The Accidental Smallholder Forum

Smallholding => Land Management => Topic started by: deepinthewoods on March 10, 2012, 01:15:07 pm

Title: copper nails
Post by: deepinthewoods on March 10, 2012, 01:15:07 pm
ive heard that a copper nail will kill a tree, does this work?
ive a load of laurel hedging that  needs to come down, if i copper nailed it all, and left it for a year would that be feasible?
Title: Re: copper nails
Post by: bazzais on March 10, 2012, 07:00:17 pm
If it did youd still have to chop it down eventually - why not just bite the bullet and cut it down now?
Title: Re: copper nails
Post by: bloomer on March 10, 2012, 07:04:57 pm
If it did youd still have to chop it down eventually - why not just bite the bullet and cut it down now?

cutting laurel down is a waste of time unless you can destroy or remove the roots it regrows too fast!!! there are some chemicals that will kill the stumps but they are quite nasty...

i don't know about copper nails in laurels i have heard of the trick but don't know if it works or not!!!
Title: Re: copper nails
Post by: deepinthewoods on March 10, 2012, 07:07:03 pm
If it did youd still have to chop it down eventually - why not just bite the bullet and cut it down now?

cutting laurel down is a waste of time unless you can destroy or remove the roots it regrows too fast!!! there are some chemicals that will kill the stumps but they are quite nasty...

i don't know about copper nails in laurels i have heard of the trick but don't know if it works or not!!!

yep, this isnt just one tree, its hundreds!!.
if the copper trick works , i can kill the lot off and grub it up bit by bit over the next year.
Title: Re: copper nails
Post by: Berkshire Boy on March 13, 2012, 10:51:50 am
A man with a JCB will clear it in no time. I started clearing one of our fields and it took ages just to do a few metres so my mate came with his digger 1 day they were all gone and just a pile of ash to show for it. :thumbsup:
Title: Re: copper nails
Post by: deepinthewoods on March 13, 2012, 11:01:19 am
i couldnt get a jcb in!!! not a hope.

would the copper nails work?? pleeeeease!
Title: Re: copper nails
Post by: robert waddell on March 13, 2012, 11:15:12 am
it must be some location when a jcb cant access it      what about a winch to pull them out
spray it with roundup  :farmer:
Title: Re: copper nails
Post by: deepinthewoods on March 13, 2012, 11:16:31 am
yep its my garden!!! not having a jcb trashing it. would round up permanantly kill it?
Title: Re: copper nails
Post by: robert waddell on March 13, 2012, 11:21:29 am
you can try the double sure method spray the green leafs   and bore a bole in each trunk at a downwards angle and inject straight roundup into it      it has to be the original roundup not the watered down urine that garden centers sell :farmer:
Title: Re: copper nails
Post by: arwelcoed on March 16, 2012, 07:01:58 am
Roundup will kill lauded but you must keep spraying it twice a year till it stops putting out new growth. Best way to kill any stump is salt! First cut the stump as low to the ground as possible then bore holes around the top of it (not in the middle) with an inch or so gap and about 2inches deep. Then fill and pack all the holes with salt then cover the stump with a plastic bag (to make water proof) or cut a disk from the stump you cut and nail down you can use copper nails if you want at this point! ;)
Title: Re: copper nails
Post by: Sylvia on March 16, 2012, 03:15:41 pm
Yes, copper nails will kill it but it will take time. If you need them down now then cut them down, then use a very nasty shrub killer or flex those muscles and dig them out ;D
Title: Re: copper nails
Post by: FiB on March 16, 2012, 03:24:13 pm
Are they big enough that ringing (taking off a large ring of bark) would work?  That does take a full growing season to work though, so youd have to wait the fell.  Not heard of copper nail - interesting thanks.
Title: Re: copper nails
Post by: Mel on April 01, 2012, 08:20:41 am
How large are these Laurels?What a shame,I wish for a Laurel hedge at the front of my plot! ;D
Title: Re: copper nails
Post by: deepinthewoods on April 01, 2012, 09:26:49 am
how does 40ft high sound?? :D

thats what they were when i got here, now most of its 4ft high. some of the trunks are a foot thick.
dont plant laurel, its toxic to animals, gives off cyanide when its burnt and totally invasive!
Title: Re: copper nails
Post by: Bramblecot on April 08, 2012, 03:53:25 pm
how does 40ft high sound?? :D

thats what they were when i got here, now most of its 4ft high. some of the trunks are a foot thick.
dont plant laurel, its toxic to animals, gives off cyanide when its burnt and totally invasive!
Totally agree.  I'm still fighting ours after 5 years, and the seedlings are a nuisance.  The sheep keep trying to eat it, it's a nightmare keeping them away from the stuff.  So many nicer things to plant in the country.
Title: Re: copper nails
Post by: Plantoid on April 09, 2012, 12:01:25 am
ive heard that a copper nail will kill a tree, does this work?
ive a load of laurel hedging that  needs to come down, if i copper nailed it all, and left it for a year would that be feasible?


 It never worked on our old apple  or leylandi trees .. a chain saw did .  ;)
 
Laurel is a " boogerooter "  to get rid of as it is evergreen and very whippy .
Cutting it off at ground level and SBK treating the roots is the only way I know of getting rid of it then a year later use a TIRFOR winch or a tractor &  chain to pull the  dam things stumps out one by one.or spend ages trying to dig and cut them out the ground.
Any live stumps will quickly grow back as bushes to about five feet in three years 
Title: Re: copper nails
Post by: knight_family on April 11, 2012, 07:01:20 pm
Sorry to say Copper nails is a bit of a myth. It will kill the tree but the amount of copper nails you will need for 1 tree will bring all the scrap metal men round!!!

Best to cut them down sorry.