Tops feed roots and roots feed tops. Cut off one and keep cutting it off and the other will eventually peter out.

Cutting off one part of the plant will not strengthen the other, quite the opposite in fact. Plants are organisms, like us, with integrated systems. Amputation does not enhance functioning of the remainder.

An exception is removal of immature fruits to save the plant the energy it would otherwise extend producing them.

It's a pity to hate such a beautiful garden plant.

Thanks bboy.

Jay,

I actually think it is a nice looking plant and like I mentioned before, I previously had no aversion to it. I think you can grow to hate any plant when you don't want dozens of them popping up throughout the grass in your yard and they are really difficult to get rid of.

i put generic roundup in an old mustard bottle ... 100% concentrate [which is actually 40%] .... for control purposes

between the bark.. and the interior wood is the green cambian layer ...

cut down plant.. apply roundup to the cambian .. its useless on the interior wood ...

and keep at it for up to a year or two... never let sprouts get too big ...

the root system.. will eventually spend all the stored energy.. and eventually die ..

and have no guilt.. you will replace the loss to mother earth with something better ...

good luck

ken

I am also trying to figure out how to get rid of the nandina the builder planted as foundation plants in front of my house. There is absolutely nothing good about these "weeds." They're ugly, invasive and have berries toxic to birds.

Just dig them up, remove and dispose. You don't need to get all the roots out, just the primary root crown. It's not that hard.

btw, invasiveness of this plant is quite regional. It does not apply everywhere. And the plant does have significant attributes that make it desirable to many gardeners in areas where it is not problematic. And there are cultivars that seldom, if ever, produce any fruit, if that is a concern.

Personally, I consider nandina a landscape staple and use it frequently in designs. So it is not a 'weed' to everyone :-) And it also not the slightest bit invasive here.

PNW here, LOVE my Nandinas!

I have been doing yard work on my moms house, and the last step is getting rid of the Nandina in the front of the house (she hates it) and putting in a pebble garden with a bench. Anyway I have removed all the leaves, cut at it, applied weed killer chopped at and caught the thing on fire. It just will not die. The roots are over 60 years old. every time I turn around there is anew piece of greenery growing on it. Really??? what does it take. The branches are all broken and hacked and it still reuses to die.. I don't know what else to do.

Anyway I have removed all the leaves, cut at it, applied weed killer

==>>> but.. its not a weed .. herbicides are very specific as to application .... its all on that label ... and i bet the label does not claim its a brush, shrub, tree or stump killer ...

you need a stump killer or undiluted round up ...

but since you tried to burn it.. i am leery of giving you anymore ideas ... lol

ken

I have an ax that I use just for the purpose of cutting roots that are too large for the sharp shovel or loppers. It's never cut a tree down. I have a chainsaw for that.

Have you thought of pulling them out with a truck or come-a-long?

Describe what tool you are you using to dig them out?

I've dug a few over the years and never had a problem.

Mike

What would Ed Hume say...LOL Heavenly Bamboo and Dusty Miller....these used to be two of his fave plants.

If he was doing a container, one of those would surely be included. He did a lot of containers.

Mike.....Gardening in America

I like the little 'Firepower' version. No flowers, no berries, no trimming, red-colored foliage in winter, and at least here after 10 years in the ground, it doesn't spread, either.

I think I have read it is over planted in other regions, making people tired of it, but it's not common here.

What would you plant next to it, or what plant would you plant it next to?

For me, it's a hard plant to put in a design. It never seems to 'belong'. Any ideas?

I like good combinations, not just pairs, but using as many plants and ground as possible.

Mike

What would you plant next to it, or what plant would you plant it next to?

Any Nandina or 'Firepower' specifically?

Any Nandina?

They look like they belong in Florida. I've seen them when visiting. (Platycladus too.)

I have a Jurassic Park area. They might go there.

Mike

In the Landscape Planting Plan at the back of Grant, Garden Design Illustrated (1983, Timber Press, Portland*) they have Nandina in the tip of a driveway bed with Mahonia aquifolium behind and to the left, and Pieris japonica behind and to the right. They also have it across the driveway, to the right of the garage door, with rhododendrons behind and salal mixed with Mahonia nervosa next to it, along the drive. Notice that in both instances they put Mahonia nearby, which is a related genus with comparatively similar habit and foliage. They also have the Heavenly bamboo at the front of the bed with nothing directly in front of it except paving. Of course in the one planting the salal + mahonia combo would try to creep sideways, into the nandina.

