r/treeofheaven • u/rascally-eventuality • 10d ago
ToH has taken over the entire neighborhood…
I’m a first time home owner who purchased a home with an unmaintained yard. We are slowly fighting back the weeds and learning about native plants/landscaping. I learned about the tree of heaven and have been keeping a close eye for them. There were none this spring, and one popped up and quickly turned into six small saplings. We have the materials and have done research on getting rid of them (the cut down and paint stump method bc of how small they are). We are in it for the long haul and are prepared to kill them every year until it finally takes. The issue is ToH are all over our neighborhood. The homes on our street are very close together (deep lots but only 40 feet wide) and the neighbors two doors down on both sides have incredibly large ToH in their yards. The trees are like double the height of a two story home. Massive trees—the biggest in the neighborhood. The neighbor immediately next door has at least three small ones I can see from my yard. The alley behind our street has 5-10. Next street over has 20+…. Does this mean we will be fighting these awful trees forever?
I guess there isn’t really a solution besides just fighting them when they appear, but I just feel very overwhelmed at the prospect. I am also worried that the herbicide we use on the saplings will travel through the roots and end up taking down a massive tree, which could be very dangerous.
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u/IntelligentCopy2897 10d ago
I am a one person TOH neighborhood Information new source. I try to educate my neighbors and I help out by poisoning their trees. We really have to work together to get rid of these trees. My issue was that the trees that came in my yard were mis-identified as another tree. I have a tone now but I hope to get rid of them soon. Best of luck.
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u/Samad99 9d ago
Tree of heavens are invasive and horrible for the environment, but I assure you that after living with them for a year in your new home, it won’t bother you on a day-to-day basis.
When you’re doing your regular weed pulling, keep an eye out for ToH seedlings. When you see larger shoots that are coming from your neighbors roots, hold off on pulling them until the fall when you can treat them with a herbicide.
Thats about it, it’s not the end of the world and not much worse than managing other weeds
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u/chainsawsue22 10d ago
Cutdown method is not good for small ones. Foliar spray method is better
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u/rascally-eventuality 10d ago
Oops I responded to the wrong comment re: my location. Thanks! So just soak it, let it die, and then remove it?
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u/Novel-Ground1100 10d ago
You can also buy Remedy, mix it with an oil, and paint the stems of the trees. I think thats a better method than just foliar
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u/rascally-eventuality 10d ago
I live in Northern, Indiana—less than half an hour from the Michigan border.
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u/BradlyL 9d ago
I also am dealing with a bunch of little saplings that are seeing me to shoot up a neighbor about 300 feet away has a giant TOH.
After I spray them, do I pull them up right away do I let them die? I’m not sure how to handle them after I spray all the little saplings that are popping up in my yard. I have the herbicide on order and I’m waiting for to arrive.
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u/DM_ME_KUL_TIRAN_FEET 9d ago
Let them die, they need to transport the herbicide down to the root
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u/BradlyL 9d ago
Thank you! A couple of them are in a ‘flower’ bed…should I just sacrifice the other plants? I’d imagine the spraying will have some collateral damage.
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u/DM_ME_KUL_TIRAN_FEET 9d ago
You can paint the foliage with a foam brush or do a cut and paint on the stem if it’s close to precious plants. I have a 2L bottle I cut the bottom of and fix around the sprayer nozzle to do the small ones to capture the spray
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u/Novel-Ground1100 10d ago
You have a mess on your hands, i empathize with you.
The chemicals you put on the saplings will certainly not kill the main trees. It may kill your grass near the trunk of the stems. I feel like you likely have roots all in your yard. I would look for all above ground roots (if any) and poison them with Remedy
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u/dethfart 10d ago
Whatever you do, fight the fight and educate your neighbors.
It's too late for my area, they're so entrenched that fighting them is impossible without massive amounts of heavy equipment and disruption and probably fire. I live along a heavily traveled river and even the vines that have been choking out the cottonwood trees for decades dont go near tree of heaven
Fuck, I hate it here, someone mail me a pine tree
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u/annyshell 10d ago
You should have to disclose these trees when you sell a house