Gardeners, I need advice please.

[Saltire]

I was wondering if theres such a thing as a weedkiller that will kill weeds in a plant/tree bed but leave the plant/tree healthy, is there ? or is it just a case of the old style weeding and using the hoe etc that can do the job ??

Reason why i ask is i have a tree bed of 30 odd young trees and the weeds are a pain in the arse in the bed.

[chroma]

Yes.... and No.

Depends is actualy more accurate, depends on the spieces of tree and weeds involved.

Much in the same way a doctor would issue a broad spectrum antibiiotic (which kills the lot) or if he knows which bacterial infection hes combating he'll issue a narrow spectrum to kill that off and leave the rest of your healthy bacteria alone.

Im not an expert on either to be honest, id suggest going into a local gardening center (not one of the big commercial ones though cause theyre more likely to employ idiot drones who wouldnt have a clue) a local nursery with an actual gardener would be ideal.

[xant14]

well there are weedkillers that are reasonably safe to the soil, but sprayed on to an actively growing broad leafed weed, attack the weed from the leaf side. Just be slightly more accurate with your spraying, and spray on a sunny day when the weed is stretching its arms in the sun. If the tree is a reaSonable size and healthy. the weedkiller aint gonna do much if any damage. Unless your using Napalm or something. Brings me back to my Nam days...

[manxspud]

Don’t use products containing Triox... This will soak into the soil and kill any thing it comes into contact with... Roundup is a good one as @Xant14 says you spray it on and it works its way down the leaves and to the roots.... or with rubber gloves on you could pour some into a plastic cup and paint it on with a small brush... best method if weeds and plants are close together.

PS.... Do you use any type of mulch? ie.. gravel or chipped slate mixed with ground cover plants is a more permanent solution, or chipped bark / coco shell is effective and rots into the ground as a added food source for the plants. I use the chipped slate mixed lots of low growing ground cover plants, adds more interest to the garden. Both methods are effective but you will always have to do a little weeding.

Best of luck....

[cactikid]

is the weed wand still around,a sponge on the bottom of the wand with weed killer on it you dab onto weeds so no drift and only kills what you touch.

[Saltire]

wow, thanks guys, but youz have lost me a bit, hhheehehhe, all i know is my trees are young leylandii and are about 1 meter high at most, so in other words they are young skinny things, lol, i only planted them about 2 months ago and they were only about knee high then, as for the weeds i have no clue what they are, hope this helps a bit, lol.

[Bulld0g]

Not meaning to hijack the thread , BUT ;) can anyone recommend something to kill off tree roots. Cut a shitload of trees down when i moved here Seven years ago. meant to kill the roots off but never got round to it.

Think they may be Beech trees but not sure. They are cut down to near ground level. So any advice would be welcome.

[manxspud]

Hi @ Bulldog Some good products here....

Plant Me Now Weedkillers (http://www.plantmenow.co.uk/acatalog/weedkillers.html?gcid=S19504x010-rootstump&keyword=how%20to%20kill%20tree%20roots&gclid=COXQy8TdjZwCFd4B4wodnSwOZg)

Not sure how long they will take to work... I had 1 in the front garden when moved in this house.... Dug a big hole around... hired astill saw and with a bit of help from a sharpened hand axe dug the sod out. Took about 4hrs...
and a few B***tards, C**ts ect, but it worked. I rcall somebody telling me to drill a hole as big and deep as poss from the top, and pour in some drain cleaner, But i was in a hurry to get rid off it.

@Thompson... 30 ~~~~ing leylandii... They grow around 3ft a year... Ok when they are young... Nightmare after they reach 6ft or so... This link should help you out HeHe

Chain Saws available at Toolbox (http://www.toolbox.co.uk/chain-saws-2616-0000)

[Saltire]

Hi @ Bulldog Some good products here....

Plant Me Now Weedkillers (http://www.plantmenow.co.uk/acatalog/weedkillers.html?gcid=S19504x010-rootstump&keyword=how%20to%20kill%20tree%20roots&gclid=COXQy8TdjZwCFd4B4wodnSwOZg)

Not sure how long they will take to work... I had 1 in the front garden when moved in this house.... Dug a big hole around... hired astill saw and with a bit of help from a sharpened hand axe dug the sod out. Took about 4hrs...
and a few B***tards, C**ts ect, but it worked. I rcall somebody telling me to drill a hole as big and deep as poss from the top, and pour in some drain cleaner, But i was in a hurry to get rid off it.

@Thompson... 30 ~~~~ing leylandii... They grow around 3ft a year... Ok when they are young... Nightmare after they reach 6ft or so... This link should help you out HeHe

Chain Saws available at Toolbox (http://www.toolbox.co.uk/chain-saws-2616-0000)

lol, the idea is to keep them at 6 or 7ft mate, well thats the idea, if that fails then mr chainsaw will be the answer, lol

[dik]

Not meaning to hijack the thread , BUT ;) can anyone recommend something to kill off tree roots. Cut a shitload of trees down when i moved here Seven years ago. meant to kill the roots off but never got round to it.

Think they may be Beech trees but not sure. They are cut down to near ground level. So any advice would be welcome.
Hammer copper nails into the stump that will kill em

[Saltire]

so back on topic now, weed killer ??

[cactikid]

Hammer copper nails into the stump that will kill emdont think it does lol,maple tree next door has mildew now all white drilled 6 x 6inch holes in bark hammered 6 x 1/2 ich copper pipes into holes 8 yrs ago bloody thing still growing lol.

[Evastar]

Thomson, you don't need weed killer. Leylandi have a type of poison in their needles and after a while you will notice that nothing at all will grow under them.

I have to say i am not a fan of leylandii, and if you have children with asthma/breathing problems i would advise you to get rid of the trees now, as they have been linked to breathing problems and bringing on asthma attacks.

http://www.dermnet.org.nz/dermatitis/plants/pdf/leylandcyprus-dermnetnz.pdf

[forntida]

dont think it does lol,maple tree next door has mildew now all white drilled 6 x 6inch holes in bark hammered 6 x 1/2 ich copper pipes into holes 8 yrs ago bloody thing still growing lol.

Did you get maple resin on tap?

[cactikid]

sorry only maple syrup for my pancakes in the morning

[Saltire]

Thomson, you don't need weed killer. Leylandi have a type of poison in their needles and after a while you will notice that nothing at all will grow under them.

I have to say i am not a fan of leylandii, and if you have children with asthma/breathing problems i would advise you to get rid of the trees now, as they have been linked to breathing problems and bringing on asthma attacks.

http://www.dermnet.org.nz/dermatitis/plants/pdf/leylandcyprus-dermnetnz.pdf

thanks for that EVa, i like that fact that i dont need weedkiller :)

[maverickccs]

dont kill your weed!...

[stiltonjohn]

The only way is with the hoe I'm sorry to say. You could try covering the area under the tree/plant with strong bin liners and then cover with slate. This way the rain water still gets to the root of the tree/plant but the weeds canot get through to the sunlight and die. The other advantage is that cats dont like slate and wont crap in the border.

Hope this helps