It’s garden question and answer time again! You may e-mail me
questions at: ga*******@*ps.net. Or you can mail me questions in
care of this newspaper. For a faster, personal response, please
include a self-addressed, stamped envelope.
Q: I have two questions. We want to remove a tree (kind unknown)
that has sent roots down to a sewer pipe and has caused problems in
the past. What do you recommend?
It’s garden question and answer time again! You may e-mail me questions at: ga*******@*ps.net. Or you can mail me questions in care of this newspaper. For a faster, personal response, please include a self-addressed, stamped envelope.
Q: I have two questions. We want to remove a tree (kind unknown) that has sent roots down to a sewer pipe and has caused problems in the past. What do you recommend? Also, we want to remove ivy that is climbing up the side of the house (and sending roots into the wall). We don’t want to ever see this ivy again! What do you recommend? – D.S., Morgan Hill, via e-mail.
A: Your first question makes me smile, remembering back when a friend and I decided to cut down a fruitless mulberry tree that dominated my front yard. With chainsaw in hand, we planned and worked for the tree to fall sideways across the yard toward the street. Turns out, the tree had different ideas and fell back towards the garage! Let me tell you, there’s nothing quite so helpless as to try to push the trunk of a 35-foot tree as it starts to fall in the wrong direction!
As you might expect, the tree did a little damage to the garage and that was the first and last time I ever tried to cut something down that big.
So, unless you’re handy with a chainsaw, have a friend who’s an expert, or your unwanted tree is far away from anything valuable (like your house), I would recommend having a tree service cut it down for you.
At the same time, many tree services offer “stump grinding” for an additional fee. This involves a remarkable machine that grinds out the stump, leaving you with a crater-like hole in the yard and mounds of mulch to spread around the garden.
As for your unwanted ivy, I would try to pull as much of it as you can off your house. Then, spray the stems and whatever is left over with Round-up, Finale or another contact weed killer. Basically, these weed killers will kill whatever it touches, eventually making its way to the roots. For stubborn ivy, you may have to spray two or three times, some 10 days to two weeks apart.
Q: Three years ago, I planted three redwood trees along the rear of the garden with intentions of the trees growing fast to screen out the neighbor’s second story house. The trees have hardly grown at all. There is a lot of wind; has that caused the problem?– M.O., Gilroy, via-e-mail.
A: I doubt the wind is the culprit. I suspect the planting holes weren’t prepared properly. Coast redwoods are among the fastest-growing evergreens around, so your tree should have put on 10 feet or more by now. It would probably be best to remove the trees and start with new ones. This time be sure to dig large planting holes. Mix the dirt half and half with planting mix. Make sure to stake your trees to protect against the wind, too.
