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Tree root killer for yard


How to Kill a Tree Root System in Your Yard | Home Guides

By Dean Michael Patterson Updated November 04, 2019

Tree roots can grow deep below ground and spread over a large area, searching for moisture and nutrients. Average depth is around 7 to 9 feet, however, some root systems can go much deeper and spread much wider. Problems with tree root systems develop when they force their way toward and into sewer pipes, run amok through your yard, crack into the foundation of your house, or cause havoc, pushing under and through your driveway.

Needless to say, tree root killer products have become popular and a staple for homeowners. There are natural ways to handle tree roots that you may employ; however, they often take longer to work than your standard chemical products. Keep in mind that even if you chop down a tree, the roots can continue to grow and cause damage even after the trunk is removed.

You have two choices: You can eliminate underground issues with either chemical or natural treatments. Remember to use caution and always keep them out of reach of children and pets. Fortunately, on a positive note, once you have killed the tree roots and pulled them up, they sometimes look interesting and can be used as landscape ornaments.

Tree Root Killer

Root killers come in a variety of mixes, which all work. They use things like copper sulfate and various chemicals, such as an herbicide called dichlobenil, to help clear sewer lines, drainpipes and septic tanks of tree roots. If you prefer something less toxic, you can make a natural tree root killer using baking soda, vinegar, salt and boiling water. Mix the ingredients and immediately flush into the lowest toilet in the house. This foaming root killer will fill the pipes, causing the salt to leach into the offensive roots. This process may take several applications and time before the dead roots get washed away.

Killing Tree Roots With Bleach

If bleaching a tree stump can kill it, then killing tree roots with bleach will work as well. Simply expose the roots you want gone by cutting into them. Using a drill is also a good option; just drill holes right into the roots you wish to be rid of. With a paintbrush, paint bleach onto the roots where you have cut into them or fill the holes.

If the root doesn’t die, then repeat this process. It may take multiple applications and a fair amount of time. If you are just trying to kill one bothersome root, cut it from the main root system back a foot; then apply bleach onto the undesired root.

Killing Tree Roots With Epsom Salts

Although it takes longer than a chemical herbicide, killing tree roots with Epsom salts can effectively work by depriving them of water. Drill holes along the root 3 to 4 inches deep. Fill the holes completely with Epsom salts and pour water into them. Avoid overfilling, as the salt solution is harmful to surrounding vegetation. Repeat this process several times for a few months. Sooner or later, the salt will kill the tree roots.

Killing Tree Roots With Roundup

Roundup concentrate is effective at killing your unwanted tree roots. It will also prevent vegetation from growing. Its active ingredient is glyphosate, so take necessary safety precautions during its application. Dip a paintbrush in the Roundup mixture and paint over the exposed cut root area. Repeat as necessary. You can also drill holes into the root and pour the Roundup directly into the root. You want to saturate the exposed root area with Roundup. Clean up your tools with hot soap and water immediately after using them with the Roundup.

Tree-Killing Chemicals

The fastest, most effective way to kill trees is with the chemical herbicide, glyphosate herbicide, the major ingredient in Roundup and some other brands. Just make sure that the concentration is at least 41 percent or higher of glyphosate as the active ingredient. Another popular commercial tree killer that works every time is Picloram, the active ingredient in Tordon. Other tree-killing chemicals that work include Hi-Yield 2,4-D, good old reliable diesel fuel and Ferti-Lome Brush Stump Killer. Use any of these tree-killing chemicals, and within a few days, your tree will have perished.

References

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Writer Bio

Dean Patterson is a freelance writer and outdoor enthusiast. Graduate of San Diego State University, he travels extensively throughout the United States capturing the American Spirit in words. He has published as a journalist as well as with Amazon eBooks. He can be found running along the California coast or in the wilds of the great Rock Mountains.

How to Kill Tree Roots (Project Guide)

Photo: istockphoto.com

Trees add great beauty to your landscape and their shade can help keep cooling costs low. But when a tree outgrows its location or is seriously damaged in a storm, it becomes a hazard that should be removed—and chopping it down is only half the battle.

A tree’s underground root system can extend up to 20 feet deep in ideal soil conditions, and spread over an even greater area. These tree roots can continue to grow even after the trunk is history and, if close to your sewer line or foundation, cause serious damage. Eliminate underground issues with either the chemical or natural treatment described here—just remember to use caution and keep both herbicide and rock salt out of reach of pets and kids. Now read on to get to the root of the problem.
 

