0

I recently had a home inspection done and one of the things that came out of that was the discovery of a bunch of bushes with roots that growing down into the foundation of my basement.

My instinct is to want to remove the entire thing instead of just cutting it off because I presume the roots will keep growing down and making more cracks in my foundation.

I've dug around the area a bit and tried to pull it out to no avail.

Are there specific tools that I could use to do this?

pingOfDoom
  • 103
  • 3

2 Answers2

2

You have several alternatives:

  1. Cut the bush. Roots cannot grow without the leaves providing sugars from photosynthesis. But depending on the species, you might have to cut it several times before the plant runs out of stored energy.
  2. Use a herbicide. Some herbicides are highly toxic and most will pollute groundwater. Roundup has to be applied to the leaves, and it will kill the roots. It will not work if applied to the roots directly.
  3. Remove the whole bush, roots and all. This is done with a spade,a gardener's shovel (the one with the pointy end) and a pick axe. The pick axe is a dangerous tool, but in the right hands, it will remove a bush in under a minute.
Cheery
  • 12,884
  • 1
  • 20
  • 47
1

My significant other uses natural killers.

Vinegar and some hand wash soap (liquid). Soap is to keep the vinegar in place and not to just run off.

DIY75
  • 20,686
  • 3
  • 23
  • 47