Removing hollies and forsythia permanently?
Hi, all!
I've been working hard the past few days removing two 30+-year-old holly trees and a scraggly forsythia that a previous owner of my house planted waaaaaaay too close to the foundation. I couldn't rip them out using a truck or a backhoe, so I had to remove them with a combination of a pruning saw, some shovels, and a pair of clippers. While this let me get the root ball out of the ground (eventually, that is), it resulted in lots of cut roots left behind. Therein lies my problem.
I'm worried that these will send out new shoots and I'll be fighting these darn bushes forever. My Googling efforts gave me conflicting answers, so I come to the experts here in LJ land. In y'all's experience, can hollies and forsythia be removed permanently, or do they tend to linger? Short of burning my land and salting the earth, what can I do to keep them at bay?
Thanks so much!
I've been working hard the past few days removing two 30+-year-old holly trees and a scraggly forsythia that a previous owner of my house planted waaaaaaay too close to the foundation. I couldn't rip them out using a truck or a backhoe, so I had to remove them with a combination of a pruning saw, some shovels, and a pair of clippers. While this let me get the root ball out of the ground (eventually, that is), it resulted in lots of cut roots left behind. Therein lies my problem.
I'm worried that these will send out new shoots and I'll be fighting these darn bushes forever. My Googling efforts gave me conflicting answers, so I come to the experts here in LJ land. In y'all's experience, can hollies and forsythia be removed permanently, or do they tend to linger? Short of burning my land and salting the earth, what can I do to keep them at bay?
Thanks so much!