Option 1: Chemical Herbicide

The fastest, most effective way to kill roots is with chemical herbicide, as soon as the tree has been cut down. If you can treat the tree immediately, proceed to Step 2; if not, follow Step 1.

Photo: istockphoto.com

TOOLS AND MATERIALS Available on Amazon
– Saw
– Watering can (or garden hose)
– Glyphosate herbicide (with 41 percent or higher active ingredient concentration)
– Small bucket
– Garden sprayer (or paintbrush)

1. If the tree was cut down days (or more) ago, make a fresh cut with a saw across what remains of the trunk.

This slice should create a flat surface and expose new flesh. With trees three inches or less in diameter, cut across the entire surface of the trunk. For larger trees, expose new flesh of the outer two to three inches.

2. Saturate the tree’s cambium layer—the outer ring located just under the bark—with 2 to 3 inches of water.

As this outer layer is still alive and growing, the liquid will help carry the herbicide from the live tissue to the tree roots.

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3. Mix a 50/50 solution of glyphosate herbicide to water and apply it to the exposed cambium layer.

You can use a garden sprayer, hand-held sprayer, or paintbrush to do so. Be careful in your application to avoid splashing and inadvertently harming plants or grass surrounding the trunk. Tree roots should die off completely in a couple of weeks.
 

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Option 2: Rock Salt

Although it takes longer than chemical herbicide, rock salt can effectively kill tree roots by robbing them of water.

TOOLS AND MATERIALS Available on Amazon
– Rock salt
– Water
– Drill (with 1-inch or larger drill bit)

1. Drill several holes 3 to 4 inches deep into the cut surface of the tree trunk.

Before you stow your power tool, bore several additional holes into any larger roots that are exposed near the ground.

2. Fill the holes completely with rock salt, and pour water into them to fill to the top.

Avoid overfilling, as the rock salt solution is harmful to surrounding vegetation and toxic to pets—you won’t want any spillover. Repeat this process several times for a few months, and eventually rock salt will kill the tree roots. (You’ll know the roots are dead when there is no longer any regrowth from the trunk.)

Fear that the roots have invaded a sewer line or your foundation? Maybe you wish to keep the decomposing material from feeding unattractive fungus. In either case, you could also attempt digging the larger tree roots out of the ground. It’s an arduous process, but once you remove them you can reclaim your lawn.

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Don't try to humanize trees: truths and myths about "green spaces"

People are accustomed to treating trees in a consumer way. It seems that you can do anything with them: stupefy, cut off the roots, peel off the bark - they will survive. Well, if not, it's not a big problem, there are others. Dendrologist, certified international inspector in the field of tree protection, ecologist Alexandra Koroleva, in her recent lecture on YouTube, spoke about why we need trees, why they should not be mocked, considered like us, and why everything is so bad with them in Kaliningrad. Here are excerpts from this lecture. nine0003

Our ideas about trees are often mythological. When we try to build our relationship with nature, we very often humanize it, we try to compare it with ourselves. So, there is no need to compare trees with yourself. There is no need to try to use your knowledge about yourself in your relationships with trees. How are trees different from humans? These are completely banal, obvious things: unlike us, trees constantly grow in one place and cannot leave it. This is very important to understand, because when you and I are hot, we can go to the shady side of the street. When a thunderstorm starts, we can hide in a house where there is a lightning rod. A tree cannot do this. It remains where it has grown, and is forced to endure all the environmental conditions that develop around it. And the conditions, by the way, can change. But the tree cannot change. This must be firmly grasped. nine0003

It can be difficult for us to understand, to catch a causal relationship of what happened to the tree: it stood and stood, so pretty, green, though, a little trimmed - and suddenly fell. The reasons are that a tree has a completely different biological clock, it grows slowly and can reach an age several times greater than a human. And so they repaired the sidewalk and even forgot about it, several years passed. But the tree, which seemed to be alive, suddenly falls and causes colossal damage. And we see, for example, that it has no roots at all, these roots were cut off during the repair of the sidewalk. nine0003

The growth of a tree continues throughout its life, which is why it can reach such magnificent sizes. It is you and I who grow evenly, our growth and development ends when we reach a certain age, after which we begin to age. And the most important property of a tree is that it is constantly growing. And when we plant, for example, a plane tree on a city sidewalk - a small seedling several meters in height - we should be well aware that with age this plane tree will occupy the entire space of the sidewalk. If we do not understand this, then we do not know how to plan the development of the city. nine0003

The layer of cells that ensures the growth of the tree - the cambium - is very thin, it is located immediately under the bark. It remains just as thin in the most mature tree, thin and very vulnerable. In childhood, everyone probably tried to calculate the age of a tree by annual rings. They are formed precisely due to the appearance of new cells: in spring, these cells grow rapidly, in autumn this growth stops, the cell gaps become smaller, and thus a band is formed that outlines the next annual ring. nine0003

In humans and other animals, cells and tissues are constantly being renewed, in a tree another interesting thing happens: dead cells, tissues are shed in the form of dry branches or are rejected annually. If the tree is deciduous, then the leaves are discarded. Nothing like this happens in humans or animals.

