll try it this weekend. I am a bit concerned about the killer leaching out of the stump but I'm gonna try it anyways. Thanks again!
That is why Roundup is the # 1 herbicide world wide, as soon as it touches soil, it quickly breaks down and becomes inert. If you find you have sprayed something you did not want to kill, take a hand full of dirt and make a mud pie and smear it on the leaves you have sprayed and it will save the plant.
Catz Roundup makes a Vine and Brush Killer, look for it
Be careful with the vine and bush killer, some have other chem. that Glyphosate. Glyphosate breaks down in the soil, some of the other chem. do not. Roundup makes an extended weed killer that works great for driveways but if you spray weeds under say a Japanese Maple, the JM also dies. A lot of weed and brush killers also work on the roots, which meas the chem. stays active in the soil.
Also if you accidentally spray RU on something you can wash it off with water as soon as possible and it will be OK. I have a spray bottle of water on hand just in case I do that.