krystal55
Sprout
Living the Blue Collar Life in Southeastern Indiana - Plant Hardiness Zone 6A
Posts: 8
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Post by krystal55 on May 16, 2015 18:10:09 GMT -5
Hi All, I have been around here before but it's been a while, and I didn't have my username or password anymore so I subbed on again with new ones. Along with the rose bush is one of those nameless trees that are common along fencerows in Indiana. What a mess! Yes, I live in Southern Indiana where the last 2 springs have been very wet and cold, not to mention how terrible (for southern Hoosiers anyway) the winters have been. By the garage door we have a large one of those yellow shrubs that get about 4 feet high and have small leaves that are a kind of greeny-gold, rusty and pinkish in fall, not sure of the name of this anymore. I see them around the front of many homes. Crazy easy to grow, they look great when kept pruned off to a rounded shape. Ours is about half dead now, I'm trying to prune it off to about 1/3 its height, which got to about 5 feet. The wild rose bush has been trying to take over for a while but I didn't know what to do with it except cut it off. Those nameless trees have been sprouting up around here too. I've had one by the garden fence for many years, all I can do is chop it off only to see it sprouting out again soon after. Now we have one growing in that yellow bush, yerch!! Does anyone have any ideas or advice? I will see if I can get a picture of the nasty nameless thing.
In 2013 I did try something with gasoline that worked on a wild rose in the garden. I had some ice cream buckets, the kind with the plastic lid, I made a hole in one of the lids, filled the bucket with gasoline, shoved a piece of the rose into that so that it would touch the gasoline inside, and left it for a long time. I didn't see any browning off and assumed the gasoline didn't work. But by spring, that same old rosebush was nowhere to be seen! I'm sure it would help the situation near the house. Trouble is, we have to eat a heck of a lot of ice cream to get enough buckets, we will need a bunch of them. I also have honeysuckle by the road in a giant burning-bush that should be cut to the ground so that I could get to the honeysuckle easier. I'd like to try the gasoline trick on that. Things around this place are going downhill since my mother (age 91 with severe arthritis and also Alzheimer's) cannot help me anymore, and I am 60 myself with arthritis and limits to my strength and stamina, not to mention the money that it would take to get professionals in here to do these jobs.
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Post by lilolpeapicker on May 16, 2015 20:11:35 GMT -5
I don't know how to help you but perhaps there are organizations near you where you can get help with some of these chores. I would ask at some local senior center or disability office....perhap like an independence center.
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Post by oliverman on May 16, 2015 22:16:59 GMT -5
The gasoline trick is not environmentally responsible. I would suggest that an herbicide like Roundup would be much less harmful. I don't promote willy nilly herbicide use, but it ain't as bad as open buckets of gasoline.
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Post by desertwoman on May 16, 2015 23:31:00 GMT -5
I'm confused by about what you are asking help on. Are you searching for organic alternatives to get rid of your trees and tree spouts when you ask if anyone has ideas or advice?
However, gasoline used that way is environmentally unsound. It is a safety hazard, polluting, flammable, vaporous and dangerous. I hope you will reconsider gasoline use, but if you want to use gasoline or some sort of herbicide a different website would probably be more helpful to you, one that does not adhere to organic methods and principals. lilolpeapicker gave some good advice. Exploring senior agencies is a good place to start for help and volunteers who could lend some helping hands and stamina. Also, there are now many city and county programs that offer helping hands to seniors. Usually at no cost.
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Post by SpringRain🕊️ on May 16, 2015 23:51:50 GMT -5
I cringed at the thought of using gasoline on any plant, regardless of how undesirable. And much as I hate thistles, I would never use gas on them. It's also incomprehensible to think of using gas in a plastic bucket; it should always be contained in the containers made specifically for gas.
I too am unclear what information you're seeking. It seems you want to eliminate a yellowish multi-colored bush, possibly a rose and honeysuckle. I don't understand why you don't just cut them down. If you do so, you can cover them with plastic, even a tarp, held down by rocks around the edges, to cause heat to be retained and possible kill them, or at least deter their growth. If you leave about a foot or so of trunks, bark strip the trunks. That will expose them to summer heat and eventually winter winds. That should wipe out the bushes. It's one method I use to kill weed and invasive trees.
