Aspen problem

[wildfisherman]

I've got a horrible problem with an aspen. Maybe 35 years ago someone gave me an aspen seedling and I planted it at the edge of my garden near the polytunnel. Much later it started putting up little offshoots in the polytunnel but I more or less kept on top of it. It got steadily worse. Part of me thought if I just leave it standing maybe things will be ok but if I cut it down it will panic and put all its effort into the little offshoots. Anyway, eventually I did cut it down and it has since gone mental. There are little aspens coming up everywhere, metres and metres away.

 

Is there anything I can do about this? Cut them all off and hope that deprived of leaves and photosythesis the whole thing dies? Is there some sort of industrial strength systemic herbicide I could use? If I don't do anything it will completely take over.

[Macpherson]

13 minutes ago, wildfisherman said:

I've got a horrible problem with an aspen. Maybe 35 years ago someone gave me an aspen seedling and I planted it at the edge of my garden near the polytunnel. Much later it started putting up little offshoots in the polytunnel but I more or less kept on top of it. It got steadily worse. Part of me thought if I just leave it standing maybe things will be ok but if I cut it down it will panic and put all its effort into the little offshoots. Anyway, eventually I did cut it down and it has since gone mental. There are little aspens coming up everywhere, metres and metres away.

 

Is there anything I can do about this? Cut them all off and hope that deprived of leaves and photosythesis the whole thing dies? Is there some sort of industrial strength systemic herbicide I could use? If I don't do anything it will completely take over.

 

I really like the way their leaves shimmer in a breeze and nearly planted one before my neighbour's wife told what would happen, thankfully.

I had the same problem with willow.. suckers everywhere, I used Glyphosate and got on top of the problem but I really don't like using the stuff.

[Will C]

Eco plugs will solve it if they are all one the same root system.

[Hodge]

Eco plugs will solve it if they are all one the same root system.

I've seen aspen stumps done with eco plugs and they did not work, the suckers just kept appearing, in the end the whole lot had to be stump ground and even then suckers popped up now and then for a few years, they are very difficult to kill off[emoji23][emoji23]

[openspaceman]

1 hour ago, Hodge said:

 

I've seen aspen stumps done with eco plugs and they did not work, the suckers just kept appearing, in the end the whole lot had to be stump ground and even then suckers popped up now and then for a few years, they are very difficult to kill off

 

Perceived wisdom is that you poison the tree some weeks before felling it but that's something I was never allowed to do.

[oldwoodcutter]

I was called back a year after we’d grinded an aspen stump at a bungalow on a quite affluent estate.

The fellows front lawn now resembled a WW1 battlefield , criss crossed with deep trenches revealing the whole system of roots left in situ , suckers the full nine yards, with some heading under his footings , others going under his grumbling neighbours fence, while more still under his kerbside wall.

He seemed to me to be on the verge of complete mental collapse.

All i could do was try and find a few words of encouragement and get out before he finally went round the bend.

 

 

[wildfisherman]

Thanks for your replies. Doesn't sound good!

 

If I was to try glyphosate, is that just regular Roundup and should I make an effort to treat every single sucker that I see?

 

Hi Macpherson! If your Glen Shiel is the one I think it is I'm really close to you, on Knoydart, south shore of Loch Hourn. Small world.

[david lawrence]

You could  try a broadleaf weed killer if they are In the lawn/grass areas 

 

sbk or grazon 

should give it a fright

 

[openspaceman]

3 minutes ago, david lawrence said:

You could  try a broadleaf weed killer if they are In the lawn/grass areas 

Regular mowing will kill them off in a couple of years, it's the ones that sprout in borders andr shrubbery that need dealing with as these will sustain the suckering. I'd go with a rubber glove holding a pad with 50% glyphosate on those.

[Macpherson]

2 hours ago, openspaceman said:

Regular mowing will kill them off in a couple of years, it's the ones that sprout in borders andr shrubbery that need dealing with as these will sustain the suckering. I'd go with a rubber glove holding a pad with 50% glyphosate on those.

As in ringing a stem and making a reservoir for the solution with something to soak up and hold it letting it be taken in over time hopefully getting to as much of the root system as possible ?

That's worked well for me with the Willows but there's always a new one pops up somewhere, nature will always find a way.👍