Weeds are flowers growing where they don’t belong. It’s not uncommon to see cattails, goldenrod, and dandelions growing in ditches. However, most of us wouldn’t want those flowers growing in our flower beds. Now, from the same species, weed trees are trees growing where they don’t belong. Also, if you have them as larger trees, then you want to be on the lookout. Furthermore, learn a few tips with this article how to get rid of weeds in your lawn and garden.
How to Find Them.
I try to watch for them when I am mowing my lawn. When I see them in the midst of the grass, I mow around them, for I have found that if I mow them down they will continue to grow, but be thicker and even harder to get rid of.
It also helps to walk around your yard and garden periodically to be on the look-out for any saplings that may appear. It’s easier to get rid of them when they are extremely small.
Where exactly do they come from?
Some of them come from larger well-established trees that are already in your yard. Others come from trees found in your neighbor’s yard.
Maybe you don’t need trees in your yard
Thus, your yard might not need some trees growing in the middle of your lawn where you would have planted something else. If you like the location, before you decide to leave it there, you may want to clip off a piece of it including the leaf and make sure you know what kind it is.
Some things to consider would be whether that tree has a problem with certain types of bugs, or whether it will continue to drop seedlings all around your yard or flower beds. Keeping your eye out for weed trees is no easy task. If you don’t find them within the first year or so they may develop a strong root system making it seem impossible to be able to dig out of the ground at a later date.
Another factor is how tall the tree usually gets. Furthermore, whether it will shade your home nicely in the hot weather. Not to mention, the factor of having a tree growing in a different spot for that purpose.
Hence, what about the root system? Is it similar to a willow tree where the roots stick up from the ground making the area unsightly? The roots protrude up from the ground near the tree, making it quite difficult to mow the lawn. They don’t travel on top of the lawn like a willow tree will, but it still is ugly looking.
Thus, try out different methods to remove these weeds
1. One option is to paint the top with nothing other than ‘paint’ to stop the regrowth.
2. Another is to peel away the bark of the tree. How does this help you might ask? The nutrients flow from the base of the tree to the top and to the different branches. Hence, it needs the bark on the tree to help keep the nutrients in the tree. When the bark is peeled off, the nutrients will leach out of the trunk causing the tree to die.
This may take some time for the results to take place. Thus, if you are tired of waiting until you see the results, another option is to cut the tree, preferably at a height that you can get to. You can do this with tree trimming cutters if the trunk isn’t too thick. If the trunk is too thick for the cutters, then you’ll have to use a saw. After you cut it, ‘paint’ onto the cut area a chemical for killing weeds.
3. Another is to find some chemical to use, again on the surface of the cut to kill the tree that way. However, this should be a last resort. Certain chemicals make it impossible to plant anything else in that area for several years. The chemical I know it works best is a product called Tordon RTU, a specialty herbicide for controlling unwanted weeds.
4. Another option to use as a last resort is to pour salt on the open cut of the tree. Salt will kill the tree for sure. However, if you want to plant anything else there, it might take several years before the ground is completely leaching the salt, to allow anything else to grow.
5. One final option is to find someone with a truck and chains to loosen the dirt around it and pull it out. This is usually more expensive. However, if the tree is growing close to the foundation, it would definitely not safe for your house to take care of it in that manner. Thus, you don’t want to find out the hard way that the roots of the tree have already broken into the foundation.
In summary, weed trees are trees growing where you didn’t plant them and where they don’t belong, whether it’s too near your house, in your flowerbeds or in the wrong place in your yard. Keeping them from growing on your property takes time and perseverance, and not giving up. They are much easier to remove when they are tiny seedlings, so keep a close watch around your yard
