Subj : slow the growing of g To : Ky Moffet From : Barry Martin Date : Thu Jul 06 2023 07:31:00 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. KM> My way is easier. Cut at the root, let whatever is hanging there KM> die and fall off on its own, poison the root so it doesn't come KM> back. That would work, just probably not all that pretty: lush green ivy starts turning brown and shriveling up. OTOH probably easier to remove as the air roots (or however ivy attaches itself to the house) are dead and so loose their grip. > 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.) KM> There are two big problems with using salt. KM> #1 is that it doesn't actually kill the plant; it contaminates KM> the soil so that only salt-tolerant plants can grow there. KM> #2 is that salt-tolerant plants are often hard-to-kill brushy KM> weeds. I'm pretty sure we had tried RoundUp several years prior; 'obviously' didn't work _but_ if used at the wrong time of year and/or didn't expose the vascular system of the tree-weed then have a major disadvantage in killing off the undesired plant. As for the salt usage, don't want anything growing much less those tree-things. So far haven't noticed anything growing and the grass on the other side of the 9" wide border block is unaffected. I would not do the salt treatment as a general weed treatment. > "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. KM> See?? whatever it is, it's salt-tolerant, and now it has an KM> advantage over any competing plants that are not salt-tolerant. Possibly. Don't want anything growing under the porch, so the competition doens't really matter in this instance. ...If the thing is salt-tolerant maybe try pepper? KM> Do it as much exposure as possible to brush-killer (usually a KM> Triclor/dicamba compound but sometimes including KM> glyphosphate=Roundup) as possible, on leaves and wounds in the KM> bark where you've cut it. Don't get that on any plant you want KM> left alive. Do it preferentially in the fall just before leaves KM> die for the winter (and is still sucking nutrients into the KM> root). Yes, the detail on this particulat tree-weed is I didn't hack the thing before applying the salt, so basically just irritated the bark/protective layer while the inside may have had salt-flavoured water. > 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 KM> Dunno, never seen it fruit. But wild grapes I encountered in KM> Idaho are so astringent they're inedible. I have domestic grapes KM> in my garden, they're good (if very seedy) if I beat the raccoons KM> to them. I need to cut the durn things back come fall, while I KM> can still get through the gate. They not only survive the winter, KM> they eat passing children. Seeds are a major form of propogation! ...When I was growing up my friends had some grapes bushes -- I think their parents dabbled in wine making. Remember they were tart and so we pretty much left them alone. > used to make something useful like jam/jelly/juice. (Thinking of the > wild strawberry locally -- it looks sort of like an edible strawberry.) KM> Dunno what you have as "wild strawberry" but we have genuine wild KM> strawberries in Montana, and they're perfectly edible. We KM> cultivated a patch of them at our first house in Great Falls. KM> Main drawback is the fruit is small. Might be a regional name. Plant vines along the ground for maybe up to a foot, has tiny red berries which look similar to a strawberry -- about the size of a fingernail. I've been told they're poisonous so good enough for me. KM> Guessing you might have "mock strawberries". KM> https://thepracticalplanter.com/can-you-eat-wild-strawberries/ Similar but the one here is a lot sparser and doesn't grow as a mounded shrub, more spread-out runners. KM> https://dengarden.com/gardening/Wild-Strawberries-Versus-Mock-Stra KM> wberries I'll have to check the colour of the flowers, sweetness by crush test, etc. ....If I don't reply.... KM> I have regular domestic straggleberries here, got about 14 pounds KM> off them this year (having beaten the birds). I didn't know it KM> was possible to get tired of 'em... Too much of anything. ¯ ® ¯ BarryMartin3@MyMetronet.NET ® ¯ ® .... Ketchup was sold in the 1830s as medicine. --- MultiMail/Win32 v0.47 þ wcECHO 4.2 ÷ ILink: The Safe BBS þ Bettendorf, IA --- QScan/PCB v1.20a / 01-0462 * Origin: ILink: CFBBS | cfbbs.no-ip.com | 856-933-7096 (454:1/1) .