Re: [Re: Robinia pseudoacacia?]


You have just brought up a question I was going to put to the group.  My
six-year-old house was built on a terrace faced by a dry stone wall, out of
which a fig branch has been pushing its way into the light, starting as a twig
about 3 years ago, and becoming larger each time it was lopped and actually
fruiting last year in hopes of being left alone.

Someone warned me that it would eventually do damage to the house if left, and
others said that, in any case, a fig should never be anywhere near a building
on account of the amount of water it removes from the ground, but half the
village houses around seem to have a massive fig tree growing around, if not
through them.

If I paint on the concentrated glyphosate as suggested should this fix it for
good? Or is it time to start underpinning the house? 
Yvonne Gregson











Gary Matson <matson@awwwsome.com> wrote:
> A very effective way to eliminate suckering trees which has worked well
> even on Ailanthus (Tree of Heaven) is to cut the tree off a few
> centimeters above the ground, and  _immediately_ , meaning within 5
> minutes or so, paint the cut end heavily with concentrated glyphosate.
> It is available here as 41% active ingredient.  Then, tie a plastic bag
> over the cut and treated end, securing with a rubber band or string.
> The bag needs to stay on only for a few weeks or so.
> 
> It is most effective in the fall when the plants are translocating
> sugars into the roots.  I have seen Ailanthus trees 40 to 40 ft away
> show significant damage the next  year, as the material was transmitted
> throughout the underground connected root system. You obviously would
> not want to do this if you want some of the thicket left undamaged.
> 
> This technique has worked well on figs, Albizzia and willow as well. It
> has the advantage of being relatively easy, sparing of glyphosate, and
> keeps the herbicide localized.  Particularly compartmentalized root
> systems may take a second go when the undamaged roots send up their
> shoots the next spring.  It may take more than one year for the roots to
> actually die and begin to decompose, but they do no further growth in
> the meantime.
> 
> --
> Gary Matson     Far Northern California
> http://www.plantstogo.com
> Adapted Plants for Hot Summer Climates
> 
> Gibbons F wrote:
> 
> > Dear all,
> > I'm not quite sure why my message, which
> >  was posted on 22 March, (hence the Easter
> > greetings)  has now suddenly appeared  on
> > the listserv two & a half months later - very
> > odd!!!! Where has it been all this time, I ask
> > myself!
> >
> > The question still applies however - I did some
> > subsequent checking around the topic of acacias
> > & found references that suckering towards water
> > sources of some types was a nuisance factor,
> > (from memory this information was on a South
> > African site, referring to the invasion of the
> > fynbos by unwanted vegetation)
> >
> > The odd thing is the flowering period -
> > definitely summertime, after Christmas;
> > I had always thought acacias were spring
> > flowering, but then we probably only see in NZ
> > a small percentage of the huge numbers
> > of varieties which make up the Acacia family.
> > So. they may well not be acacias!
> > Any assistance would be much appreciated.
> >
> > Frances Gibbons
> 
> 
> 


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