I have to cut down some fig and mulberry trees so I can start getting ready to sell my home and I need to sod the back yard. I don’t want to dig the root systems up so I figured I would cut the trees 2" below the surface and apply something to the cut trunk that would kill the root systems and 3 weeks later sod over the trunk, is there something out there that will work to kill the roots so they don’t start popping up trees in the yard? The trees have been in the yard for 2 years.
Also could someone recommend a weed kill to kill the existing yard grass and weeds, SuperSod said I should kill the yard with spray and wait 3 weeks before putting down Zenith Zoysia sod. I don’t know the weeds I have so the spray needs to kill all weeds and be fast working.
I was hoping to do a bunch of air layers on these trees before I moved but things have moved up so I can’t do that now. Could I put some cutting in the fridge now for next spring?
Roundup does the job for roots. Apply concentrate on the fresh cuts with paint brush, cover with piece of fabric, pour some concentrate on it as well and cover with plastic bag, tie. Now you can cover it with soil and just leave there. Roundup also will work on any vegetation, but use properly diluted one. I am sorry you have to cut your trees.
I’m not happy about cutting them, I was hoping to have about 30 nice air layers to take to the next property. I had a friend that was going to take them and in return give me some trees in the future but his wife didn’t go for it.
You would not consider leaving fig trees to a new owner? I could see that with high maintenance fruit trees like peaches, plums or even messy one like mulberry, it could be a begative.
Fig trees are really care free. If fig trees are common in your area, people would not be surprised to see them in a yard esp. if those are good tasting figs.
Of course, I speak from a perspective of someone who likes growing fruit, not a general population.
If it’s the ones closest to the deck that you are trying to kill, I also think it’s good idea to leave one or two. Maybe trim them to One trunk and take out the messy branches? I think the area has a lot of potential even with some of th fruit trees.
Just found this on amazon (Tordon RTU), anyone tried it? Just soak the cambium layer on the cut wright after you cut the tree down. I’m just not sure if it would be okay to plant sod on top of the root system after using this? I would wait 2-3 weeks before soding.
Tordon that I’ve used kills many plants for yrs after application. The dead spots grow larger in a field crop situation. You might kill trees for yrs. Anything with roots in the vicinity could end up dead.
Do you think roundup on the stump cut buried 2"-5" under the soil would kill the sod? or would the poison leach out of the roots possibly killing the sod?
I think you’d be alright with the roundup. I’d drill a hole in the stump and fill it with roundup. That would kind of keep it contained. Roundup is inactivated by soil.
I used technique I described on wild apple tree, in 2 feet proximity to my bush cherries. Flowers happily growing on top of the root, so I think you should be fine.
To save the work and expense possibly, you could ask your Realtor to show your property and make a contingent offer to a prospective buyer, buy it with either the figs and garden in place, or removed and sod. I see Mamuangs point and agree, a new buyer could view that as a selling point.
In our region, fruit trees are an asset to sales of homes. A client of mine actually had an agent exclaim that the existence of an orchard installed by… (my name) would make her very expensive home more so. Of course, the agent may have only been saying that to please the customer (it worked, both the customer and I was pleased), but if you ask an objective agent, I believe you may be surprised that your orchard makes your property special to a lot of people and for those who don’t want fruit trees it will not be a meaningful liability. You can always offer the removal of the trees as part of the deal.
