Killing a Fig

Phil A · Oct 21, 2013

Member from another forum needs some help on this one, the stump appears dead, so no chance of ringbarking it.

Lives in a dry region of the Mediterranean.

I have four large Fig trees, yes I know, you can only eat so many figs and to be honest, wouldn't say I'm a great fan of figs either, but they grow like weeds here and what starts out as a small shoot, very quickly becomes a large tree. and could develop into a fig tree forest quite rapidly, if not kept in check.

One of the Fig trees was far too close to the house, and if you've ever had the misfortune, of listening to hundreds of blue magpies telling jokes and laughing at the crack of dawn, every morning, you too, would understand why, three nearly four years ago, this Fig tree was cut down, had holes drilled in the stump and was fed the relevant product to kill the roots.
Which has worked well, on the Silver Birch tree, that was also cut down at the same time.

However unlike the other Fig tree shoots that pop up everywhere, and normally respond favorably to a regular application of weedkiller, to keep them at bay, the shoots that come up from this stump are prolific and twice the size, easily reaching well over a meter in height within a week or two- often resembling what could, easily become a Fig tree forest in no time, right next to the house - which is for me, a very scary thought.:eek:

No amount of regular applications, of the strongest industrial strength weed or stump killing solutions are stopping these prolific shoots from appearing, infact they actually seem to like it.

Because this tree or tree stump is proving to be so hard to eradicate, and seems to be really determined not to leave, I'm actually beginning to think, that this particular tree, is trying to haunt me - for chopping it down, so if anyone has any ideas that would help, they would be greatly appreciated.
Click to expand...

Sheal · Oct 21, 2013

Although it's not available to us now Zigs, would this person have access to the original creosote where he/she lives? If so try painting the shoots with it.

Edit: It might need two or three coats over a space of time.

pete · Oct 21, 2013

I dont actually believe it.
Not sure what they are using, but SBK kills most things after a couple of applications as long as you expose the green stuff, ie. drill holes and plug them.
The new shoots could be hit with glyphosate.

longk · Oct 22, 2013

Figs are tougher than I realised - when we went to the Rare Plant Fair in the grounds of Kingston Bagpuize House there was a very exposed Fig tree with fruits on. As this was in mid May they had to be from last year.

Log in or Sign up

Killing a Fig

Phil A Guest

Sheal Total Gardener

pete Growing a bit of this and a bit of that....

longk Total Gardener

what is killing my fig's leaf?

Killing Bamboo Roots/Rhizomes

Solved Killing White Bryony

Fox urine - how to deter foxes and save the roses they are killing =_(

Killing bottle...

Share This Page

Log in or Sign up

Killing a Fig

Phil A Guest

Sheal Total Gardener

pete Growing a bit of this and a bit of that....

longk Total Gardener

what is killing my fig's leaf?

Killing Bamboo Roots/Rhizomes

Solved Killing White Bryony

Fox urine - how to deter foxes and save the roses they are killing =_(

Killing bottle...

Share This Page

Useful Searches