However, I would suggest that you consider that roses are beauties which many people, including me, cultivate. If yours does regrow, put an ad in Craigs list and see if anyone will come over and dig up the rose and take it for free.
Honeysuckle might be a little bit harder to eliminate but try clipping it close to the ground as winter approaches. Or try the Craigs List route and give away the honeysuckle. Some people might be willing to dig it up to have such fragrance in their yards.
Some of us here are older than you and have physical limitations as well. I can't garden 13 hours in a day as I used to when I was younger; so sometimes I have to space out the work in 2 hour increments. And I'm much older than you. We learn to work with what we have, and do a little bit at a time but still try to use the safest and least harmful methods possible.
There's a group called Christmas in Action which has booths at senior health expos. It will perform chores for seniors, although I don't know whether they're limited to houses themselves or whether they include yard maintenance. Habitat for Humanity performs community services on houses; again I don't know if they work on yards as well. You could also call local Girl Scout troops, or local Mormon Wards. They have various groups which seek to do service for people in need and may have a group that is interested in yard beautification even if you aren't a church member.
As Pea and DW suggested, try the local senior centers to see if they have lists of people who can help seniors in need. Even the local Area Agency on Aging might have suggestions.
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Post by Mumsey on May 17, 2015 3:47:07 GMT -5
If these bushes are very large, too large to dig, get someone with a truck and a log chain. Pull those things out. The senior center is a great idea.
As for Craigs list, I would be leery of having anyone come to my home. You never know who is out there lurking. Most people are legit and it's sad that we have to be so careful. And people don't want to work very hard even for free stuff!
Do you have a Free Cycle program in your area? You can go to freecycle.org to find out. There is never any money exchanged.
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Post by kimmsr🕊 on May 17, 2015 5:43:54 GMT -5
"Rosa rugosa" aka wild rose, can be difficult to eliminate and I am with the others in stating that gasoline as a plant killer is not a good idea nor is it organic.
Cutting that shrub, those shrubs, back to nothing is the most organic means of removal even though it will require cutting back many times.
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Post by claude on May 17, 2015 6:00:34 GMT -5
I have some of those thorny things in my meadow. A large one grows on the edge of the cut lawn..the blossoms fill the air like snow. I my area there are cows, Red highland cows who love to feast on them. Farmers near me borrow cows ( they are truly beautiful animals) who graze for days and start the process of killing them off. Do a bit more research, don't be overwhelmed by this problem. I keep mine under control by using heavy gloves and long, heavy cutters. I reach as far inside the bush to clip the longest branches and then I leave them in my garden cart/bucket until they dry up. Then I compost them with a tarp over them weighted down with rocks. It's a hell of a job..little bites will do it. I'm 63. A a bucket of gasoline, even covered is very dangerous left out in the sun. It can spontaneously combust (BOOM) spewing flames..God help anyone who is outside. It's close enough to burn your home down. With this dry weather and winds, you're be lucky to only burn down your own home.
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Post by brownrexx on May 17, 2015 9:22:10 GMT -5
I am also very much against using gasoline. It is totally unsafe to you and everyone else. Although I am not a Roundup fan, I would agree that it is better to use that than gasoline.
Mumsey has the best suggestion about a pick up truck and a strap and pulling it out. My husband has done that a few times around our property. It looks like a modern day cowboy to me to see him hanging out the door of a truck and pulling a plant with a strap attached to the trailer hitch on his truck.
