On Sat, 03 Nov 2007 14:08:05 -0700, Davej wrote:

Just girdle them and have done with it...

Well, I cut them off and they come back. Is cutting only the bark more
effective? The honeysuckle bushes I'm sure would just sprout new
branches.

Many species will stump or root sprout when you just cut off the tops, and
then you've got eleventyseven more stems to treat. If, however, you
ring the cambium (the greenish layer under the bark), the plant can no
longer translocate materials from the top to the roots. Roots are not
photosynthetic and will starve, thus killing the top
of the plant, too.

If you simply remove bark but don't remove the cambium, you haven't girdled
the tree and there's some chance it may survive such a wounding.

Occasionally, you'll see a girdled tree put out some sprouts below the
girlding. Just pull those off as soon as you notice.

Kay