How do i kill a tree?

Legacy_user

I have two apple trees in my garden. They are about 15 years old but they never did well, not only that, they are growing too big for the space that they are in. The apples are poor quality and not much use for cooking with. Anyway, i have just told MrJudi that i want him to get rid of them this summer, he says he will have to dig up the garden, i am sure, theres no need to do that, i read somewhere about a copper pipe driven into the base of the trunk (Obviously after you have chopped the tree down to the base), would kill all the root. Has anyone else heard of this, and more importantly does it work? I dont really want to dig up the lawn they are set in.

tru

Never heard of the copper pipe thing

I know this works though - chop down the tree as close to the ground as poss, then pour creosote on, it'll kill the roots

elona

There was a much earlier thread and I think they mentionesd salt? :):)

Sarahsaver

Copper does work. Even just a copper nail, but it HAS to be copper. Don't know how long it takes though.

Curry_Queen

You can't kill a tree!!!

SnowyOwl_2

troo wrote:

pour creosote on, it'll kill the roots

Isn't this one of the chemicals that was banned at the end of last year, or the year before? There was a big shake up on chemicals by Europe, so lots of our pesticides etc etc have been altered and some will have disappeared altogether. If you've got some creosite hanging around maybe check at a garden centre that it's still legal to have/use.

tru

I didn't know that

trafalgar_2

SnowyOwl wrote:

Isn't this one of the chemicals that was banned at the end of last year, or the year before? There was a big shake up on chemicals by Europe, so lots of our pesticides etc etc have been altered and some will have disappeared altogether. If you've got some creosite hanging around maybe check at a garden centre that it's still legal to have/use.

It's not illegal to have it but it is illegal to use it................
It was banned in 2003 , the products containing the banned chemicals are no longer on sale..................the only danger is that people will have some stored in their sheds,this needs to be disposed of safely.

If you buy new products they are safe.

http://www.digitalmaidstone.co.uk/cgi-bin/buildpage.pl?mysql=836

this also has a link to show which products were banned

System

Thanks guys for your feedback. Curry_Queen, sorry the trees have to go. Hubby cant get in his sheds now as they have grown too big. However, creosote isnt an option, even if we had any, there is a rhubarb plant nearby that i use quite a lot during the summer. I wouldnt want to poison us when i do a rhubarb crumble would i?

Curry_Queen

I'd be wary of using any form of chemical, especially in a garden, but I'm afraid I can't think of a way to get rid of them other than chopping down and digging up the roots

Would you actually need to get rid of the roots though? ... how about cutting them far enough down to leave the stump as a seat?

tru

Judi wrote:

I wouldnt want to poison us when i do a rhubarb crumble would i?

Depends who you invite for tea lol

I tried to do a link but it won't work but it was Cathy who said she bought a huge bag of salt and put it round the tree stump while it was raining, it killed off the tree eventually but it took a year to work.