APRIL! N&C Midwest

Trying to do a little bit each day.  Over the weekend I was able to pull old stuff out of the flower beds to get them ready for new planting this season.  Today I cut the suckers off my 3 year old maple tree, then sawed off and put lye on several volunteer trees that I have been battling for several years.  I try to pull them when they first appear, but the season always gets away from me and some of them end up growing for a season or 2.  NOT ANYMORE!!!        The one I have been battling the most is in a raised brick bed which makes it harder to cut, but this time I dug down about 6 inches and found the main trunk.  It was 3" diameter!  One of the main roots was 1" diameter.  Whacked the main roots and pulled them out, sawed off the trunk about 3" under main ground level, then poured about 1/2 cup VERY strong lye solution over the entire stump.  TAKE THAT YOU STUPID TREE!!!  I have at least 40 lbs of lye left out of my 50 lb bag.  If at first you don't succeed... 

We shall see by the end of the season how successful this has been.  I still have at least another 20 feet of flower bed along the north side of the house that has some volunteer saplings.  A project for tomorrow.  

GG