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Per the title really.

  • It seems to be quite invasive and pops up all over the place, often entangled into the centre of an existing shrub
  • It's a pain to dig out but it can be done
  • It's quite (but not completely) resistant to home-use weedkillers
  • The bark strips off the stem quite easily when you try to pull it up
  • The stem feels somewhat like a eucalyptus - fast growing wood - when cut with secateurs
  • It's very fast-growing
  • It happily regrows when cut near the base, from just below the cut
  • It seems to be quite widespread locally (Berkshire, UK)
  • In other people's gardens, there are unchecked examples, and it's well over 10 feet tall - looking a lot like an established tree

I'm wondering:

  • what it is
  • what, if anything, can I do about it, that I'm not doing already.

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tomfanning
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1 Answers1

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It seems a Fraxinus excelior (Ash). It grows fast and it likes stony places (like walls, streets).

Young trees sometime have such reddish look (trunk, branches), especially on dry places.

Giacomo Catenazzi
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  • Yep, could be that. Looks pretty close. Just keep digging? – tomfanning Jun 21 '16 at 16:12
  • It looks as if it is a seedling from a nearby tree. Easy peasy just to pull out. No problems with invasive roots. Look around for a tree with the same leaves...let us know! – stormy Jun 21 '16 at 22:00