Closet Gardners & Lawn Gurus

[JohnR]

OK, with all of you closet gardners and lawn gurus, I have a question for you. When the idiot that built my house had the yard graded, he may or may not have used clean fill. But since day one, we've had these bamboo like weeds that grow in variuos parts of the yard. This stuff is like a mini bamboo tree and can reach 6 foot heights. If we rip it out at the root, within 4 weeks it's 4 feet tall again


Anyone know what this stuff is called? How to get rid of it?

[NaCl H2O]

Sounds like sumac. Check out this link.

http://www.dnr.state.wi.us/org/land/...eets/sumac.htm

[Jimbo]

Take a chunk to your local garden supply and have it identified then see what they have to kill it while leaving the grass. Or even try calling the 800 number on an Ortho container and see what the experts on their hotline have to say.

[spence]

It probably has runners that run just under the surface. We have the same thing behind our fence and it will tunnel 10' into the yard and pop up. Unless you get the runner it will just come right back...



-spence

[Fishpart]

Step 1: Drive over it once a week with that orange thing parked in the yard with an engine on top.....I destroyed about a half acre of wild rasberries with regular mowings..

Step B: Chemically eradicate it....Weed-B-Gone may work on it without killing the grass

[FishermanTim]

If the leaves are shaped like the spade on a deck of cards, and grow on opposing sides of the stalk, and the stalks are green with a hint of red where the segments meet, it sounds like a plant I grew up calling "wild rhubarb".
It is an invasive plant, and will grow back from small pieces of root. I would also suggest checking with your local garden supply/nursery for suggestions for treatmnt. The other, more time consuming method is to dig them up, or keep cutting them back. Eventually this will kill them off, but as I said, it's time consuming.
Good luck.

[BEETLE]

Got that same chit in spots of my yard.... impossible to get rid of, even weed killer has little effect..... but soon it is a memory cause the house is under agreement

soon i'll be more of a fisherman and less of a groundskeeper

[Raven]

i went ballistic in my yard this spring....and cut down at least 75 18 footers
via chainsaw and just yesterday i noticed all these little red frilly thangs popping up on the huge lawn like 30 feet from where the stand of sumac trees were....
[we had to get a burning permit to destroy the huge amount i cut back.]

the stuff is resilient i have to say that ......its a friggan menace for sure.
its new englands kudzu....

[spence]

I'd bet money this is the evil specimen you're all talking about...no idea what it's called, but it makes the runners from my strawberries look like nothing.

-spence

[Swimmer]

The pic the Spence posted is Zumas no doubt but I think what the initial question pertains is the more bamboo like medium grren hollow shoots with red intersperse along the shoot. I never had any until my father-in-planted a shoot of a lilac tree he bought in my yard. Now I work at pulling it out. I will start spraying with Wee-B-gon when the wife isn't looking.

[spence]

I'd stand by my wager. Zumus or whatever it is looks like like little bamboo shoots when the runners surface.

Regardless, I hate the stuff

-spence

[JohnR]

Originally Posted by FishermanTim

If the leaves are shaped like the spade on a deck of cards, and grow on opposing sides of the stalk, and the stalks are green with a hint of red where the segments meet, it sounds like a plant I grew up calling "wild rhubarb".
It is an invasive plant, and will grow back from small pieces of root. I would also suggest checking with your local garden supply/nursery for suggestions for treatmnt. The other, more time consuming method is to dig them up, or keep cutting them back. Eventually this will kill them off, but as I said, it's time consuming.
Good luck.

This sounds like it alright. It's not the one in that other picture - stuff is nasty...

[Bill L]

Sunds like Japanese bamboo or knotweed --

An invasive perennial that spread by rhizomes and seeds. Japanese knotweed can grow to a height of 13 feet, and has stems that resemble bamboo when mature. Japanese knotweed was introduced to the United States from Japan as an ornamental, and now occurs as a weed of riverbanks, landscapes, abandoned fields, or other moist areas.


It is a beotch to get rid of--- try Ortho Brush-B-Gone, stuff is good on the tougher bushy weeds

[BEETLE]

thats the weed i got, can't get a buzz if you smoke it niether

[FishermanTim]

How's this for an interesting twist.
As a kid, we used to cut off a stalk, and there was usually a small amount of bittersweet water at each "knuckle" of the plant. We used to call it "a natural canteen" Although it wasn't the best tasting "water" around, nobody ever got sick from drinking it.

[Saltheart]

Pull obe up , take it to a local nursery that's been around for a while and ask them what it is and how to kill it. You can kill amost anything with herbicides but you have to use something that will leave some grass. I bet the nursery people will know how to deal with it.

Last alternative would be to pull off some leaves and a small piece of stem and mail to URI. They have a section there that will tell you what it is and how to deal with it. You can look it up on the internet. They will also test your soil and tell you what fertilzers to add , etc.

[nightfighter]

Raven, DON'T burn Sumac!!!!!!

It is poison sumac in many cases and the smoke will cause throat and esophagus to close up in those of us unfortunates who are allergic to it. Nevermind the stinging of the eyes. Much worse than poison ivy reactions.

[Mike P]

Originally Posted by nightfighter

Raven, DON'T burn Sumac!!!!!!

It is poison sumac in many cases and the smoke will cause throat and esophagus to close up in those of us unfortunates who are allergic to it. Nevermind the stinging of the eyes. Much worse than poison ivy reactions.

How I discovered I wasn't allergic to poison ivy: in Boy Scouts, on a campout, the firewood detail came back with some wood that had it growing on it, and the scoutmaster never noticed. Most of the troop wound up with it in their throats, and some even wound up in the hospital. I wasn't affected in the least.

[Got Stripers]

Move your boat over to that side of the lawn John, then you won't get upset it's not in the water, because you won't see it often.

[Raven]

Originally Posted by nightfighter

Raven, DON'T burn Sumac!!!!!!

It is poison sumac in many cases and the smoke will cause throat and esophagus to close up in those of us unfortunates who are allergic to it. Nevermind the stinging of the eyes. Much worse than poison ivy reactions.

i didnt know it was in the same category as poison ivy in so far as the burning..

and it wasnt my decision to burn it actually....but that of the property owner.

Apparently when you cut it in its dormant stage....ie when theres still snow on the ground its oils are in the roots and also theres no folliage... and are burning just the wood..the volatile oils are less....as we suffered no ill affects
but i'll heed your suggestion...in the future.

[fishweewee]

John, pesticides are not the answer. The offending vegetation should be uprooted and burned, one stalk at a time.

[Jenn]

If you are not apposed to using herbicides I would try a systemic one such as round-up

[Raven]

has a good deal on tractor rentals....you can get a mini- swing 360 degrees excavator... for like $230 -270 a day....(its a wicked cool tool...and FUN!) and then you can kick some major root butt.
its what i'll eventually do here....but first i'll try rototilling around em and yankin -em out with my 40' super chain... and cut roots with my double bladed axe. allot of work yes... but worth it it in the end. i'm still bustin sod
which is why the name "Sod Buster" is still under my AV.

and yes FWW great idea for the bug control now with no see-ums, blackflies mosquitos, and deer flies out in full force....i have to burn periodically.