McIndoe, The Creative Shrub Garden (2014, Timber Press, Portland/London) recommends surrounding the typical plant with "stones, moss, and low groundcover" and combining 'Fire Power' with "ferns, vincas, and ajugas".

*Previously 1954, University of Washington Press, Seattle

That will work! I have just the place.

Thanks.

Mike

LOL Mike!

Just a very personal opinion, but I find nandina 'Firepower' to be the least appealing of the more popularly sold cultivars. It offers none of the grace and lacy foliage of most other selections, offering up a dumpy, squat plant with larger, distinctly non-lacy leaves. It also seems to be overly prone to leaf spot and powdery mildew in my area, which does nothing to enhance its appearance. And I prefer the range of coloring - purple to copper to rust to red - that other selections offer compared to the much more uniform fire engine red of 'Firepower'.

The lacy, bamboo-like foliage of many nandina cultivars combines and contrasts well with broader leaved plants like Viburnum davidii, rhododendrons and salal but it also shows off well against finer textured foliage like many conifers, boxwoods, Japanese holly or barberries. Looks great with ornamental grasses as well. The cultivars I especially favor are 'Gulf Stream', Sienna Sunrise ('Monfar') and 'Filamentosa'.

I don't like the hummocky types either. Unfortunately many nandinas seem to be getting spotty and in particular mildewy in local plantings these days, with this not being limited to very dwarf kinds.

In the Grant book they have Nandina listed with evergreen barberries, box, Camellia japonica, Daphne odora, salal, Japanese holly, Kalmia latifolia, Leucothoe, Vaccinium ovatum, Mahonia aquifolium, Pieris japonica, medium leaf size rhododendrons, and leatherleaf viburnum etc. in the part shade - moderate moisture - medium green naturalistic character group.

I drove by a nursery in Kent the other day and saw a Nandina 'Firepower' from the road. I didn't stop. It's just too much!

Mike

I'm thinking it might be memorable with black Mondo grass.

which is exactly how I grow it...underplanted with snowdrops as well.

I'm a fan of standard nandina but we have some in what I call high dollar areas and if the garden gods are smiling down on me we will be able to dig them up,, and move to another spot. We're on two acres so I always have a spot to put them. I bet we can put a strap around them and yank out with pickup. I'll update when we do it.

I'd try a little shovel work first.

I have had the same issue we have whacked cut poisoned set fire to and dug at at the one in our yard. I even poured motor oil on the thing. Believe it or not it did dry it out some. I lastly used lamp oil and let it burn. It has allowed me to to get the majority of it dug up. There are just a few roots keeping that little bit in the ground. It has taken time but we are almost done

For those of you that love this plant-WARNING! My mother’s house had an entire interior corner on her brick house filled with it. Due to a malfunctioning downspout, they were getting lots of water, and the roots advanced under the brick foundation and the slab. By the time I discovered the problem, the brick veneer on the house is settling ( the house is 60 years old, and we had never had this problem). A full repair would have cost about $9,000. We took part of the brick wall down to alleviate the weight, improved the drainage, and I dug up the entire root system, and got as much out from the slab as possible. We couldn’t afford a full repair. I now have the same problem on an outside corner where there is Nandina growing right up against the foundation (cracking brick, loose brick). I don’t even have a drainage problem there. Those red berries are pretty, but likely not worth the tens of thousands it may cost you in repairs. I am getting rid of every bit, to my mother’s dismay. Never grow this stuff near a foundation!

As for the toxicity: https://www.southernliving.com/garden/plants/nandina-berries-poisonous-birds

Never one of my favorite plants, one of the few BLEs I do _not_ have in my garden, but I wouldn't want a plant to be unfairly slighted by a single incident. I think birds have mostly learned not to eat them: why we always see them retaining their berries for a long time, and don't see a whole bunch of dead birds where they are planted.

The curious thing is what cyanide/alkaloid resistant animal in China, were the berries evolved to attract?

Mine are driving me crazy they are so out of control and I have repeatedly cut the roots and they keep traveling. I am a widow and too old now to be able to do it.

Boy, folks can sure go off on a tangent about this plant!!

If nandina bothers you so much, just dig it out and replant with something else. I am a single female senior (some could easily describe me as too old!!), but there are very few shrubs I cannot dig out and remove if the situation demands it. Even shrubs much larger than any nandina can get. But if it is beyond your capabilities, just hire it done. Unless it is a huge planting, shouldn't take much more than an hour or so.

I dug up a 40 year old Nandina domestica the other day and had it replanted in less than 45 minutes. I took my time because I had a double by-pass open heart surgery two years ago and I'm 78. Gardening is not a passive hobby, at least, not for me.