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I have a hawthorn bush (I think) on the bit of grass near my house and it needs to come out.

The damned thing has jumped out and attacked me several times and since it is to be the child friendly part of the garden I dont really fancy removing thorns from Es wee hand with tweezers every 2 seconds (as I keep having to do with my own hands)

I am not sure if I should cut it down and pour something down the trunk-type-bit or should I attempt to dig it out by the roots? It is about 7' tall 4' across, and it has a vicious temper.

Any ideas?

My neighbor was trying to kill the hawthorn hedge I share with her when we moved into this house. She cut it down to a stump and poured weed killer and paint over it. It's taken a few years but it's now fine again - looks lovely.

Good luck.

Hi Annpan. You can either cut it down to ground level, drill some holes deep into the stump and pour some weedkiller in. Make sure that the holes don't go through as the weedkiller will just run out. It will take a while to kill it. Or you can dig out the roots. How big they are and how deep will depend on age. Age of the tree that is.

rather than try and kill it why don't you prune it into a more tree shaped tree so that there are no thorns low enough to hurt anyone. you can create some nice topiary effects with hawthorn.

Gidday

Simply because they are pricks of weeds and need to be gotten rid of.

Jack wrote:Gidday

Simply because they are pricks of weeds and need to be gotten rid of.

no in the uk they aren't, they are natives and great food for birds in winter.

And the berries make a lovely jelly, and the flower and berries can make a gorgeous wine.

Gidday

Yeah but I aint in the U.K. Eh!

Have you managed to execute your hawthorne yet?

Folk lore would suggest that you leave it be. Have you ever seen a hawthorne tree in the middle of a cultivated field? There are many superstitions around hawthorn and old fashioned farmers around me go to great lengths not to disturb one.

Meredith.

Oh dear

Yes it was exectued with great vigour. I cut the tree near the ground dug around it, around a spade down and a foot out (if that makes sense) and cut through the roots to remove a good chunk of that too. I think I may have heard that they mark a witches grave?

For the sake of the story and to spook you all. The week after cutting down the tree we found dry rot in our house and the whole front of the house has had to be stripped back and rebuilt (including the roof) costing us thousands of pounds... make of it what you will... spooooooky huh!

Hawthorn is one of the fullest folklore native trees we have. It's everything from supposed the crown of thorns for christ all the way to the favorite home for fairies and such. Just a quick couple of examples.

"It was thought dangerous to chop down a Hawthorn. It is told how a farmer in Worcestershire chopped his down because he was fed up with sightseers. As a result he broke his leg and arm and his farm burned down. If a Hawthorn had to be felled then a prayer must be said, although it mustn't be chopped down for no reason - only ritual or healing purposes would suffice. At Berwick-St-John in Dorset an old Hawthorn was cut down to provide firewood for the village. The tree had stood on an old earthwork and, as a result, no chickens would lay, no cows would bear calves and no babies were conceived. When the tree was replaced everything was then OK."


Of course if you also want a scientific answer, it does provide food and homes near 150 different types of insect. So if you cut it down where are all the creepy crawlies going to head?? Perhaps time to check all the nooks and crannies for things with more than two legs.

I'm with Jack on this one - we have lots of them in our native bush. Won't be cutting them down for no reason, then, it's to let the bush recover. Also read they make good firewood.

I reckon we have enough superstitions of our own here, don't need to be importing them too! Thinking about flax...

I also have about 100 yards of hawthorn bush as hedges, so I won't worry about the insects or the birdies
This one was in the middle of the lawn (quite random really) it was vicious, I am pretty sure I saw it jump at me a few times, after I had removed the third thorn from my hand with tweezers I decided it had to go... so it went. It is now at the back of the garden waiting to be cut up for firewood.