Trees do not restore lost parts. There used to be a branch here, but a branch will never grow on it again. New ones grow and they look completely different: often pruning greatly distorts the natural shape of the crown. Although trees are able to lay down spare substances just in time for the seasonal resumption of growth, in order for the buds to open in the spring, new shoots to appear, and for regeneration in order to heal the wound. nine0003

The most important difference is that humans and other animals feed on ready-made organic compounds, while trees and other plants create nutrients from inorganic - water and carbon dioxide, under the influence of solar energy. This is photosynthesis. A simple formula, when fructose is formed from 6 molecules of carbon dioxide and 6 molecules of water - sugar, an organic substance. And as a by-product, a by-product of this reaction is oxygen.

Another myth is that we breathe oxygen, while a tree absorbs carbon dioxide and, they say, breathes it. No, this is wrong. nine0006 Trees also need oxygen to breathe. Just in the light, during the day, the process of oxygen release, photosynthesis, prevails, and at night, when solar energy does not reach the tree, photosynthesis slows down and then the absorption of oxygen becomes higher than its release. Yes, a tree needs oxygen, and the whole tree, the roots too. In order for the roots of an urban tree to receive oxygen, there must be some kind of space - not paved, not completely covered with tiles, and usually a grate is used for this. And it is absolutely clear that a lattice means something, let's say, metal, but the more holes, the less metal, the better. [Grid installed on st. Bagration] will not let water through, will not let oxygen through, and, worst of all, it will become terribly hot, and the roots will overheat under it. nine0003


Photo of the administration of Kaliningrad

It is a deep delusion that the roots of the tree are somewhere down there. No, most of the roots - both mechanical, which hold the tree, and nutritive ones - are located at a depth of no more than 60 cm, and nutritious ones are completely located at a depth of up to 15 cm. We often see when repairing roads and sidewalks, when around tree, 40 centimeters of soil were removed - this means that all nutritious roots were destroyed. In general, it is generally accepted that the root system of a tree approximately corresponds to the diameter of the crown. But in reality this is not so. In reality, the diameter of the root system of a free-growing tree greatly exceeds the size of the crown. It’s another matter when a city tree has a road that blocks the soil on one side, and a sidewalk on the other, that’s how it lives. And, of course, one should not be surprised that after such work as on Kant Island, one of the trees will fall, or all of them. In a nightmare, I could not dream that the double alley of red-leaved beeches, the pride and beauty of Kant Island, would find itself in a situation where 25 centimeters of soil was removed and the roots were chopped off almost in a circle. It seems to me that the minister of the environment and the environmental prosecutor should be standing near such a tree, and they should all write out some terrible decrees and fines. So tell me, is this happening or not? nine0003

There are many ways to protect tree roots when repairing sidewalks. It is possible to go around a tree, it is possible and necessary to make a near-trunk lattice, while laying communications, preserve the roots, do not chop them off. In Kaliningrad, the roots are cut off. In Germany, stricter building codes and regulations were adopted almost two years ago. And there is a whole scheme of how the roots need to be preserved - completely jewelry. Where the roots still have to be cut, they are processed, wrapped in sacking, moreover - well, usually these are long works, at least several days - the ditch dug near the tree is supposed to be filled up every evening. Technical textiles are immersed there, sand is poured, and the roots spend the night in the ground. Sounds like a fairy tale. nine0003

Parts of a tree - crown, trunk, roots - are interconnected. And any damage to the trunk that will prevent the exchange between the crown and the roots threatens the stability of the tree. All visible phenomena occur in the crown: when buds open, leaves, fruits, etc. appear. But invisible processes also take place in it: photosynthesis, evaporation of water and absorption of harmful substances present in the atmosphere. Evaporation of water is an extremely important thing. Without evaporation, the tree would not be able to obtain the water needed for photosynthesis. Evaporation occurs from the lower surface of the leaf - there are special holes (the tree also breathes through them). It is evaporation that starts and maintains the mechanism for the flow of water with dissolved minerals through the roots along the trunk to the crown, where the mystery of photosynthesis takes place. nine0003

