Okay, chickens, I need answers: What the hey is this weed-tree-thing? (And, no, it is not a pecan tree. I promise. Really. It's not.)
It grows super-fast and sends up tons of underground shoots that we constantly mow down:
It comes up in cracks and corners:
When you break off plants taller than 8"-10" it stinks like bug guts. And bag-worms love it, which is double-gross. Plus, in no time at all, it grows into this:
ARGH!!! This weed-tree is my bane! It grew around my old duplex in Norman and now here it is again. Boo!
The only thing is that I have to admire it's tenacity. It's like the cockroach of trees. I'll bet dinosaurs were munching on it hundreds of thousands of years ago. Mmm - bug-guts tree! Delicious.
(http://littlehealer.wordpress.com/2007/11/06/trip-to-dinosaur-island/)In looking around the web for info on this "tree," I found this website, which is pretty darn funny: Noah and the Tree Race. Very creative family!
Posts
9 comments:
Nope, you're right, it's definitely NOT pecan. We have those too, or something similar (although ours don't smell bad, that I've noticed). I'm afraid I'm no help, though - I don't know what it is either.
-Tara (came over from Food Independence Challenge)
Hi Tara!
The smell of these is pretty distinct - sort of like insecticide smell or an acidic ripening grossness!
Thanks for visiting!
Lewru
We had them in Denver too - we just called them "Weed trees". I would just pull up 4 or 5 of the little ones anytime I went outside. When we first moved there we made a serious day-long effort to actually DIG UP the ones that were taller than 4 feet. That helped.
Frau
They may be hackberries. If so, they are going to keep popping up. Sorry, I have them too.
Thanks for the help, Debbi!
Hmmm. I thought I left a post earlier about your tree weeds, but I do not see it here. I was waiting for DH to get home to get a confirmation on whether he thought your tree was a black walnut. The leaves in your photo appear to be opposite, as are the black walnut leaves. I found some photos, but did not know if I could place the link your comments section.
~anajz~
It looks to me like a black walnut, too. Which would get wonderful black walnuts, but the trees have some chemical in them that kills everything else in your garden (that would cause the smell, too). You only want to grow these far away from your garden.
They are probably growing from buried walnuts, a la the squirrels.
Lisa in MN
We had them in Moab and called them foot trees because the root grows in one direction like a foot when you pull them up. I forgot their real name but the smell of bug guts is a give away.
I made peace with them. Their benefits are that they grow in poor soil with little water, they shade the ground from scorching sun, can make a wind break or a neighbor break, and keep the soil loose.
I never let just too many get mature.
Post a Comment