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The F word spring to mind!

FlinsterFlinster Posts: 883
in Problem solving
So, I have this old yucca which was here when we arrived. I’m removing it as I’m not a fan, it’s a snail hotel and also has a multitude of sins growing under it! Acanthus mollis is under it and is spreading all over, creeping buttercup etc. I’ve removed all the leaves and braches of the Yucca and now I’m faced with the stump... it’s a beast and also tangled mess of Acanthus roots. Am I best digging out as much as I can then spraying off what grows back, or spraying it all off before I dig out? It’s a tight corner and judging by my experience in the rest of the garden I am likely to find a multitude of rubble and pavers etc, so I just won’t get all the root and will have to spray. My gut says spray now as then I’m not creating a million baby plants first??
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  • Hostafan1Hostafan1 Posts: 34,889
    I'd be tempted to let it grow back and keep it more "managed"
    Anything for an easy life for me.
    Devon.
  • fidgetbonesfidgetbones Posts: 17,618
    Paint the stump with SBK brushwood killer. I removed a yucca as it was in the wrong place. It then threw up babies from bits left behind. I potted one of those up and now it is in the right place and flowers.  Acanthus is also a nightmare to remove as it grows from root cuttings. Use Glyphosate on it.  To remove the yucca stump you will need a pickaxe or a rootbreaker (spear and Jackson Neverbend)
  • FlinsterFlinster Posts: 883
    I need a pick axe for the soil round here lol! Thanks for the advice... that means I can go and do some other, more enjoyable jobs! I’ve been swearing like a docker... full sun, trussed up in a fleece trying not to be stabbed.. I got stabbed... a lot!
  • raisingirlraisingirl Posts: 7,093
    edited June 2018
    Reminds me of a time I had been digging out some awful massive thorny shrub where it was growing next to a public footpath. I was excavating it's roots on a hot day, more or less standing on my head in a hole in the ground and swearing at the thing quite creatively (I like to think) trying to get at its tap root. When I came up for air at one point I found the guy who used to live in our house leaning on the fence with his hands in his pockets. "Mm" he said "I probably shouldn't have planted that there". and wandered off.

    The air was blue. Looked much better once it was gone though  :)
    Gardening on the edge of Exmoor, in Devon

    “It's still magic even if you know how it's done.” 
  • FlinsterFlinster Posts: 883
    Omg, it’s a wonder you didn’t lamp him with your spade lol!
  • Papi JoPapi Jo Posts: 4,254
    Glyphosate : no way! >:)
  • B3B3 Posts: 27,505
    Is that a rocket launch pad down the end of your garden?
    This could be the answer - Snail City in the Sky with a diet of acanthus!
    In London. Keen but lazy.
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 0
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  • FlinsterFlinster Posts: 883
    edited June 2018
    A rocket launch pad.... now there’s an idea, I could build a large catapult and fire the snails into the neighbouring field! I could tell the kids it’s new play equipment and much more fun than a trampoline anyway!!
  • FlinsterFlinster Posts: 883
    Freddie’s dad, yes a good idea.... there appears to be bits of black polythene wrapped around bit of the base.... I can feel a face plant moment coming on... anyway I will fight with the stump/roots in a few weeks when I’ve killed off the acanthus, but for now I’m off to buy some strong elastic...
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