"Stumbling" simultaneously deprives the tree of the ability to eat, breathe and receive water. Yes, dormant buds wake up at a “stupefied” tree, they are always on the trunk of a tree, but even if several shoots peep out of these sleeping buds, this couple of dozen leaves will not be able to provide the tree with nutrients and ensure the flow of water, its rise, evaporation. Often trees in the city have to be cut, this is a whole art. But pruning, according to the rules, must take place in several specific stages, the tree cannot be deprived of more than 15% of the crown ( this rule is not legalized and is violated everywhere - approx. "New Kaliningrad" ). If the figure is exceeded, it is simply killing the tree. This is the deprivation of citizens of their property, this is a crime. Moreover, there are types of trees that categorically do not withstand pruning, even mild pruning, they do not have the ability to recover. For example, strange as it may seem, such a seemingly unpretentious tree as a birch does not tolerate pruning at all - well, it just withers immediately and forever.

nine0005 Part of the bark - bast - is very easy to damage. During construction, when repairing roads, when trying to climb a tree, when trying to carve something. With damage to the bast, the entire system of supplying the tree with nutrients is disrupted. Therefore, when you complain, for example, to a police officer, prosecutor, minister of natural resources, that the bark in your yard has been damaged as a result of construction, and you hear in response: “It will grow,” don’t believe it. In addition, even the smallest damage not only disrupts the nutrition system, but it is also an open gate for infection. Here we are similar to trees. These are holes through which pathogenic bacteria, fungi will penetrate, and rotting will begin, a hollow will appear, etc. And often it does not depend on the size of the damage, but on the age of the tree. The fact that for an adult tree may not be so scary, but for a seedling at first it seems small, then, when the trunk grows, it will be huge. nine0003

What is happening with trees in Kaliningrad is monstrous. Of course, there are rules and regulations, including Russian ones, that require the protection of tree trunks during repair work, construction, and so on. But our absolutely disregard for trees during construction is not as discouraging as an absolutely illiterate, heartless attitude towards seedlings. This is heartlessness in relation to the trees themselves, in relation to the work of those people who grew them. Often the condition of planted young trees is a monstrous result of unprofessionalism. Here is a tree tied tightly with a cake string - whoever planted it apparently did not know that it was growing. An influx forms on top [of the rope]. It can be removed, but this is already irreparable, this tree will always be like this. nine0003


Why do we need trees in the city? The simplest and most obvious: they supply us with oxygen. And absorb carbon dioxide. One large tree releases as much oxygen as one person needs per day for breathing. In order to provide one person with a norm of oxygen per year - 400 kg - it is necessary to have a park area of ​​1 thousand square meters. m. That is, if we in the city have a norm of 16 sq. m. m per person, it turns out that we have to get oxygen from other places. Even the existing standard will not supply us with oxygen. nine0003

In addition, tree leaves collect dust and harmful substances that are emitted by cars, factories, etc. The crown and leaves are the perfect natural filter. And, it should be noted, different tree species can do this in different ways; some types of trees do not withstand the urban polluted atmosphere at all, and this must also be remembered when choosing an urban assortment. For example, bicolor fir, which does not grow anywhere else in Russia, only in the Kaliningrad region, ideally extracts sulfur compounds from the air. So you can choose your own assortment for each city with corresponding problems in the atmosphere. And coniferous trees must be in the city. Only they emit special volatile substances into the air - phytoncides, which sterilize and sanitize the air. nine0003

Trees and creepers reduce city noise. In addition, mature trees form streams. They help to prevent water from accumulating on the streets in cities after rain. Finally, trees form a microclimate. We must now all the time remember that we live in conditions of dangerous consequences of global climate change, and it is trees that can help us adapt to these consequences. The strategic placement of trees can lower [in heat] the average temperature in a city by 8 degrees. And cars standing [under the open sun] on a day when the air temperature warms up to 30 degrees can warm up to 70 degrees, and when the sun has already set, the cars will re-radiate heat, creating the so-called "urban heat island". And proper placement of trees around buildings can reduce the use of air conditioners. nine0003

Trees in gardens supply man with food. And we must not forget that we want to listen to birdsong in the morning so that there are bees - without trees this is absolutely impossible. The presence of trees improves the mental and physical health of a person, reduces stress - there is a lot of evidence and various studies for this. Whatever one may say, trees save us.

Recorded by Oksana Oshevskaya. Photo: Vitaly Nevar / New Kaliningrad


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Comments on the material A selection of the main streets of Chelyabinsk, which "decorate" dead trees June 28, 2019 | 74.ru

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