removing saplings

SunnyDaze31

How do you recommend I kill/remove tree saplings? The previous residents of our house let the flower bed around the tree in the front yard become an overgrown jungle. Most of them are around 1" in diameter, and I haven't had any luck digging them up with my trowel. I pruned them back as low as I could get them last fall, and they came back strong as ever this spring. I hesitate to go directly to a shovel since the flower bed contains some buried wires strung between decorative lights and I don't want to accidentally cut one.

Additionally, there are some larger saplings growing right along the fence line, and I need to remove those before they cause damage to the fence. I'll probably have to take a saw to cut them down, but then how do I remove the root?

~NB~

If you cut them to the ground IN THE SPRING, it is much more effective that doing the same thing in the fall.

If they flush out again, keep cutting them down. Eventually they'll run out of stored food and stop growing because they can't photosynthesize.

FoxinFiji

We have some crazy invasive woody shrubs that looks like saplings before they fill out too.  The previous owner let them grow right next to the house and spread all over.  We keep cutting them down to the ground with a chainsaw for the last 3 years but most of them keep coming back.  This year we dug some huge 3'x3' holes and removed as many roots as possible.  If they come back again we may need to paint (with a paintbrush so it only kills that plant and not everything around it) Roundup or the like on the stumps right after we cut them down again.  They are really becoming a nuisance! 

~NB~

FoxinFiji:

We have some crazy invasive woody shrubs that looks like saplings before they fill out too.  The previous owner let them grow right next to the house and spread all over.  We keep cutting them down to the ground with a chainsaw for the last 3 years but most of them keep coming back.  This year we dug some huge 3'x3' holes and removed as many roots as possible.  If they come back again we may need to paint (with a paintbrush so it only kills that plant and not everything around it) Roundup or the like on the stumps right after we cut them down again.  They are really becoming a nuisance! 

If you need a chainsaw to cut them the 2nd, 3rd, or subsequent times after the initial take down, you're waiting too long. You must never allow the tree to flush out ANY foliage. Every bud has to be removed as soon as it breaks. And Roundup is not effective on stumps, only on photosynthetic tissue.

FoxinFiji

Thanks for the tips NB!  The first year we needed a chainsaw but after it was a small dime size "trunk" so we didn't need the chainsaw but it was an easy way to them quickly.  I guess we should have caught them before the buds though.  I really think we got them this year we only had three make it this long.  Good to know about the roundup I've never needed to use it yet. 

SunnyDaze31

~NB~:

If you cut them to the ground IN THE SPRING, it is much more effective that doing the same thing in the fall.

If they flush out again, keep cutting them down. Eventually they'll run out of stored food and stop growing because they can't photosynthesize.

Thanks for the advice.  I just went out and cut them down to the ground again this evening. I'll have to keep a close eye on them to get any new foliage as it forms.

After the tree is dead, will the root loosen in the ground and be easier to pull or dig out?  I want to remove it so I can plant other things there.