The tree that won't die

Chuck Ellis

Member
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6,997
Location
Tellico Plains, Tennessee
Anyone know how to permantly kill a Honey Locust Tree??

When we moved in three years ago, there were two or three of those monsters growing on the hill behind the house. Those suckers have 4" spikes growing out of the bark up and down the trunk. One of them was a fair sized tree and I kept some of the wood - sans thorns - for turning. It's actuall pretty nice wood to turn.

I cut all of the trees down as close to the ground as possible, drilled the stumps and poured in stump killer, weed killer, salt and anything else I can think of... The stumps are evidently all connected and are spread over about 2000 square foot area of the yard. I just spent my afternoon with a weed whacker cutting sprouts all over the yard.
 
I've never had a tree keep growing after I did the drill and pour trick. I've got a big Milwaukee 1/2" "D" handle drill and I put in a 12" x 1" auger bit and drill at least three holes down through the stump the full length of the bit. I really hog out the holes and then pour the stump killer in. Some stump killers require multiple treatments.

Hope you get it worked out. Of course, Rennie's D9 is surely the most reliable option. :D
 
Agent orange works real good. Kind of hard to find these days. I used to work for a tree service guy who had some. Kept it in a triple container and always wore a chem suit and respirator when applying it. A few small dribbles around the cambium layer, guaranteed dead!! You might call a local tree trimming service. They have commercial chemicals that do the trick.
 
Sorry Chuck, drill and pour always worked for me as well. Are the sprouts runners from roots, or possibly from seed?

Wes

PS Say Hi to Gort for us:D
 
One help with the DRILL & Pour............... When the weather gets below freezing, Take some very HOT water and fill the holes as it freezes, it will break it apart and the insects will do the hard work for you. (May take several years)

Bruce
 
Stump Killers

Most commercial stump killers need to be applied within 4 hours of when the tree is cut down. To get these chemicals you need to have an applicators license. The only way to kill this aftermath may be to cut all the suckers that are coming up from the root system and treat them right away. Garlon, Clarity,Tordon ,Pathway, and Crossbow are the common comercial chemicals.
 
Just keep mowing them off and after a few years it will die out. They have to have leaves to keep growing, so if you always cut the sprouts before they can do much good for the root system the problem will just go away. I went thru this a few years back and it wasn't really that big a deal. Lots of sprouts the first year, very few the 2nd and by the 3rd or 4th year it was a non issue. It did take a while for the root system to rot out. Of course it you let any sprout become anywhere close to a tree you may have to start the process over.


Garry
 
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