How to kill but not ruin a tree?

[JaneG]

Okay, this may sound strange, but I need to kill a tree.

This soft maple has got to go. It is surrounded but other much larger soft maples which provide shade. I love the shade they provide but hate the helicopters, weak wood, dead branches, dry ground, and darn roots. I will leave them til they die but am planting better trees between them to take over once they are gone.

However, this volunteer took root several years ago and I left it, but now don't want it there! Before it gets large I'll get something else started nearby. And as you can see it will be weak the way it branches off at such angles.

I would like to kill this tree but keep the "skeleton". I plan to cut the branches at about 6 feet high and let a vine climb up it, and a pot will sit perfectly there in the crotch of those three limbs. However, in my experience I can't just cut the limbs off because these babies don't die easy. It will just keep sending up suckers and new branches where I cut it off. Is it true that if you nail a copper nail in a tree it will die? Or should I make a cut all the way around the bottom of the tree severing the bark all the way around?

Any suggestions? Here's a pic of the tree on death row . . .

[Old earth dog]

You could girddle it, as you suggested, but being a soft Maple, it will rot in a few years. Course it isn't tall enough to damage anything.

[Homer_Zn5]

As OED stated, a soft maple skeleton will not hold up to the elements for a really long time, but you might get as much as 10 years out of it. If you don't want to girdle it, you could always spray the leaves with brush killer, wait 2 weeks, cut off the branches, then drill some holes in the trunk and inject some more brush killer. It might take several applications over the next couple of years, but it can work . . . I've used a similar method for mulberry trees (I hate those things, too).

[JaneG]

Thanks Homey! Grrrrr, don't even MENTION those dang mulberry trees!!

Mulberry Trees + Birds =

[mali]

I've used a similar method for mulberry trees (I hate those things, too).

I just moved into a home with a mulberry in the backyard, right over the patio. It's a mess. Did you deal with one? Any suggestions?

Thanks,
s.

[Old earth dog]

Mali, there is no good way to deal with a mulberry that is over a walkway, driveway, etc. The birds are also quite adept at spaltting the...err..."residue" on the house, car, etc.
I have heard about some ornamental fruit trees being sprayed at the correct tim3 to keep them from producing fruit. Probably expensive and the correct timing would have to be spot on.

[Homer_Zn5]

I've used a similar method for mulberry trees (I hate those things, too).

I just moved into a home with a mulberry in the backyard, right over the patio. It's a mess. Did you deal with one? Any suggestions?

Thanks,
s.

Nope, I didn't deal with one, I've killed about 4 . . . but only 2 were of any size to really be considered a full-on tree. One was about 15 feet tall, and too large to go after with just a sprayer. So, I cut off each one of the main limbs and painted brush killer over the open wounds, undiluted. Some say to do this when the farmer's almanac has the sign of the heart going down. I'm not entirely sure what that means, and I didn't pay any attention, I just did it. It worked, and the tree has been dead for about 3 years.

If you simply cut it down with a chainsaw, it will just keep coming back. They are really tough to kill.

[Lessadragon]

We moved into a house with a HUGE mulberry tree and it was beautiful, but a real mess. A lightning strike and then that really bad ice storm that hit here many years ago took care of it. Otherwise, I wouldn't have known what to do other than cut it down.
Lynn