My back garden is mainly laid to lawn - well, grass! - with just a few
fruit trees. The garden is wider than it is long and I have houses on
all three sides. The garden along the back has a number of very
overgrown shrubs, some about twenty feet tall. Fortunately the back
fence is roughly to the north of me so I do get afternoon sun.

I've had for some years from one of my neighbour's shrubs what I
thought were seedlings coming up in the grass and in a patch that I want
to clear for vegetables next year so a couple of months ago I made an
effort to dig these seedlings up, only to find that they weren't
seedlings at all, they were suckers from the underground roots of my
neighbour's shrub. I managed to locate the main roots that were coming
under the fence and into my garden, about three or four of them, some up
to two inches in diameter. I cut them off and proceeded to dig the roots
out only to find that they were long - very long! I dug two or three out
that were about thirty feet long! They might have been longer but they
broke as I pulled them.

I was away for almost the whole of August. When I came back I could see
the extent of the invasion of these roots. Suckers were coming up over
half the lawn! I hadn't noticed this in previous years because I kept
the grass pretty short. This month I've been spending an hour or two
each day digging and pulling up these roots, but I'm fighting a losing
battle, and ruining my lawn into the bargain! These roots seem to have
renewed vigour now that they are severed from the parent shrub.

Actually the reason I'm posting this is because I'd like to know what
this shrub is called. I've given links to a couple of photos. The first
is a sucker growing at the base of my apple tree, the second shows
berries hanging from a branch of the original shrub in the neighbour's
garden.

http://www.rance.org.uk/chameau/img_0292.jpg

http://www.rance.org.uk/chameau/img_0293.jpg

But I'm also wondering what I can do to eradicate it - if it's possible
(and I'm beginning to think that it isn't). I guess that glyphosate
won't be effective as it'll just keep throwing down more roots as it
goes on its merry way. There's not much point in raising the subject
with my neighbour as there's nothing he can do now to clean my garden.
The roots are shallow so I could put a concrete barrier under the fence
where most of the roots are coming through. As far as the new vegetable
patch is concerned, regular thorough digging will be necessary. Is there
anything else I can do? This shrub really is a thug!

David

--
David Rance writing from Caversham, Reading, UK