Subj : Re: slow the growing of g To : Barry Martin From : Ky Moffet Date : Wed Jul 05 2023 18:04:00 BARRY MARTIN wrote: > Hi Ky! > > KM> The problem with ivy is that it roots itself into the building > KM> and eventually destroys the surface, and brings water into the > KM> structure. It'll peel stucco right off the wall. > > I agree with your statements, just in this case I was suggesting a > moderation approach as Daryl is in a money crunch and rather than > removing all of the ivy might be able to save some money by removing > only a portion. My way is easier. Cut at the root, let whatever is hanging there die and fall off on its own, poison the root so it doesn't come back. > > KM> The way you kill something like that is to cut it back to the > KM> root in the fall, then paint the stump with Roundup and one of > KM> the 2,4-D/Dicamba/Triclor compounds -- the idea is to get it > KM> while it's sucking nutrients into the root for winter storage and > KM> take the poison with it, because otherwise the root will survive > KM> and regrow and you're no better off than before. > > We had some sort of shrub/tree growing along the house foundation in a > couple of places -- couldn't get to the roots nor dig out. Trimming > down didn't kill it off. Finally thought of the old Conquering Forces > tactic of salting. So last Fall poured a good amount (guessing a salt > shaker's worth) of table salt on the stump. This year - dead! (There's > a brick apron to make mowing easier so no dead spot remaining.) There are two big problems with using salt. #1 is that it doesn't actually kill the plant; it contaminates the soil so that only salt-tolerant plants can grow there. #2 is that salt-tolerant plants are often hard-to-kill brushy weeds. > > "Oddly" did a similar salting to a wild shrub-tree under the deck but > didn't work: I can't get through the latticework to get to the base so > just trimming off the branches I can reach. I don't think I can remove > the lattice covering without breaking; holes aren't large enough to get > clippers nor saw through. See?? whatever it is, it's salt-tolerant, and now it has an advantage over any competing plants that are not salt-tolerant. Do it as much exposure as possible to brush-killer (usually a Triclor/dicamba compound but sometimes including glyphosphate=Roundup) as possible, on leaves and wounds in the bark where you've cut it. Don't get that on any plant you want left alive. Do it preferentially in the fall just before leaves die for the winter (and is still sucking nutrients into the root). > > KM> Or so they tell us for wild grape, which (along with wild > KM> cucumber) is the northern form of kudzu. Wild grape engulfs and > KM> kills big trees, and is just about unkillable. > > And probably the wild grape is poisonous to humans so couldn't even be Dunno, never seen it fruit. But wild grapes I encountered in Idaho are so astringent they're inedible. I have domestic grapes in my garden, they're good (if very seedy) if I beat the raccoons to them. I need to cut the durn things back come fall, while I can still get through the gate. They not only survive the winter, they eat passing children. > used to make something useful like jam/jelly/juice. (Thinking of the > wild strawberry locally -- it looks sort of like an edible strawberry.) Dunno what you have as "wild strawberry" but we have genuine wild strawberries in Montana, and they're perfectly edible. We cultivated a patch of them at our first house in Great Falls. Main drawback is the fruit is small. Guessing you might have "mock strawberries". https://thepracticalplanter.com/can-you-eat-wild-strawberries/ https://dengarden.com/gardening/Wild-Strawberries-Versus-Mock-Strawberries I have regular domestic straggleberries here, got about 14 pounds off them this year (having beaten the birds). I didn't know it was possible to get tired of 'em... þ RNET 2.10U: ILink: Techware BBS þ Hollywood, Ca þ www.techware2k.com --- QScan/PCB v1.20a / 01-0462 * Origin: ILink: CFBBS | cfbbs.no-ip.com | 856-933-7096 (454:1/1) .