How to get rid of a spreading yew without killing other plants (landscaping, growing)
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We put a yew in our rock garden a couple of years ago. It has spread a LOT and has spread out a lot more than we wanted. Didn't know it would spread so fast. I can see it overtaking the whole rock garden in 10 years at the rate it's going. We have a very small red Japanese Maple next to it and I would spray the yew with Roundup if I didn't think it would kill the Japanese maple too.
I think you're right to be concerned about your Japanese Maple tree. Ours died after the neighbor's dog peed on it several times!
Yew sounds like mint, in that it spreads readily. Have you looked on google other garden guides? I would think that simply pulling it up won't really cure your problem.
Here is an idea. Put on some rubber gloves, then pour some Round-up (ready to use/diluted) in a small container. Dip a small sponge in the solution, then gently wipe it on the yew as much as you can, but do not let the treated foliage touch the other plants and of course do not use so much that liquid drips off of the leaves. Allow the foliage to dry, hopefully for 12 hrs or more. After 1-2 weeks you can cut down the yew. The roots will hopefully be dead and you can leave them to rot. Throw away the sponge in the trash. Carefully rinse off your gloves so that no other plants are harmed.
Here is an idea. Put on some rubber gloves, then pour some Round-up (ready to use/diluted) in a small container. Dip a small sponge in the solution, then gently wipe it on the yew as much as you can, but do not let the treated foliage touch the other plants and of course do not use so much that liquid drips off of the leaves. Allow the foliage to dry, hopefully for 12 hrs or more. After 1-2 weeks you can cut down the yew. The roots will hopefully be dead and you can leave them to rot. Throw away the sponge in the trash. Carefully rinse off your gloves so that no other plants are harmed.
Obviously you want it gone but I am curious why you didn't just prune them/it every couple of years? It's not difficult and they respond well to it. If you just want to give the tree breathing room you can still do some cutting back.
Obviously you want it gone but I am curious why you didn't just prune them/it every couple of years? It's not difficult and they respond well to it. If you just want to give the tree breathing room you can still do some cutting back.
Actually, I misspoke. It's not a yew at all. it's a juniper. It's only a couple of years old. It's not that it has grown UP, it spreads out horizontally. From what I understand, the roots grow out horizontally underground. It's not tall at all, it's just growing outward and filling up more and more of the rock garden. We thought it would spread some, but now it has spread more than we want. I don't think you can curb that by simply pruning it.
Actually, I misspoke. It's not a yew at all. it's a juniper. It's only a couple of years old. It's not that it has grown UP, it spreads out horizontally. From what I understand, the roots grow out horizontally underground. It's not tall at all, it's just growing outward and filling up more and more of the rock garden. We thought it would spread some, but now it has spread more than we want. I don't think you can curb that by simply pruning it.
OK same thought, why not prune?
I have Blue Rug Junipers on a steep slope around some cherry trees. More than likely that is what you have as well. They are probably one of the more common forms of spreading junipers used in landscaping. They have been wonderful at keeping erosion in check and are completely filled in from being itty bitty plants a few years ago.
They don't seem to be bothering the cherry trees at all but they are now edging into perennial planting areas. They also have reached the edge of the bed and where I have grass. So now they get "contained." They get trimmed at their tips to keep the edge from looking ragged in rounded arcs around plants and got bigger pruning where they have overtaken other plants. Generally this big pruning can be done early in the spring. Later on in the spring and early summer you can cause damage to the juniper with severe pruning but light pruning won't hurt.
Both of the following have some good tips on how to trim and how to prune. No need to kill any plants that way.
I have Blue Rug Junipers on a steep slope around some cherry trees. More than likely that is what you have as well. They are probably one of the more common forms of spreading junipers used in landscaping. They have been wonderful at keeping erosion in check and are completely filled in from being itty bitty plants a few years ago.
They don't seem to be bothering the cherry trees at all but they are now edging into perennial planting areas. They also have reached the edge of the bed and where I have grass. So now they get "contained." They get trimmed at their tips to keep the edge from looking ragged in rounded arcs around plants and got bigger pruning where they have overtaken other plants. Generally this big pruning can be done early in the spring. Later on in the spring and early summer you can cause damage to the juniper with severe pruning but light pruning won't hurt.
Both of the following have some good tips on how to trim and how to prune. No need to kill any plants that way.
Mine aren't blue rug junipers. I don't want to prune it, I want it gone. It started as one plant and has spread. This is a rock garden that is landscaped in the front of our house between the house and the sidewalk. It's a relatively small area. It is filled with river rock and then we have some large rocks as well and the idea was to have various smaller plants planted throughout the bed. But now the juniper is trying to take over the whole area. You can't even see the river rock where it is growing. It is continuing to spread and not the look we had when we first landscaped the rock garden, and not the look we want. I just want to get rid of it. We have a red Japanese Maple, a pencil holly, cotoneaster, asiatic lilies, daylilies, stargazer lilies, and the juniper was just supposed to be an accent plant, not something to take over the whole space like it is threatening to do.
Edit - What we have (on researching some) is a sea green juniper. I had seen it in landscaping where they were planted a few feet apart. They looked like the picture below, but we bought just one, not multiples like the picture, and we didn't expect it to spread as much as it has. It's not very tall. I know in full sun it can get tall, but it's not in full sun. We thought it would stay the basic size and shape as the picture below, and the height has stayed the same, but it has spread too much for the area it is planted in.
Next time I wonder why our 'elites' want to confiscate our homes with yards, and herd us into apartment blocks (Agenda 21), I'll think of this thread. No wonder they consider homeowners to be toxic attackers of the environment.
Herbicides? Dangerous herbicides, just to "deal with" a CONIFER? At first, I thought "Spreading Yew" must be some horrible stoloniferous monster plant, or something which roots wherever its branches touch the ground. But I see yours is just basically a horizontal Juniper.
For heaven's sake! A pruning saw for the main trunk, and pruning shears for the branches and the roots closest to the trunk, should do it. If you can't reach into the soil deeply enough with the pruning shears (after you've removed the top growth), then dig, or wash the soil away from the middle of the root ball with a garden hose.
But even if there is a stump left, it is unlikely the Juniper will return. If it does, then rubbing off any shoots, as they emerge (if they emerge) will do the trick.
Removing a shrub-sized conifer is no big deal at all.
You are getting absolutely INSANE advice regarding this innocuous plant.
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