Qustion :

I bought an apple tree this spring
and planted it. Unfortunately, there is a large amount of dock leave
weeds around the base. I would like to get rid of them without
posoining my tree.

Reply

Strimmer.

Further Reply

Be carefull. Strimmers and young trees do not mix well. Young trees
have tender bark, and the bark is so important to the well being of
your tree.

If you want to cut the docks down to ground level then my advice would
be to use a pair of shears. In my view shears would be quicker that
strimming too. Thats unless you have a whole orchard to deal with.

Strimmers are one of those tools, everyone thinks they are going to be
of more use than they ever really are. By the time you add in all the
time spent running out an extension lead, fixing the broken strimming
blade, etc etc. you could have gone around the garden twice with a
decent pair of shears.

I guess it all depends on the size of your plot.