Battling the what? Why the Chelm of course!
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| A chelm sprouting in the crack between steps |
Now, in actuality, the menace tree that I lovingly refer to as Chelm isn't the Chinese elm at all - it's really the Siberian elm, but somehow everyone's had them mixed up for so long that we all refer to them as Chinese elm. See... there we go again blaming the Chinese for everything when really it's the Russians!!!
Seriously, I wouldn't be surprised if these things were some sort of leftover cold war infiltration device because you just can't get rid of the suckers! I have tried just about everything short of chemical warfare and there's just no killing the Chelm.
You can cut them off, but they grow back, you can try depriving them of light but it never works. This one even got covered over with asphalt when they paved the alley but the sucker still came back!
At times I feel a bit like I'm waging war against the Ent army or something!
And they sprout up everywhere... in the cracks of sidewalks, against foundations or fences, and even smack dab in the middle of other bushes or hedges. And that was the case with the one I've been doing battle with most recently.
There used to be a lovely little pussy willow bush in the corner of my backyard, but a while back I started to notice that one of the branches of the bush had different leaves than the other ones. Sure enough, a Chelm had invaded it.
I cut the invading beast back best I could, but after a few years the pussy willow died and the Chelm lived on. I'm not sure if it killed the other bush by robbing it of water & nutrients or if the pussy willow was just on its way out anyhow.
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| Not my photo - just pining for my lost pussywillow |
But it's been a few years since the death of the pussy willow, and its stump and roots were starting to rot, so I figured I'd give it another go now while the Chelm was still dormant and there wouldn't be so many branches to battle.
Well folks, it took about three solid days of digging, and hacking and sawing and chopping, but I finally got the sucker out! Woo Hoo!!!!
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| Die sucker... DIE!!!!! |
I could put it in the municipal compost, but I'd have to chop it up a bit first, and I'm not sure it's worth the effort. Hmmm....
Anyhow, for the moment I'm getting a bit of perverse pleasure gazing out upon it's mangled body laid prostrate in my yard. You know, sorta like putting the head of your enemy on a stake or something.
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| Too much? |
There's also the now empty Chelm grave site to deal with.
As long as I've dug up the clay, I might as well mix in some compost and plant something there - just haven't decided what.
So tell me, have any of you ever dealt with an invasive plant like this one? Any suggestions for killing the little suckers?
Hmm, we don't get Chelm evilness where I live ... I got nuthin' for ya. But I love it that you get a kick out of Ents and Snape and all other creatures of alternate worlds ...
ReplyDeleteAlternate worlds... what do you mean, "alternate" worlds? :-)
DeleteThey call them invasive plants for a reason. Before I buried it, I'd make sure that the roots don't contain some kind of toxin that's harmful to other plants. Black walnut trees are like that.
ReplyDeleteAs for what you can do with the root. My sister has dug various roots out from dead trees, etc. (she finds it therapeutic) and used them different ways. She has trimmed them so they stand up and put flower pots on them, finished them and let them stand alone as a piece of art, and used them under bird feeders as a place for the birds to perch.
Now that's an interesting idea... turn it into art! There's actually a dead stump near one of my rose bushes, that's kinda pretty, but I always just assumed there used to be something there that died. Hmmm...
DeleteGood luck! Persistence pays off eventually. We have rid our yard of the chelm. Major digging of roots, being on high-alert for new suckers, and topical application of roundup (if you are not opposed to such drastic measures) will kill them off.
ReplyDeleteForgot to say, A to Z #1280--Thankful Me
DeleteWell, I have avoided going the chemical warfare route because that stuff makes me nervous. It gives me terrible migraines and I've recently read that it causes cancer, so I don't want it anywhere near my garden. But it may be worth trying on some of the Chelm out in the alley.
DeleteI think I'm at a real disadvantage here because my next door neighbor (who is a renter) just lets the stuff grow, so new seeds are always falling on my property. Sigh.
I'm not familiar with your chelm monster but I think the two worst invasives we have to deal with are privet hedge and Bermuda grass. I know folks who have given up having a vegetable garden because of Bermuda grass : ( Both spread by underground roots. And if you put a stick of privet in the ground it will come back to life! I learned this the hard way - trying to use some pieces of privet for garden stakes. We also have wild plum that spreads by root and has long thorns.
ReplyDeleteBermuda grass? I thought that was what they used on golf courses. Grass of any kind is pretty hard to grow around here... well, you can grow it, it just looks terrible unless you pour tons of water on it every few days.
DeleteAnd your privet hedge sounds like it really is a zombie plant! Can't imagine your consternation when your garden stakes came to life and started taking over. Noooooooo!!!!
No, I wouldn't re-bury that root again, either. I'd leave it above ground until it was dry, and then burn it. The plant that causes me most problems is a the blackberry bramble - they're persistent buggers and will cause injury to any gardener who attacks them. That reminds me, I really need to tackle them...
ReplyDeleteOooo... burning it would be tremendously satisfying! Alas, I don't have a fireplace or any appropriate burning location, but maybe I could come up with something. Just the thought of it going up in flames is sorta filling me with sinister delight! :-)
DeleteA friend might have an appropriate burning location. (People have fireplaces even in my town--probably you know someone with one near you.) Or you could at least give it away to someone for burning or art.
DeleteParks often have a grill or fire ring where you can burn something.
DeleteThose are good ideas. I think it will have to dry out a bit, but when it does maybe I can find a suitable place and a day without burning restrictions (a rare thing around here.)
DeleteYou could make up some sort of festivities to go with the celebration. Invite people to join you. Have picnic foods, maybe including some for the grill (don't know how tasty that smoke would be. Have an amusing speech or sing songs about overcoming evil.
DeleteThat second to last picture with the lightning cracked me up. Too funny!
ReplyDeleteIt wont' help the Chelm situation, but it was certainly satisfying! :-)
DeleteI have a different plant that can be described the same way called fruitless mulberry. Now that our main tree died, we don't get 100 seedlings per square foot anymore.
ReplyDeleteMy only advice is to get them out as soon as you can; It only gets harder once they're bigger.
I hope you got enough of the root out--it sure looks like it!
I think I've finally learned to recognize the seedlings, so I'm pretty good at getting them out as long as they're accessible. It's the ones in the cracks of concrete etc that give me real fits!
DeleteChelm, interesting word. The last three years I battled moss growing up the brick on the apartment building by my apartment and darn sumac. There was an entire parking lot between the sumac and the apartment building but sure enough the sumac roots worked their way all the way under the pavement of the parking lot, the sidewalk in front of the apartment and grew up in the cracks between the sidewalk and the brick of the apartment building. I pulled, yanked and cut, and even poured white vinegar on those suckers and still they kept coming back. I wonder what will happen now that I no longer live there, will the new tenant keep at it or let it grow. The owner won't take care of it.
ReplyDeleteAs for your stump, I can see your concern. Why not treat it like drift wood? When you are done landscaping that spot leave a spot for it, but it up on a chuck of concrete or a large flat rock and let it dry out and be a decorative item in the design?
Ha! I did notice a sprig of Virginia Creeper coming up inside the garage last summer. Perhaps I'll regret planting it along my fence after all!
DeleteI like your driftwood idea - I mean, it's gonna have to dry before I can reasonably do anything else with it, so I might as well try to make it look like I intended it to be there. Maybe it can go in the xeriscape or something.