From: songbird@anthive.com   
      
   T wrote:   
   > Hi All,   
   >   
   > Okay, I know a bit misleading subject line, but ...   
   > You were thinking back hoe, dynamite, swearing, etc..   
   >   
   > I have little trees growing all over the place.  I think they   
   > are either cotton wood or some kind of aspen.   The have very   
   > long tap roots.  If I pull them when the are 6" tall, I can get   
   > the 10" tap root too and that is the end of them.   
   >   
   > BUT, if they get any bigger , I can not get the tap root out   
   > and they keep growing back and back and back.   I have   
   > tried cutting them flush to the ground.   I have tried   
   > stripping all the bark and leaves off.   And they adore   
   > vinegar.  They keep coming back and back and back.   
   >   
   > So I have a bunch of little 1/4" to 1/2" stumps that   
   > keep regrowing.  How do I kill off these stumps.  (I do   
   > not want to use roundup do to my wife's chemical   
   > sensitivities.)   Small firecracker?   
      
     you actually have more than one issue here, but   
   the first part is solved by being consistent in your   
   efforts and the second part is solved by improving   
   your soil to the point where pulling a plant out   
   will actually remove it.   
      
     the quickest way to get rid of them without pulling   
   is to cover them with something so they won't get any   
   light.  no plant will survive being consistently   
   smothered.   
      
     so find some cardboard and put a few layers over the   
   area you wish to clear.  after a few months they'll   
   be dead if they are just starting out.  once they   
   are established you have to cover them long enough   
   that it exhausts the energy in the root system that   
   remains.  the more you can cut off to keep the plant   
   from getting energy to the roots for storage the   
   sooner the roots will run out of energy.   
      
     the other harder approach is to continually cut any   
   new growth off when it appears.  check often and keep   
   cutting.  they will run out of energy eventually - you   
   just have to be very determined.   
      
     as for the longest term approach, getting your soil   
   improved to where you can pull things out easily, that's   
   a lifetime effort in poor soils, but over the years it   
   does improve.   
      
     we have many thousand small maple trees from this   
   year's helicopters sprouting all over the place,   
   gradually we'll get them all pulled.  they are free   
   worm food like any other organic material we can grow   
   and then leave on the ground for the worms to feast   
   on...   
      
      
     songbird   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)