Monday, May 21, 2012

Yucca Yuck!

I spent hours this weekend trying to make space for blueberry bushes by removing some Yucca from the side of the house.  The leaves are spiky and sharp, and the roots are huge.  Bigger than huge.  Then I came inside and checked the source of all wisdom, the internet, to see what the wisdom is on getting rid of Yucca.

Below is what it could look like


Below, the spiky part next to the wall, is what it does look like (after about 4 hours of digging)


Here's a snippet of what internet peeps say about getting rid of Yucca:
After 3 days of hacking, Dh was reduced to using a sawzall. Literally 27 minutes later, they had resprouted. This time, DH used the propane BLOWTORCH that godforsaken children(gc) had purchased for him one year. All this accomplished was setting uprooted strands of weedweb, and a nearby boxwood, on fire. And 10 minutes later, there were new sprouts in the middle of the stinking blackened mess.
The reason digging doesn't work is because of their incredibly deep roots
The reason poisoning doesn't work, is because of hydrostatic pressure
One suggestion that has worked 78% of the time is to move to a new house that does not have Yuccas.

ARGH!

It looks like I'm gonna have to go ahead and plant the blueberry bushes ('cause I've already got them!).  My yucca eradication plan looks like it's gonna be management-based - just keep the thing as small as possible.

Like a crazy fool, I thought the yucca was going to be the easy part, so I left it for last.  Several bushes were also here, but succumbed to a rope and the ATV.  That was fun!  What will be more fun is eating the blueberries!