Self-set Buddleja - stop it coming back...

[SimoninEaston]

Hi folks,
I have a tatty back yard which I want to improve. It is currently very poor quality concrete - cracked and broken, over builder's spoil - brick fragments, old tiles and soil. This summer a buddleja grew out of the cracks and a few weeks ago I hacked it off at ground level (the cut up pieces of the stem are sprouting green shoots like something out of a gardener's horror movie - the Beast That Wouldn't Die!!)
This morning I had a closer look at the remaining stem/root and of course I find that it disappears off under the grotty old concrete - how do I deal with it? If I dig up the concrete, lord knows how much of it'll have to come up - is Deep Root going to work? The stem/root snakes off underground and if I apply any chemical liquid, it will literally be on to, or around, the tip of this particular 'iceberg'!

 

[Deleted2797112]

Cutting it back wasn't the best idea if you want to get rid of it. Modern systemic weedkillers need to be applied to a large leaf area while the plant is in active growth so that the weedkiller is transported to the roots to do its work. If the plant is still growing relatively strongly, wait until it has a good number of leaves and spray with a glyphosate-based product. You may have to treat it more than once, probably when it comes back into growth in the Spring.

 

[r896neo]

The best thing for killing buddleja is a stump killer for woody weeds rather than spraying glyphosate. Something like sbk or equivalent.

As ceres said wait until spring, its a bit late now.

 

[SimoninEaston]

OK folks - point taken!
Moral of the Story is Read up about it before reaching for the pruning saw!!