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krystal55
Sprout
Living the Blue Collar Life in Southeastern Indiana - Plant Hardiness Zone 6A
Posts: 8
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Post by krystal55 on May 17, 2015 10:09:04 GMT -5
First, my apologies, I temporarily forgot that this is a forum devoted to ORGANIC gardening, and the use of gasoline is not...er...organic... It does work, especially on small pest plants or sprouts. My mother told me that her own mother used to apply kerosene or gasoline to invasive plants. But I am not sure that would have much effect on a wild rose 6 feet tall. This is in a terrible location, the top is waving around by our door and every time anyone walks by their clothing is being snagged. I adore wild roses out in their natural habitat, years ago when I rode a bicycle up and down the local country roads I was inhaling their rich aroma with every breath. And they look beautiful there, big clouds of white against the dark green. I don't need those in my yard, though! I suppose about all I can do is cut this (and whatever honeysuckle I can reach) down to the ground, as we have often done in the past in other spots, long before I heard of using gasoline. Really, when you think of it, using Roundup is not actually an 'organic' solution either. Now if I had sheep, cows or goats, any animal that forages on vegetation, that would be great, in the correct setting. But once upon a time we had "stray" Nubian goats that we kept for 2 weeks till their owner claimed them...and they wanted to eat everything in sight! They ate young trees to the ground, and even broke into my horse barn and into his food and well, it's a wonder they didn't eat themselves to death. It isn't only the large wild rose I need to get rid of, but as I mentioned, there is a nameless tree that sprouts up around our property, I'm sure it is the same as the trees that are sometimes seen happily taking over fencerows. One of those trees is trying to grow along with the rose, in my old yellow shrub. Smooth hard stems, leaves that are also smooth, with 3 points, not sassafras (I wish they were, they shouldn't grow among garden shrubs but I'd prefer that over this) but something that's been around for ages and I have no name for it. I will get a photo of it, though, to post here. Both of these invasive plants are in that shrub, which is half dead anyway and makes the flower patch near the garage look ugly. There is a man who comes and mows once a week (for pay), he said he'd bring his chainsaw and see if he could cut that shrub, invasive plants and all, down to the ground. I have already got some of it cut down to about 1/3, but it is very hard work for someone with no strength! I may only be living on this property a few more years, depends on my finances and stuff like that. I love it here, I'd hate to leave, but many seniors find themselves in that predicament where there is no choice but to sell out and leave. However I know it would be great if I could find volunteers who would help me with garden chores and yard chores at no cost. When my mother and dad (both with farming backgrounds) built this place they were in their 40's and my mom, at least, thought she was a human dynamo and could go on like a farming machine forever. It seemed like she would, until health problems took over and by age 70 her back was ruined. She was born with scoliosis as well, something we never knew and it was never recognized until recent years when even I could see the classic S curve of her spine. And so today, at 91, she is bent almost double from arthritis and the scoliosis has her twisted as well. She is also recovering from a mild stroke, so it seems her outdoor work days are over. Which leaves yours truly with quite an "inheritance". My older brother has been saying that eventually we should pay somebody to have most of our old, ugly shrubs near the house pulled out with machinery. Trouble is, again, what would all of that cost...? I would certainly be leery of Craigs List, as most of us have heard the horror stories. And I am a lone woman out here in a rather isolated area, a prime target for perverts and crooks. I would ask someone I could trust, such as the local nurseries, certain other landscape gurus, who could come and do the work safely and at little or no cost. I have heard of People Working Cooperatively in my state, I don't know if they only work on house jobs or if they do yard work as well.
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Post by SpringRain🕊️ on May 17, 2015 10:50:13 GMT -5
Another way to painlessly kill unwanted shrubs is to use morning glories to choke them. I'm aware that many people consider MGs to be invasive, but I think they confuse them with bindweed, which is invasive. However, if MGs are considered by your state's natural resource department to be invasive, don't use them. If you do try it, plant them around the perimeter of the bush to be vanquished, using containers if you're not able to work the soil enough to support even small vining plants. By the end of the summer they'll have twined around the branches and trunks and choked off air and some sunshine (depending on location).
I discovered this accidentally when trying to just deter growth of mulberries, which are invasive in my area.
I understand the concern about using Craigs List, especially given your isolated area. An alternative would be local libraries which have gardens, or a gardening club. I don't know if there are wild rose rescue groups, as there are for animals, but there might be those who wish to gather and preserve some of the natural and wild beauties.
If the man with a chainsaw cuts down the shrubs, ask him not to cut them directly to the ground; sometimes all that does is spur more growth and the following year the shrub is more invigorated than ever. I speak from bad experience when the crews hired by Detroit Edison came in like gangbusters and cut down the trees in the easement area, but failed to bark strip and cut the remaining stump with angle cuts on the top.
Tell him to leave 2 - 4" or so of stump, then use the chain saw to make numerous cuts in the stump after bark stripping the stump above the ground. Bark stripping removes its protection against sun and wind scald. I don't know exactly how top stump cutting works, but it did take care of another mulberry in my yard. Perhaps the strips cut in the top of the stump expose the stump to freezing temperatures which penetrate down into the roots and kill them. I'm not sure how this process works.
