Killing Nuisance Trees

Q: Is there is a device that could carry an electric charge and which could be clipped to small invasive trees and, with the press of a button, cause that nuisance plant enough harm that it would die quickly? They say men have walked on the moon, this seems such a small thing in comparison.

A: As a guy who loves fireworks, I would love to see something like this demonstrated. My guess is there would be a small explosion with clouds of steam and a shower of sparks. What a sight!

But such a device doesn’t make sense when it’s easy to kill medium-sized nuisance trees in your landscape without pyrotechnics. Just use a small hatchet to firmly chop into the tree trunk at several places around its circumference. Then spray or paint glyphosate (Roundup, etc) into the wounds. The chemical is carried by the tree’s vascular system up to the top and down to the roots and it will die in short order.

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