We lovely big chinese elm between us and the neighbours. It is a rather lovely tree, and provides much needed privacy between our bedrooms and their dining room. HOWEVER, there’s a reason why these horrors are weeds. I’m constantly pulling up seedlings. I don’t mind that – I can cope. There are several plants that have become established (from before we move in 6 years ago).

I can not seem to kill the blighters. One, in particular, I’d love to get rid of for good. It’s a stump cut off at ground level; about 2 inches across. Every time I see leaf stems, I cut them off, but it just keeps putting them out. I can’t physically dig it out ‘cause it’s right next to a tea tree that I want to keep (and I also know how deep these blighters go, and it’s clay/rock).

Is there anything I can paint on them that will kill them?

I think you can get a tree grade herbicide, but I’d be very careful and get advice. These trees are notorious for suckering, and what you are dealing with may be a sucker still attached to the parent tree. You may end out killing the whole tree and then you would lose your privacy! (Although I suspect that this is a low probability.)

Continued applications of the boiled egg water, boiling hot and salty, will kill off the leaflets as they appear.

Not sure how big the plants are, you could try tin cans, lifting occasionally to rub off the new leaflets…eventually these saplings will starve…

Black plastic weedmat…

Good thick coating of mulch will deter most further seedlings besides making them easier to pull out…

With the leucaena, we are informed that pulling them out when young is the most effective…

I might try smoothering it.

It’s highly unlikely that its a sucker from the privacy tree. It’s up the driveway and about 10 metres away; but I’d be concerned about poisoning it with anything too deadly ‘cause it is right next a beautiful tea-tree (hmmm, a doovey-whats-it bracktiata; very pretty ball of white when it flowers).

Which reminds me, some time ago there was a little discussion about “bottlebrushes” and aren’t they all “callistomons”. Read something this week at work that reminded me that tea trees are also often called bottle brushes. In fact they are so similar in some cases that there’s discussion about combining or at least ‘rejigging’ both callistimon and … flip … whatever the tea tree family is. Have to go look that up now, ‘cause it’ll bug me. Right on the tip of my tongue.

Leptospermum

The common name Chinese Elm is a bit misleading. It’s really a Chinese Celtis, the Chinese Elm is an entirely different thing.

We tried to remove one at our last house. We cut it down and painted the stump with Tree Kill. It sulked for a few months and regrew.

bubba louie said:

The common name Chinese Elm is a bit misleading. It’s really a Chinese Celtis, the Chinese Elm is an entirely different thing.

Ahhh, but isn’t that the whole issue of common names? Exactly the reason why I included its ‘real’ name.

SueBk said:

bubba louie said:

The common name Chinese Elm is a bit misleading. It’s really a Chinese Celtis, the Chinese Elm is an entirely different thing.

Ahhh, but isn’t that the whole issue of common names? Exactly the reason why I included its ‘real’ name.

Often it’s just the common name that’s different from place to place for the same plant, but in this case the common name is just totally wrong.