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Killing:
I have 5 huge (over 10' before trimming) Oleander bushes that I want to remove. Reason? they just grow out of hand and the Bermuda grass grows up inside of them and cant be easily reached to eliminate it. There is a very light freeze here about once every 5 years so that isnt enough to kill off the grass or to cause the Oleander to die back. BUT...they are on the side of a hill and I suspect that the root system may help the stability of the soil (sand dune) so am afraid to pull them out. Several months ago I cut them all back to the ground using a chain saw. It took all day for two days to do it. Then I sprayed the stalks, and some leaves that were left, liberally with Round Up. They are coming back with a vengeance now!!! Apparently they like Round Up. I need suggestions on getting rid of them short of digging them up which I know will destabilize the hillside.
Growing:
I have many kinds of palm trees in my yard, Washingtonia, Sago, Canary Island Date, Fox Tail, and several others. I want to make that my specialty. So I recently tried growing a Coconut palm...twice...they both died. Maybe they are not suited to South Texas, maybe too hot?? The soil is very sandy, an ancient sand dune turned Oak Mott. The water is mildly salty, drinkable, but you can taste the salt, with lots of iron (stains the trees from the sprinkler). Anyone know if the Coconut palm can live in this environment??
I also would like to start a vineyard on the front slope. I know that in the late 1800s this area was one huge vineyard that shipped grapes (Carmen Grape) all over the US. The well on my property is one of the original wells from which they watered the vineyards. BUT...the water may have changed from what it was 150 years ago. I find that I can get the grapes growing but once I put them out and begin watering them from the well, they die. A neighbor has a large vineyard (Carmen as well as others), but waters it from a cistern of rain water and they are doing fine. Local, piped in, water is VERY expensive and no one can afford to use it for plants unless they are wealthier than I. Two years ago I put out 200 cuttings (Carmen) that had been properly stored and roots growing over the winter. They looked great when I put them in the ground and they continued for about 2 weeks and then began dieing. The wild Mustang grape grows here without irrigation and resists almost anything that might try to kill it so at least one grape likes it here. I have three HUGE Mustang grape roots on the property and am considering grafting on to them several different domesticated grapes. Is this a good idea? Does anyone know of a grape that would like water with a high content of NaCl?
The water here is healthy for Papaya, Grapefruit, Oak, St Augustine grass, Palms, several variety's of Bird of Paradise and all manner of weeds. So it isn't all that bad, but grapes just don't seen to like it. Also, my fig tree will live in it, but it sure doesn't thrive, just barely hangs on.
In answer to your questions about coconut palms, they grow very healthily down here in Aruba. We have lots of wind, hot temperatures, it's dry many months of the year, and they are exposed to quite a bit of salt. They THRIVE down here, so I can't imagine why they're not working out for you. Are you sprouting them yourself, or buying grown trees?
It gets too cold where you are in Texas. Coconut trees are actually rather fickle. Are there are others in your neighborhood?
It's best to not try to transplant one that has any size at all, unless you water it generously twice a day until it gets established.
Best is to get the coconut nut when it's just barely decided to sprout. Plant it a little deeper than the body of the nut, in a depression, if you will, not covering the sprout. This way, the baby tree can go deep with it's roots right away, using the food still in the nut. ??am I making any sense?
I see people growing coconuts in a two gallon pot until they're seven feet tall, the leaves, but that stunts the roots terribly. And the young trees usually die, unless---watered twice a day for several months.
I call them trees and all other palms palm trees. Or palms. But not coconut palm. That's what an Island gardener told me long ago. Coconut tree.
If you can get the Oleander short enough to cover with several layers of cardboard, that might do the trick. I've smothered a few things with refrigerator boxes, and furniture boxes.
The grafting of stock on stronger roots usually works well. Just have to keep an eye out for the bottoms sending up sprouts. Grapes are fickle, too. Probably have to do grafting when they're well dormant, but before they know spring's coming. I'd ask at nurseries and department of Ag and every place else.
I have had luck killing some of the weed trees by getting a bottle of Beyers brush killer (I have also used Roundup), putting some of it full strength into a old jar and getting myself a foam type paintbrush - the type that are disposable and two for a dollar. The secret is to paint the killer on within 30 seconds of cutting down the tree - it seems to suck it right down to the roots. This tip was given to me by Carol...
If a stump is big enough, people here drill holes 1/4 of an inch deep around the top of the cut, and fill with used oil from the car. Bad for the environment, but so is poison. I wonder if something else would do it? Salt?
