We have had just a little gripe session about this somewhere already.
The tree seedlings of pecan, oak, hackberry, cherry laurel and who knows what else is driving me mad. I can pull 1,000 one day and there are 2,000 the next day. If I let them do their own thing, I will have a forest and no garden.
Does anyone have a solution? Willing to try anything. I really appreciate a full grown tree and wouldn't for a minute consider taking the tree down. Just need some way to co-exist with my other plants.
Christi
tree seedlings
No solution, but I will be watching. I am covered up with tiny oak seedlings! Grrrr!
We just mow 'em down with the grass. The oaks that is. The pecans have an aggravating tendency to come up in the flower beds.:( That's a real pain because if you don't pull 'em up right away, they'll be a permanent fixture. My solution is to shoot the squirrels that plant them, but since I live in town and I'm probably a terrible shot, that's not an option. We also have alot of hackberry trees that come up everywhere. I decided to try Roundup on those. So far it's worked. But I didn't spray it. I mixed it up in a pan and used a sponge to apply it to whatever I want to get rid of. Haven't tried it on any pecans yet.
How about roundup on the squirrels ~ lol
I pull the oak seedlings. They are everywhere, between the bricks in the patio, in flower pots, beds even in the gutters and compost pile. They pull easier after a soaking rain. Sometimes I use shears and cut the leaves off which helps them die also. Getting vicious here. Grrrrr!
We have 2 monstrous live oaks and the seedlings are thicker than the grass. So in that part of the yard we just have a lawn of seedlings.:) We probably should single out 1 or 2 and let them grow. We've been really blessed to have these oaks, but I'm worried about oak wilt.
lol at Roundup on the squirrels. Man I wish that would work! Monsanto would sell 3 times as much Roundup as they already do.
We were forced to cut down 3 of our 41 year mature fruitless mulberry because they were more dead than alive. Big change for us without all that shade this year.
The pecans are absolutely driving me nuts. If I go one day without making the rounds,.....Katie, Bar the door!!! I don't even get to every bed every day. Have to start in a different place everyday. Not sure if weeds wouldn't be an easier trade-off. The fire ants and seedlings are taking over my raised veggie bed. Thought it would be so nice because the bunnies wouldn't get into it. Ha! They are the easy part.
There is bound to be a market for these silly things and we could all get rich!!!!!
Christi
There is........being sold on E-Bay.
:-)
I have noticed and asked about the oak sprouts - seems the roots send them up. A neighbor has thousands between the two live oaks on his corner lot, but the yard service he uses keeps them mowed.
I try to pull or cut any trees that pop up in any of the garden beds.
I like the idea if e-bay - Think anyone would PAY to come harvest the mini-forest - or better yet - the squirrels?
Check this out for the Pecan
http://cgi.ebay.com/Pecan-Tree-Carya-illinoesnsis-Live-6-10-Seedling_W0QQitemZ190224387271QQihZ009QQcategoryZ42354QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
AND
http://cgi.ebay.com/2-LIVE-PECAN-TREE-1-YEAR-SEEDLINGS-NATIVE-TEXAS-TREES_W0QQitemZ150251694786QQihZ005QQcategoryZ42354QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
LouC--maybe you should pot up all those thousands of seedlings. 1000 seedlings at $5 a piece= $5000
Not chump change! Or just sell them to some wholesaler to sell.
Pam
I've noticed the oak seedlings aren't coming up much anymore here--maybe any early spring flush and now they have subsided since its getting hot.
We all have our demons, it seems. While y'all have your problems with the oak and pecan seedlings, I'm planting them in hopes of BIG shade trees. My biggest problem is the nodding thistle that is replanted each summer by the seeds from the surrounding pastures, and since I planted my rose garden, I have come to loathe Texas Bindweed! But we do have one enemy in common....those D#%ned hackberry seedlings and suckers!! While they are not quite as bad as the thistle and bindweed, they do require valuable time that I could spend digging the other 2 rascules! There is no permanent solution for any of these as far as I can tell, just keep pullin' and a diggin' and know that we must all do the same.
ragweed is a big problem here that blows in from the "prairies"--it will come up everywhere that isn't heavily mulched
what aggravates me more than anything is the really invasive plants that blow in from others yards; I wonder if they have any idea that this is the biggest problem I have, much harder to eradicate than nutgrass or bermuda grass or ragweed. I am pulling these up constantly and they will come up thru 6-8" of mixed mulch. I think this should be added to the US invasive species list:
http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/93/
If I could figure out whose yard its coming from I'd have some really choice words to say to them......
dmj--I think that is a pretty plant.....never seen it here, but I kinda like it.
I grow the cypres vine, myself. I like it, too.
There is nothing harder to get out of a flowerbed than Bermuda grass. It is the Devil.
Carla
bermuda grass easier than this plant--which a lot of people in the warmer parts of Texas have problems with
If Cypress Vine is harder to kill/control than Bermuda grass, then I don't want it. I already put too much time and energy into venting frustration on that *&%& Bermuda, I'm not sure I would have any energy left over to do battle with another devil-spawn invasive.
Carla
Hey, Morgan, I've got all of those seedlings. Forgot to mention cherry laurel (from the neighbor's yard). The oaks and pecans are all from the acorns and pecans.
Red Oak doesn't come up from suckers....only acorn. Pecans don't sucker either. Now crepe myrtle, have to cut off the suckers at ground level at least once a week. I wouldn't care if someone else took them and got rich, just get them out of my flowerbeds and garden. wwwwhhhhhaaaaaa.
Christi
It's hard for people to know the difference, sometimes, between live oak seedlings and live oak motte. The motte is all one live oak "tree" spread out but also can look like there are "seedlings" are coming up. In many cases, if following the natural way, there will be from two to six full trees plus suckers. But it may be all one live oak motte. I've got one live oak motte at the corner of my house. Four main trees plus a smaller tree plus the suckers = one motte.
I noticed in the description for the pecan tree on ebay they didn't mention how susceptible to webworms pecan trees are! LOL
A couple of years ago, we gathered all the acorns from the oak tree in our front yard and added them to the compost pile....BIG mistake!!! LOL
Don't I know that. Think that is the problem with my raised veggie garden. Too many pecans in the compost/lasagna garden.