"Cindy Hamilton" wrote in message
...
On Sep 2, 3:51 pm, "Spamlet" wrote:
"Cindy Hamilton" wrote in message

...
On Sep 2, 2:56 pm, Frank wrote:

On 9/2/2010 12:16 PM, john hamilton wrote: Do these shrubs so close to
a
house wall pose any future problems for the
house brickwork?

http://tinypic.com/r/2sbtyz5/7

Thanks for advice.

Probably no harm, but, have you not heard the word, prune?
I don't allow any bush to touch my house.

What is that, euonymous, maybe? Should take pruning
wonderfully. I wouldn't use shears, but I don't like an
overly manicured look.

Looks like a little weeding is in order, too. Something
else is growing up in there. Stay on top of it.

My yard is a weedy mess; I've got glossy buckthorn
growing up everywhere. I regret letting it get out of hand.
Now it's going to be a buttload of work to hack it down
and keep it down.

Cindy Hamilton

Not sure what you mean by 'glossy buckthorn' - though I've had terrible
problems with berberis/mahonia which puts out roots all over the place and
is impervious to weedkillers.
With bushes that sucker, digging/winching them up is the only way: the
more
you cut the more they spread. Whole hillsides round here have been covered
in dogwood, thanks to well meaning 'scrub bashing' events, just making
more
problems for later.

S

Here's the enemy (although this page focuses mainly on common
buckthorn,
it also talks about glossy buckthorn):

http://dnr.wi.gov/invasives/fact/buckthorn_com.htm

The problem for me is that the damned birds eat the berries and crap
them out wherever they perch, resulting in buckthorn seedlings under
every tree in my yard, and mixed in with the desirable shrubs.

Cindy Hamilton


Ah, well this is supposed to be *UK* d-i-y, but what an excellent website
your Wisconsin DNR has produced! (US authorities seem to be very clear and
open with botanical data compared with the UK where 'traditionally'
collectors of such data have been rather reluctant to share. They are
improving though.)

Here (Luton UK) we have similar problems with the pigeons and ivy berries,
but the ivy flowers are so important for the bees and late (Red Admiral)
butterflies, I put up with a little more weeding than I might otherwise
like: just wish the pigeons didn't seem to specifically target one
particular hellebore though - it's only supposed to have white *flowers*!

A teaspoon of buckthorn berries is supposed to be an effective laxative if I
recall correctly. Here, the plant is only really common along chalky
hillsides, where the unwary will often confuse it with dogwood (which is
much more problematic, because of the suckers.).

Nice to hear from you,

S