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Will roundup gel kill ash saplings?

sabeehasabeeha Posts: 344
in Problem solving
Hello!

I dislike weedkillers, however, bought some round up gel to try to get rid of the bindweed I have in my garden.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B005ZALTF0/ref=s9_acsd_simh_hd_bw_b4bvIMJ_c_x_w?pf_rd_m=A3P5ROKL5A1OLE&pf_rd_s=merchandised-search-3&pf_rd_r=WENK83KCHEGPFWQSH6RG&pf_rd_r=WENK83KCHEGPFWQSH6RG&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_p=33cea4a5-6414-502f-996a-d87374cd6676&pf_rd_p=33cea4a5-6414-502f-996a-d87374cd6676&pf_rd_i=4224911031

I wanted to ask, can I also use it for ash saplings? 

I don't really want to buy loads of products for every individual issue.

The ash saplings which can be tugged out, I tug out.  The ones I want to target are the ones which the previous owners let grow to half a metre tall and are impossible to tug out, or the short ones which have become thick, bushy and very strong, due to repeatedly being cut back.

If not, can you recommend one single product that can be used on bindweed, brambles and ash saplings (my three main problems!)

Thank you :)



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Posts

  • Hampshire HogHampshire Hog Posts: 330
    Don't see why not may need more than one application and you will need to try and cover as much leaf area as you can.
    Use rubber washing up gloves and smear the gel on with these.
    "A society grows great when old men plant trees whose shade they know they shall never sit in."
  • DovefromaboveDovefromabove Posts: 88,147
    Keep on at them .. it'll work eventually.   :)

    Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.





  • sabeehasabeeha Posts: 344
    Thank you hampshire hog & Dovefromabove


  • JennyJJennyJ Posts: 10,576

    I'd go for a stronger product - something labelled Brushwood Killer or similar.  There are gels and sprays available. 

    Brand doesn't really matter - I've currently got one from Wilko that I used on ivy whose roots were under the garage so it couldn't be dug out.  My method was to get out what I could of the roots, cut back all the top growth down to ground level, leave it to grow back a bit, then spray the young regrowth repeatedly (probably about every couple of weeks but I wasn't particularly methodical about it).  It took most of a season to be rid of it but seems to have worked.

    Doncaster, South Yorkshire. Soil type: sandy, well-drained
  • DovefromaboveDovefromabove Posts: 88,147
    edited September 2018
    The thing is that weedkiller is best applied to leaves when the plant is in active growth rather than the autumn as now ... I'd try what you've got i.e. the gel now .... if the saplings are still alive next spring and growing new leaves then I'd get something a bit stronger as Jennyj suggests. 

    Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.





  • sabeehasabeeha Posts: 344
    JennyJ Thank you, I will have a look.  I have a huge ash tree a few gardens down, so I expect its an issue I may have to face repeatedly, so I could buy something else...Although I have become better at identifying the things as they come up!

    Dovefromabove thank you, will finish off the product I have now, and get something stronger next year - they still seem to be doing really well due to  the weather, even though things should be winding down! 
  • JennyJJennyJ Posts: 10,576

    I'd probably chop them back hard and treat the regrowth, whether that's this autumn or not until spring.  My guess is that there'll be some autumn regrowth on the ivy and brambles but maybe not the ash saplings.  Either way it's likely to be a long process, into next spring/summer at least.  It's quicker (but harder work) to dig out the roots if at all possible.

    For the bindweed, if it keeps coming back despite digging/pulling it out, stick some canes into the ground near the roots and let it grow up them, so it's easier to treat (rubber gloves method as described by Hampshire Hog).

    PS the ash tees round here seem to be having a bumper year - dripping with keys.  If the parent ash tree is nearby, keep an eye out for the keys falling and clear them up before they turn into a forest!

    Doncaster, South Yorkshire. Soil type: sandy, well-drained
  • sabeehasabeeha Posts: 344
    Thank you for your advice, very much appreciated!

  • BobFlannigonBobFlannigon Posts: 619
    Surely it takes much less time to remove Ash and bramble with loppers and leather gloves than it does to cover yourself and everything else in toxic chemicals?


  • sabeehasabeeha Posts: 344
    I appreciate what you are saying Bob.

    There is a particularly problematic one next to my house, between the wall of the house and the pavers - I do not want it growing right next to the wall and sending out deep roots.  The previous owners appeared to have cut it back a few times, but it has grown with greater vigour, with lots of branches - I don't think cutting back seems to have worked?
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