If you find a source for garden volunteers who will work for free, please post here! I could use some help as well. Several of us are also dealing with more limited physical capacity, but there are ways to work around it. You'll just need to experiment to find which methods are the easiest and work for you.
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Post by datgirl on May 17, 2015 10:56:36 GMT -5
Our church has a youth group that will assist seniors with chores that they need done. Some of the teens do it for community service hours or scouting. A local church might have the same thing.
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Post by lilolpeapicker on May 17, 2015 11:07:30 GMT -5
I haven't had any problems that you have with your invasive plants. And I might have but I do not let things get so far out of control. But one thing I can tell you is that Round Up is NOT a solution at anytime, not in any setting. That would never be used in an organic garden. It is something that will get into the ground water and eventually into the drinking supply and absorbed by other edible plants, plants eaten by wildlife and humans. It should not be consumed by any living creature.
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Post by brownrexx on May 17, 2015 12:29:06 GMT -5
I do not caution against using gasoline for organic reasons but for health and safety reasons. Every year I hear news report of people being injured or killed by using gasoline for cleaning solvents or other things. Please do not do it. It sounds like you and your mom have enough problems already.
Your mom's generation used gasoline because they did not know the risks. My dad used it too and he also had Alzheimer's. Gasoline is not safe to use anywhere that is not an engine of some kind.
Roundup is not organic by any means but I do think that using it is safer than gasoline. Please do not do it. Your mom needs you.
Get help through a church, neighbor or community group as was suggested.
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krystal55
Sprout
Living the Blue Collar Life in Southeastern Indiana - Plant Hardiness Zone 6A
Posts: 8
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Post by krystal55 on May 17, 2015 16:21:01 GMT -5
By the way, I think our yellow shrub--the one I would like to save--is probably Aurea Nana Barberry, I seem to remember my mother calling it golden barberry. We have the red kind of barberry too, right up against the yellow one that is dying. I got more of it chopped off today and I see that most of it is dying or dead but there is healthy growth near the bottom. I wonder whether it would be possible to take a piece of that and restart it, to satisfy my mother, who is currently in a nursing home but should be home by week's end, and, well, you know how those folks are with Alzheimer's, they do not like change or innovations even for the better!
Ah, I am glad now I stopped in here again today...our mowing man came earlier and I asked him to come and chainsaw the offending items down to the ground, but I will have to watch for him and tell him NOT to do that. I have read that cutting shrubs to the ground does invigorate them; and yes, I'm sure that if the rose and the nameless whatzit were cut to ground level, it would invigorate them too!
Because the trunk of the nameless tree is small, maybe 1.5 inches wide, it would be hard to bark strip but maybe a little easier once everything else is cleared away. I have the same thing out along my garden fence, I'm sure its stump is at least 4 inches above the ground. Could I bark strip with some kind of outdoor knife? And if the stump is really narrow, would a cleft in the top do for freezing, etc? Again, these things are skinny. Even the ones along roadsides are narrow, maybe 6 inches or so wide. I've seen really big trees nearby along a roadside that I think my niece once said were mulberry, they even collected berries once or twice in the past from them. But those trees have been cut down so I can't say for sure. Mind, they were only roughly chopped off, so I suppose in time to come they will just re-sprout and go on growing!
I will try to visit my favorite local nursery either Monday or Tuesday and show him a couple of photos I made. I will upload them from my camera and show them here too. Hmm, I wonder if the nameless trees on my place could be mulberry?
Yes, my mother and I have enough problems without creating more. My yard does look terrible this year because of her illness and my trying to be in 3 places at once (taking care of her, taking care of the property and trying to hold onto my job away from home). And for one human being, that never works very well! The weather has been against me also; in my area the spring has been cold, windy and wet for the most part. All of these factors have caused some alarming developments in the garden and the yard otherwise...
I will be looking into options for volunteer groups. If I see a link I can show here, I will definitely do so! People keep asking me about having someone come in to help with my mother's care. That is important, but I need more help with the yard too, so that it looks like someone DOES live here who cares about it...
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