Hi all – I'm doing my best to remove all the agapanthus from my newly bought block in Vic. I'm trying to get as much of the roots out as possible, but I'm wondering what they're able to grow back from. Does it have to be the thick rhizome for them to come back or can they come back from just the thinner, udon-noodle like roots in my photo? I'm trying to get every bit out but inevitably I'm definitely leaving behind some of the thinner roots.
I'm sure I will get some regrow, but at least I can try to stay on top of it!
by Tomtomclub91
5 Comments
They’re perhaps slightly less resilient than reputation suggests, if your shovel is sharp and your elbow grease tank is full. In short, I dont think they’ll resprout from individual roots, and if so, they’ll be much smaller plants that you can revisit with a shovel.
I’ve found they will only resprout from larger ‘crowns”‘ of root material, but this is in Melbourne winter, so YMMV in warmer weather. I usually aim to dig out about 80% of the root material, and if there are any larger chunks that I cbf digging out, you can “dice” them up with the tip of your shovel, within the soil. The more cuts, the higher the likelihood that remaining root material will be inundated with rot and opposed to regrowing. Spritz of glypho on the freshly cut roots never hurts.
The thing a lot of people miss with aggies is they spread from heads gone to seed (which is why they’re an environmental weed) be vigilant as to what sprouts up in the post cleanup
I had 6 or so of these bastards in the back yard. I used a chainsaw to cut ‘em down to just above ground level then sprayed with blackberry poison. I left them for around 6 months or so and what was left was pretty much compost type material. Now I have to do the same thing with 20 others in the front yard. 😎
Dig them out. They don’t grow back from the roots just the thick parts of rhizomes. But the roots can persist for some time and cause problems with planting the new garden, I found it best to remove as much of them as well.
Good on everyone for getting rid of these buggers!
I’ve tried every technique over the last 20 years on a heavily infested site. My most success has been with an electric mower to mulch them down to the ground, then a layer of cardboard (tape removed) and woodchip/logs/branches organic matter on top, then native plantings once things have settles.
The trick is to keep any viable root systems and seeds separated from the sun so they eat up their sugars. I only use Yates on Blackberry and Pittosporums.