Killing a tree in a hedge

[jacko555]

I have a run of laurel hedging, area in question if 6ft wide and 9ft tall.

Some elder tree leaves / branches have breached the top.

Assumed it was a plucky sapling and investigated. Turns out its a very old/large elder, that had been repeatedly hacked / topped/lopped, so it's not visible outside the hedge. Trunk is thigh sized, lots of chopped limbs.

Access is tough/restricted as its acting as a support for some of the hedge. Can't get a saw in there without damaging the laurel. Glyphosate is out.

I have very long masonry drill bits. Maybe drill through the trunk?

 

[Mottie]

Wood bit, drill some large holes going down at an angle and fill with weed killer or something equally nasty.

 

[scbk]

Strip the bark off at the base all the way round the trunk with a knife/axe/saw.
Google 'ring barking'

 

[johnny2007]

Wood bit, drill some large holes going down at an angle and fill with weed killer or something equally nasty.

15mm holes and push a copper pipe in there.
Killed a pear tree stump with this method.

 

[jacko555]

15mm holes and push a copper pipe in there.
Killed a pear tree stump with this method

Nice.
I knew about copper nails but couldn't realistically get enough in due to access. I do however have a 15mm space bit and copper pipe. Don't want to put anything nasty like glyphosate in there and risk the hedge, but copper pipe is genius
I think this is the winner.

 

[johnny2007]

Nice.
I knew about copper nails but couldn't realistically get enough in due to access. I do however have a 15mm space bit and copper pipe. Don't want to put anything nasty like glyphosate in there and risk the hedge, but copper pipe is genius
I think this is the winner.

It won't work immediately, it takes about a year.
Drop some weed killer in the pipe if you want to make it quicker.

 

[600rob]

Drilled a few 20mm dia holes deep into the trunk then topped the holes up with some off this every few days through a funnel and bit of hose pipe.

I had an unwanted sycamore that kept growing very quickly back every year after pruning. The leaves turned brown and it stopped growing in a few weeks after doing this. No further regrowth after that

 

[JohnD]

After cutting back a bay tree (main trunk about 70mm dia) I brushed Glyphosate concentrate generously over the cut surfaces immediately after cutting, and successfully killed it. Sap is still moving until it dries and callouses, and Glyphosate kills by being translocated by the plant into the roots, which it kills. You have to do again it with any suckers that may come up.

I don't remember where I read about the technique. Might have been on RHS. You can also do it with pernicious weeds, as long as you cut them leaving a stump and treat them quickly. Preferably within minutes.

In normal usage, glyphosate is sprayed onto leaves, where it is absorbed and tranlocated in the sap to the roots, but the cut-and-brush is more effective on trees or plants with waxy leaves such as bay, laurel, holly and ivy. ivy is more difficult but you can cut the tendrils and immerse them in a jar.

Glyphosate is neutralised by soil so it does not poison the ground.

"Round-Up" is a brand name for Glyphosate. It is out of patent and so is cheaper as an own-brand in Tescos or Wilkos or anywhere else.

 

[Captain Nemesis]

Elder or Alder?

Alders are malicious, evil ,self-seeding devil trees.

Id happily use Agent Orange if it would rid my garden of the f****rs.

 

[Lazzy]

Elder or Alder?

Alders are malicious, evil ,self-seeding devil trees.

Id happily use Agent Orange if it would rid my garden of the f****rs.

Alders are a birch to get rid off.