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Unfortunately, the best course of action I see is to cut the individual sprouts frequently so they cannot develop leaves to feed the roots. If they are not allowed to grow the roots will die eventually.
This will involve a lot of 'hands and knees' nipping of sprouts.
I once had the same issue with locust trees. It took several years to get them to stop sprouting.
Unfortunately, triclopyr would kill my St Augustine grass too.
"Yes, triclopyr will kill St. Augustine Grass. Due to the structure of St. Augustine grass, triclopyr can adhere to the blades, be absorbed into the plant, and cause it to grow and mutate. An entire lawn of St. Augustine can be brought down in as little as a single week."
Also, reducing water for that area wouldn't be as easy as it sounds. I'd have to shut off my lawn irrigation in two different zones which would also adversely affect the rest of the grass in those zones. Plus, I can't control where it rains, and lately we've had considerable rain.
It just sounds like I'm up Sh*t Creek without a paddle.
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Sorry, missed your St.Augustine grass comment.
Have you tried calling Scotts
888-270-3714 if their product below is safe to use or is anything better they recommend?
(I personally don’t like to use mixed products: a combination of fertilizer, herbicide and pesticides)
Scotts® Turf Builder® Southern Triple Action
They may recommend an herbicide safe for St.Augustine turf that is sold in your area.
If you want to look by yourself then this is the list of herbicides safe on your grass in Table 1 at the bottom of the page
The simplest, cheapest and safest is just to keep mowing often when those sprouts in tender stage -then your watering will actually help to speed up the process of making more sprouts and exhausting the roots?
Do you know for sure what type of oak it was? If you are sure it was an oak and not another tree.
We could give a more specific advice on killing that root system perhaps more effectively?
Next time perhaps you better off keeping the stump for a while while using the systemic herbicide on the stump’s cambium layer to kill the root system first? Has to be done in appropriate season to send poison down to the roots? Or even try to poison the tree first with systemic herbicide, then take it down?
Then only grind the stump later when all is dead?
Last edited by L00k4ward; 03-07-2024 at 06:49 AM..
The remedy for stubborn vines is to cut down to an inch or two and apply Roundup to the cut area of the stem with a paintbrush. You could try it on the oak sprouts.
Are the sprouts easily pickable? Do you know any families with young children? Offer the children a nickel or a penny for every sprout. Seriously. Let THEM get down on their hands and knees and pluck away.
This happened to me when we had a house in WV. Cut down a locust tree- sprouted like a mini jungle. I got my drill and used a large diameter and long auger bit, drilled holes in the main stump- a lot. I poured concentrated round-up in the holes. Did this several times. It did the trick.
I know your stump was ground and backfilled, but it's still down there. I'd dig it up and do this in order to stop the suckers from coming up.
One tactic that can work well for things that are interconnected is to let one (or a few) of the sprouts get big enough to bend and dip an end into a solution of roundup or Brushkill or Crossbow (whichever you're using) in a cup. Let it sit... It will soak up through the plant and into the connecting roots and sprouts, without having to spray any of the surrounding plants. I have used this to get invasive berries that come up among other plantings.
Last edited by Diana Holbrook; 03-07-2024 at 11:25 AM..
The simplest, cheapest and safest is just to keep mowing often when those sprouts in tender stage -then your watering will actually help to speed up the process of making more sprouts and exhausting the roots?
Do you know for sure what type of oak it was? If you are sure it was an oak and not another tree.
We could give a more specific advice on killing that root system perhaps more effectively?
Next time perhaps you better off keeping the stump for a while while using the systemic herbicide on the stump’s cambium layer to kill the root system first? Has to be done in appropriate season to send poison down to the roots? Or even try to poison the tree first with systemic herbicide, then take it down?
Then only grind the stump later when all is dead?
The tree was a Live Oak. That's the name of it "Live Oak". They're common in the extreme south. They grow fast.
I just remembered that I have some Atrazine 4L that I've used a time or two in the past on weeds in my St Augustine grass lawn. I may spray some of it (properly mixed of course) on the sprouts this afternoon since it's nice and sunny today.
The simplest, cheapest and safest is just to keep mowing often when those sprouts in tender stage -then your watering will actually help to speed up the process of making more sprouts and exhausting the roots?
Do you know for sure what type of oak it was? If you are sure it was an oak and not another tree.
We could give a more specific advice on killing that root system perhaps more effectively?
Next time perhaps you better off keeping the stump for a while while using the systemic herbicide on the stump’s cambium layer to kill the root system first? Has to be done in appropriate season to send poison down to the roots? Or even try to poison the tree first with systemic herbicide, then take it down?
Then only grind the stump later when all is dead?
Live Oak is so common in Florida and areas of deep south it's ridiculous.
When you see films set in old deep south with those huge oak trees draped in Spanish moss, they're likely Live Oak.
Keep mowing. Avoid chemicals. If these are sprouting from the remaining root system of a large tree, there's no way you're going to get enough herbicide down a little sprout to kill the whole root system. Just keep mowing.
Are the sprouts easily pickable? Do you know any families with young children? Offer the children a nickel or a penny for every sprout. Seriously. Let THEM get down on their hands and knees and pluck away.
No. The sprouts are coming from and are strongly attached to big underground roots from the dead tree. They can't be plucked because of being attached. They have to be cut off with sharp pointed secateurs right at or just below ground level. It's a tedious job and not a job to give to young children who would be at very high risk of injuring their hands.
The sprouts can be repeatedly mowed though. I've had a similar problem with sprouts coming up in the lawns coming from the big roots of cherry, oak, maple and lilac trees and with repeated cutting by hand with secateurs or else by mowing them down twice a week so they don't get a chance to grow leaves they will eventually die.
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