What is the most effective way to get rid of an old bed of Nandinas. It's about 20'X4' and impossible to dig. Will Roundup work.
Nandinas
Sandy, I think the amount of Roundup you'd have to use would not be cost effective or very good for the soil. And if it killed them and you cut back the foliage, they would still have to be dug out after dying because the roots would take years to break down. I am guessing you say it's impossible to dig, because the roots are so thick and such? I have tried to dig out a nandina myself before and found it pretty much impossible too. I just could not get the shovel in the soil around the giant thick root ball. I do know it can be done though. Soon after I tried to remove mine, we sold the house and the lady who bought the house had them dug out. I would suggest hiring some guys to do it. Somebody who works in landscaping everyday should be able to dig them out. Maybe at your local day labor center or something.
We have dug ours out and I agree it is a very hard job but not impossible, I will post pictures later of the job.
I do believe that you need a man's help, we women don't have big enough muscles for the job.
Josephine.
I dug out some about 6 years ago, but I've gotten smarter since then. DH dug out the last batch and broke the handle on the hatchet when he did it. If you want to get it done quick I suggest getting a front end loader if you know how to use it and it's not too close to the house. I've heard if you spray something like Agrispon at a really strong solution you can kill a plant. But I'm not sure that damdinas (oops sorry, nandinas) qualify as plants. As you can tell, they are not my favorite thing. Good luck.
I had someone that took out part of the roots and the above ground plant parts. They were supposed to take them all out but didn't. I knew that they would come back and they've started. I guess it will take a pickaxe and strong arms. We can't use heavy equipment because it is next to a building and the bed has some very nice trellises I want to use for vines. The part taken out is twisting in the wind on the very top of a large brush pile, silverfluter. Damdinas, I like that!
The brush pile is a good place for them. I don't know about yours, but ours are the kind that grow taller than the house. We bought DH's grandparents house in 1990. But before that we came here in the early 80's and those things were past the eaves. DH's Dad was too lazy to get out trim them, so you couldn't see the front of the house. They were even growing in front of the front porch like that. I had never seen dandinas before that and just thought it was really strange. Never had a thought then that I would have to deal with these things myself. We dug out an 8 foot bed of them about 2 years ago but there's still another bed about 16 feet long full of damdinas. They are coming up out in the yard too.