Poplar roots can really make life difficult with their shoot rage. Read the following article to find out what's behind it and how you can get rid of annoying visitors on your garden lawn.
How to effectively kill poplar roots?
To kill poplar roots, the root stump of the mother poplar should be removed or allowed to rot. Either dig up the stump or speed up the decomposition process by sawing the rootstock and adding compost or a petroleum-s altpeter mixture.
Poplars and their propagation methods
Poplars are extremely concerned about preserving their species. On the one hand, they reproduce generatively via seeds, thousands upon thousands of fluffy white flying hairs flying through the air in June. On the other hand, the deciduous trees are also very productive vegetatively. So they are only too happy to grow shoots in the immediate vicinity - of course a nuisance for garden owners. Because the small mini poplars disrupt the appearance of the lawn and, above all, are almost impossible to kill.
Interim balance sheet:
- Poplars reproduce very effectively
- Generative via many flying seeds
- Vegetative over root shoots
More details about the roots of poplar trees
Poplars have a relatively deep horizontal root system and are therefore classified between the horizontal and cardiac roots. In contrast to the taproots, they do not have a clearly developed main root strand that leads vertically downwards, but rather several coarse and fine roots that branch out in all directions.
The so-called lateral roots, which grow horizontally away from the trunk and are connected to the main root, are responsible for the shoot formation.
Propagation boost by felling
When a poplar tree is felled, one might think that the shoots would also run out of sap. But the opposite is true. By cutting the upper part of the tree, the poplar only sees it as more urgent to ensure reproduction in its final stages of life. Since there is no generative seed propagation without a crown, she concentrates entirely on vegetative propagation and the shoots sprout stronger than ever.
Possible solutions
Mowing off shoots
To get the mini poplars off your lawn, you can of course simply scrape them off with a lawnmower. This gives you at least temporary and, above all, visual peace. The problem: Mowing does not kill the trees, but they soon sprout again undaunted. In addition, the stumps in the lawn feel hard and prickly.
Remove root stump
The only permanent solution is to render the poplar root stump harmless. To do this, it must either be dug up with great effort or left to rot. You can accelerate the decomposition process by sawing the rootstock wood several times in a grid pattern from above with a chainsaw (€109.00 at Amazon) and adding either compost that promotes microorganisms or a petroleum-s altpeter mixture to burn it out. However, the latter method is environmentally unfavorable.
