{"id":2768,"date":"2020-10-17T00:04:56","date_gmt":"2020-10-17T07:04:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/depts.washington.edu\/hortlib\/pal\/pal-question-439\/"},"modified":"2024-04-11T13:28:44","modified_gmt":"2024-04-11T20:28:44","slug":"fig-stump-removal","status":"publish","type":"pal","link":"https:\/\/depts.washington.edu\/hortlib\/pal\/fig-stump-removal\/","title":{"rendered":"Fig stump removal"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>I have a fig tree cut down to just above the ground and want to know how to stop it from<\/strong><br \/>\n<strong>growing, i.e. putting up suckers. I plan to pave over that area and am afraid, because of its vigorous growth, that it will find a way up and out.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>I recommend renting a stump grinder, or hiring a tree service to grind<br \/>\nthe stump and the larger roots. You can water the area well to soften the<br \/>\nsoil, and try digging up the remaining roots. You could try applying<br \/>\nfull-strength vinegar to kill any shoots, or you can wait and continue to<br \/>\ncut them off as soon as they emerge. Over time, this should weaken any<br \/>\npart of the tree that remains in the ground, and it will eventually die.<br \/>\nYou could also cover the area with black plastic once the stump and major<br \/>\nroots have been removed. This should suppress any growth coming up from<br \/>\nwhat is left of the roots. There are also chemical treatments which<br \/>\nshould only be used with extreme caution, and exactly according to<br \/>\ndirections on the product.<\/p>\n<p>If you look at page 4 of <a href=\"http:\/\/www.hear.org\/starr\/hiplants\/reports\/pdf\/ficus_carica.pdf\">this document<\/a> on controlling invasive species from the Hawaiian Ecosystems at Risk project, you will see the different approaches used to remove fig trees and their roots from a natural area (in Central California), including physical and chemical methods.<\/p>\n<div class=\"taxonomy-keyword has-text-align-right wp-block-post-terms\"><a href=\"https:\/\/depts.washington.edu\/hortlib\/keyword\/ficus-carica\/\" rel=\"tag\">Ficus carica<\/a><span class=\"wp-block-post-terms__separator\">, <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/depts.washington.edu\/hortlib\/keyword\/tree-roots\/\" rel=\"tag\">Tree roots<\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>I have a fig tree cut down to just above the ground and want to know how to stop it from growing, i.e. putting up suckers. I plan to pave over that area and am afraid, because of its vigorous growth, that it will find a way up and out. &nbsp; I recommend renting a stump grinder, or hiring a tree service to grind the stump and the larger roots. You can water the area well to soften the soil,&#8230;<\/p>\n<div><a class=\"more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/depts.washington.edu\/hortlib\/pal\/fig-stump-removal\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Fig stump removal<\/span><\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"menu_order":0,"template":"","keyword":[675,548],"class_list":["post-2768","pal","type-pal","status-publish","hentry","keyword-ficus-carica","keyword-tree-roots"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/depts.washington.edu\/hortlib\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pal\/2768"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/depts.washington.edu\/hortlib\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pal"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/depts.washington.edu\/hortlib\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/pal"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/depts.washington.edu\/hortlib\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/depts.washington.edu\/hortlib\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2768"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"keyword","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/depts.washington.edu\/hortlib\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/keyword?post=2768"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}