Killing a bay tree

[IanDB]

We have had a large bay cut down and the area turned over with a rotavater. The bay is sending up new shoots. We need to kill it permanently. Have tried spraying with Gallup with no success. 
 

any suggestions please?

[Steven P]

What are your plans for the area? If for example it is going to be a lawn just keep mowing it over the summer this year and next and it will do the job.

 

Otherwise poison the roots, or dig them out will give the fastest results, or slower but more environmentally friendly and easer on the back, just keep cutting off the new shoots as they appear till the roots run out of energy stores to put up new shoots - takes a couple of years to do that.

 

With poison just spraying the new shoots isn't so effective, need to get into the roots themselves - others will be able to advise the best over the counter solution for that

[IanDB]

Many thanks. 
the poison route is the one I’ll likely take. 
 

do you have a product suggestion that is extremely effective ?

[Yournamehere]

I've no idea if it would work on a bay; but for twenty years I've been treating willow stumps with what was Verdone and is now Weedol for Lawns. You spray over the cut stump (to soak the bark) and you get no regrowth whatsoever; which for a willow is saying something: instead of a hedgehog-like mass of shoots: nothing. nada. zilch.

I don't know if it kills the cambium of somehow stops the bark from forming new shoot buds; but it works.

Like I say, I've never tried it on a bay; but, one, try it; two if you do get regrowth, wait for it to come into leaf and then spray the leaf growth when it is still young and tender.

And as bay has a tendency to 'glossy' add a drop of Fairy Liquid (small squirt in 1L, big squirt in a 5L sprayer) to act as a surfactant*: it breaks down the surface tension so that the water can't 'hunch up' in droplets and roll/run off the leaf but 'smears' out across the surface. (Just like adding a wetting agent to the final rinse when developing a film).

Oh and mix it double strength.

Best of luck

Yourn

 

*on the leaves; not necessary on the freshly cut stump

[Mesterh]

Have you had the stump removed? If not I would do that first and then remove any big offshoot roots, easy enough to do with a mattock by hand.

Bay leaves are fairly waxy so poison will probably run off before it can be absorbed. You can get an additive to help the poison to stick or in the olden days you would just add a bit of diesel.