Removing tree seedlings.

[blueiris]

In addition to weeds, I have a lot of little baby trees about 1-2 ft. high that are driving me crazy! Mostly they are pines, which I do not need any more of! lol! I weed-wacked some of them but they just grow back. I can pull up the other weeds easily enough, but these little trees have to be dug up, and they are stubborn little things. I'm playing catch up because this part of the property has been neglected for some time other than an occasional clear cut.

Can the little trees be killed or damaged enough so that they will be easier to remove? Or, is there a tool or technique that could make the job easier? I'm mainly a container and indoor gardener and fairly new to lawn maintenance, so any help would be appreciated.

 

[Gina145]

I know it's not the answer you want, but if you know any bonsai enthusiasts, I'm sure they'd love to have them. Pines are a popular tree for bonsai.

I'm actually surprised that pines would grow back, because at my bonsai club I've always been told that any part of a conifer which has all its needles removed will die, so I would have expected that if you decapitate a pine the whole tree will die.

 

[blueiris]

There is a bonsai club in a nearby city! Maybe I will call them and offer free trees if they are removed promptly! These always grow back no matter how many times my weed-wacker gets them. I must have magical conifers, lol! There are other tree seedlings too, some kind of oak, I think. Those have roundish leaves and long roots - I hate those! I need a lawn service, but can't afford one this year and am struggling to keep the vegetation under control.

 

[Babble64]

I'm not a bonsai person but I always try to see if someone wants something I don't. I currently have several lilac trees growing in areas I don't want them. Next spring I'll be asking friends if they want any.

 

[Gina145]

There are other tree seedlings too, some kind of oak, I think. Those have roundish leaves and long roots - I hate those!

If they're the right kind of oak they might be suitable for bonsai too. I hope the bonsai club will help you solve your problem.

Keeping lawns looking good can be a real problem. We've never tried a lawn service but use a garden service for the general maintenance of our garden. Their solution to ridding the lawn of weeds is to mow over them. Our lawn looks a lot worse now than it did before they started working here but the service is fairly cheap so we have to put up with the problems.

 

[ChanellG]

I know it's not the answer you want, but if you know any bonsai enthusiasts, I'm sure they'd love to have them. Pines are a popular tree for bonsai...

Ha, ha! When I saw the title of this thread I thought of you. When I clicked and was waiting for the page to load I had every intention of typing in "Send them to Gina!"

Can the little trees be killed or damaged enough so that they will be easier to remove? Or, is there a tool or technique that could make the job easier? I'm mainly a container and indoor gardener and fairly new to lawn maintenance, so any help would be appreciated.

They need to be pulled up when they are less than 6 inches. By the time a tree is two feet high it has an established rood system and needs to be dug up. Using a weed wacker just cuts them down so if you don't cut low enough they can regrow new branches. How many times have you seen stumps with new growth?

 

[blueiris]

Yeah, I'm not cutting too low, so they branch out again with all the rain, in a few weeks. I wish I could get to them all before they were 6 inches! I'm thinking it's just too much for me at this point. I may be able to get a friend over who owns a tractor or heavy duty lawn mower. It's just too thick and now I'm scared of snakes and other things I can't see in the overgrowth. I try to weed wack just the weeds, but I encounter so many of these little trees and tough bush-like things, too.

Another friend told me he would come over and use a machete on the little trees. He said he would step on them at the base and then use the machete to cut the main stem. We could then gather them up and put them in the burn pile or compost them.

Hey Gina, I would send you all my pine seedlings, but I think shipping might be steep from FL to South Africa, lol!

 

[ChanellG]

Do you have a cultivator tool? You could just use it to rake around the area and remove the seedling. The plant won't go to waste if you compost it, but those ones you have been cutting down that keep regrowing are going to have to be dug up.

 

[Gina145]

Hey Gina, I would send you all my pine seedlings, but I think shipping might be steep from FL to South Africa, lol!

I doubt they'd survive the journey either!

I didn't realise the extent of your problem. If you don't know anyone who wants some little trees and is willing to come and dig them up themselves then I guess you have no choice in the matter.

 

[Lacey]

I am very jealous that you have so many pine trees that you want to get rid of them. I however, know how you feel, I have a ton of cottonwood and ash trees that sprout up everywhere. I know that any type of weed killer will kill the main tree through the roots. I always just dig them up with a shovel, I find that this is the best way.

 

[RedNeckCowBoy007]

Place an ad on Craigslist "Dig Your Own Pine and Oak Seedlings! (FREE!!)"
I've had a similar problem with locust seedlings popping up in the yard. I started to let them come up until I realized they were locust, then I just kept mowing them and eventually they died off. The proper way though is to dig most of the root ball out. Much less chance of them coming back that way.
I live in Northern Ohio, and there's a house 10 miles or so away that has a banana tree that comes up through the ground every spring, grows decent, and then dies back to the roots every fall. If you want the tree to die, unless you Round-Up it or something like that, you must remove the roots.

 

[remnant]

The best option is to go commando. I had a similar problem with stubborn offshoots arising from the roots of a hardy wild perennial and they were encroaching and cracking the concrete wall sorrounding my house. I tried various interventions mostly chemical to no avail. I had to dig them out and that put paid to the nuisance they posed.