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Nova Scotia

my garden is 6" away from the forest and shrubs on one side. it is a 6" rasied bed (on top of coral). my problem is the shrub & trees roots are invading my garden. i was thinking maybe to pour caracen on the soil between my garden and my garden. please help.

8/26/2003 8:17:50 AM

Utah

Kerosene?

8/26/2003 9:05:03 AM

Utah

are the roots coming in from the side or up from the bottom through the coral ?
I would think from the side? if so could you get a square ended shovel and cut the new growth going into the patch along the outside edge of your patch ?

if you want to spray instead of dig. then you need to find a spary that is good for everything... grass, weeds, trees, srubs... etc. that doesn't stay in the soil. a 2-4D or Round-Up type spray- ???
I think kerosene being an oil based product would stay in the soil and contaminate it for years to come - but I don't know for sure.

8/26/2003 9:15:19 AM

Menomonie, WI ([email protected])

Kerosene will kill the good along with the bad. Your best bet may be making a channel and putting in some kind of protective barrier. You may have to go pretty deep because the roots will still try to go to the good soil and water source.

8/26/2003 9:46:27 AM

Oz

dont tox gods soil. get a boat load of crushed coral.
dig a trench. mix coral with portland and sand. add water.
this worked for me to keep out bamboo that the nut job neighbor planted next to my old house. i found roots going through the foundation. here is what i do....i leave 15 ft between them and my patch/s.and i accept that i am only renting gods land.

8/26/2003 9:46:35 AM

Montoursville, PA

Mr. T........We all have this to one degree or another. That is what roots do. You have only a couple of choices.
Till the heck out of it yearly and put up with it or move the tree line back by removal of the offending invaders.

My neighbors Sunrise Locust tree sends roots over fifty feet into my garden. In this case every once in awhile I dig them up and rip them back as far as my dig and strength will do it. Locust is like bamboo. If I just cut it with a tiller and do not remove it there will be a new tree in a flash. That here is called an invasive plant. We have rules to prevent their use but they do not get inforced. Maybe I should do is go to the property line and set up a line of bamboo. I know which plant would win the war. :)

8/26/2003 10:52:41 AM

Oz

lol

8/26/2003 10:54:41 AM

Nova Scotia

the roots are coming up through the coral. and i want a 6" dead area along the forest side anyway but digging through the coral to put barriers is to hard & expensive. round up is only a temp solution which i think will not reach the roots here (don't want to kill shrubs make good wind break

8/26/2003 12:17:08 PM

Utah

i'm thinking it would be very difficult to just kill the roots and not trees and shrubs with kerosene or any type of spray.

if you want to try the Kerosene- you could always try a small test area- outside the patch or in the corner of the patch... see how it works.

maybe what Docgipe suggested would work best... just till up you patch. that will cut up any roots in the area. ... not a long term solution but it works.

8/26/2003 2:50:19 PM

Utah

doc-
you can always rent a trencher and dig as deep a trench as you can along the fence line or whole perimeter of the patch. you can do this at the same time you are installing a sprinkler system.

8/26/2003 2:53:53 PM

Nova Scotia

no room around the patch for the trencher or i would use this method. the kerosene would work outside of the raised bed but would it not litch eventually up into my bed? and would it completely kill the trees or just the roots going into my garden?

8/26/2003 3:01:27 PM

Key West, FL

Once you poison the soil with kerosene it's gone for a long time.

8/26/2003 3:13:33 PM

Garden State Pumpkins

Hmmm....brings up property lines....the extend vertically I know so you can trim an offending neighbors tree straight up....Not sure you can dig down and remove roots that possibly could destroy the neighbors property....sorta like spraying round up on your side of their honey suckle.

8/26/2003 3:28:08 PM

[email protected]

I don't remeber what it was called. "Root Barrier?"

It is made from 2 layers of landscape fabric. Between each glued layer is sandwiched some trifluralin (aka Treflan, Preen, etc). You use a Ditch-Witch or shovel to cut a trench. Then the fabric is hung in the trench like a curtain. Back fill with soil. No roots for at least 5 years. When they grow to within a few inches, they turn back & go the other way.

Used by masons to protect sidewalks from trees who like to lift sidewalks.

I plan to use the same chemical to protect my neigbors cracked sewer line. It keeps getting clogged with Maple roots. Costs her $90-$150 every year to have it "rooted". Im going to use an earth auger to drill 1.5" holes about every other inch & fill them with 5% Treflan. No more roots.

You'd have to stay a few feet from pumpkin stumps at least I should think. Otherwise they would get all turned around too.

Let me look around here. I may have more about it.

Steve

8/26/2003 10:19:31 PM

[email protected]

Bio-Barrier. Guranteed to control roots for 15 years. Endorsed by Davey Tree Experts too. (good customer)

Cut a trench 8" wide by 20" deep. Hang the barrier fabric. Backfill. Done. Trees won't die.

That was almost too easy. Boy you gotta love Google.

http://www.biobarrier.com/

8/26/2003 10:26:03 PM