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How to Prevent Shrubs from Growing Back

How to Prevent Shrubs from Growing Back

August 22, 2017 By Woodsman Staff 22 Comments

So, you’ve finally chopped down the unsightly shrub growing in your yard, only to discover it’s grown back just a few weeks later.

Some shrubs offer aesthetic value and subsequently improve the appearance of a home’s landscape. Others are less-than-aesthetic and actually take away from the beauty of a home’s landscape.

If the stubborn shrub in your yard falls under the latter category, you should take the necessary measures to prevent it from growing back.

Spray with Herbicide

First and foremost, you should kill the shrub using an herbicide product. You can buy herbicide at your local home improvement or gardening store, or you can make your own.

A simple and effective homemade herbicide involves mixing white vinegar with salt and dish detergent. Combine these three ingredients into a spray bottle and apply directly to the problematic shrub, ensuring both the leaves and interior base are covered with the solution.

Keep in mind that herbicides – both homemade and store-bought – will likely kill your “good” plants as well. To prevent this from happening, use caution to ensure the herbicide only reaches the problematic shrub or shrubs.

Cut it Down

After allowing the herbicide to sit for at least 72 hours, it’s time to chop down the shrub.

Using the appropriate gardening shears, cut down the shrub as close to the base as possible. You probably won’t be able to get the stump, and that’s okay, because there’s still a solution to deal with that.

Drill Into the Stump

With your shrub chopped down, you should have easy access to the stump. Using a drill, drill several holes, about 1-inch deep each, into the stump.

Next, apply your store-bought or homemade herbicide directly to the stump, focusing on areas in which you drilled the holes.

The general idea is to encourage the herbicide to seep down into the holes, allowing it to kill the stump from the inside out.

Depending on the size and species, this should make easy work of even the toughest shrubs. And when all else fails, you can always dig up the shrub by its stump and connected roots.

As long as you remove the roots, it shouldn’t be able to grow back. Hopefully, this gives you a better idea of how to deal with a stubborn shrub and prevent it from growing back.

The Woodsman Company offers tree planting, tree pruning and shrub trimming, tree removal and stump grinding as well as a tree wellness program.

If we can help with any of your tree care needs give us a call at 512-846-2535 or 512-940-0799 or

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Filed Under: Shrub Trimming

Comments

  1. Adam Jone says

    August 29, 2017 at 3:56 am

    Hi,
    Thanks for this article!! Care of the shrub is not a tough job if you do it with proper process. There are many tree care service provider which also gives tips that how to care tree or shrub. The shrub can be cut, it does not grow more. Shrub removes only by removing their roots otherwise again it grows.

    Reply
  2. Terri Denty says

    April 29, 2019 at 5:28 pm

    What about a mimosa tree? I mean an actual tree I cut down 1 and 10 more grow? What is strong enough to kill them? THANKS TERRI

    Reply
    • Ken Partain says

      May 1, 2019 at 9:44 am

      Hi Terry. The process described in this article should work just as well on your Mimosa as it does on shrubs.

      Reply
  3. Charlotte R Spaulding says

    June 7, 2019 at 10:00 am

    What gets rid of bambo. It’s root system is all over the yard. I get little brush popping up all over.

    Reply
    • Ken Partain says

      June 17, 2019 at 10:31 am

      Hi Charlotte. There are actually many ways to get rid of bamboo. Here’s a Google Search for “how to get rid of bamboo”. That should provide with a few alternatives.

      Reply
  4. Padma Raghavan says

    June 22, 2019 at 11:17 am

    Hi! I have a rose bush and in between there stems another tree is growing. As I cut the stems, they grow even faster. How do I take care of this problem? I do want my rose bush to survive. thanks in advance.

    Reply
    • Ken Partain says

      June 25, 2019 at 9:38 am

      Hi Padma. This is a tough question to answer without seeing your situation. Trees, even small saplings, can have fairly deep root systems so removing the tree and then replanting your roses may be the best course of action.

      Reply
  5. Lois says

    February 5, 2020 at 6:34 pm

    Sorry. Previous question should have been how to completely remove Geisha Girl Plant, which has an extensive root system

    Reply
    • Ken Partain says

      February 7, 2020 at 4:19 pm

      Thanks for reading Lois. You’ll likely want to completely kill the plant, which would best be done using a herbicide.

      Reply
  6. Terri says

    April 19, 2020 at 7:26 pm

    Is there a difference between herbicide and spectracide?
    Looking to kill some thick bush roots but only see spectracides.

    Reply
    • Ken Partain says

      April 21, 2020 at 3:22 pm

      Hi Terry. Spectracide is a brand of herbicide.

      Reply
  7. Debra Ramsdell says

    May 1, 2020 at 4:02 am

    I have a big beautiful oak tree with a old flowering bush with deep roots growing under it. I’d like to dig the Bush up, will that harm the roots to the oak tree??

    Reply
    • Ken Partain says

      May 6, 2020 at 11:40 am

      Yes, it very well could damage the roots of the Oak tree if you try this.

      Reply
  8. Margie Holm says

    May 1, 2020 at 7:00 am

    Do you use equal parts of vinegar, salt and soap?

    Reply
    • Ken Partain says

      May 6, 2020 at 12:01 pm

      Hi Margie. Thanks for your question. What you want to do is pour one gallon of white vinegar into a bucket. Then pour one cup of table salt in and stir until all of the salt has dissolved. Then pour in one tablespoon of your favorite dishwashing detergent and mix well. Once your mixture is complete you will pour it into a spray bottle to apply to the plants you want to get rid of. You can learn more details here.

      Reply
  9. Matt says

    June 2, 2020 at 12:44 pm

    I just pulled out a large Juniper shrub that was overtaking our front steps, but the large mass of roots were impossible to pull out, so we have quite a few roots that are intertwined and exposed through the mulch. We cut the roots as close as we could to below ground level with shears.

    How would I go about trying to make sure these don’t regrow as I don’t know how extensive the root system is.

    Thanks Ken!

    Reply
    • Ken Partain says

      June 10, 2020 at 4:26 pm

      Hi Matt. Thanks for reading. Here’s what I would do in your situation. Apply a small amount of herbicide to any old roots that are sticking out of the mulch. This will help completely kill the exposed roots. Don’t spray them because the herbicide could spread to other nearby plants that you want to keep.

      Reply
  10. Bonnie says

    October 4, 2020 at 12:46 am

    Thank you so much for your informative site. Its fall now. If I use something like round up or crossbow to kill the roots of two large shrubs, (after cutting them to the ground) will I be able to put raised beds over top of that area and plant asparagus next spring? Or will the round up continue to kill what ever is planted there?

    Reply
    • Ken Partain says

      October 12, 2020 at 3:03 pm

      Hi Bonnie. Thanks for reading. If your raised beds are high enough you should be able to grow asparagus in them.

      Reply
  11. Joe says

    June 26, 2021 at 11:10 am

    Any tips for getting rid of Smooth Sumac? I have used herbicides, rock salt, even a weed dragon to burn the stumps. It just keeps coming back. The stumps are not in a spot that is conducive for digging them up.

    Reply
  12. Jaye C says

    July 6, 2021 at 10:35 am

    Hi! This sounds great! What would the “recipe” be for pouring the homemade herbicide into the holes in the stump?

    Reply
  13. Sandra wilson says

    August 24, 2021 at 8:25 am

    Once I use the homemade solution to kill the roots, how long before I can plant something else there? Or will I EVER be able to plant in the same spot?

    Reply

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