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I had a very large pyracantha growing at the corner of my house. It was probably about 10 feet in diameter and 15 feet tall. I eventually managed to cut it down to a few stumps, but I couldn't quite figure out how to get rid of it. The ground around it is filled with fairly large rocks (from a few inches across to a foot or so) making digging it out pretty tough.

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It has subsequently grown back. Both from the stump but also just growing straight out of the ground from within a few feet of the stump.

I can cut it back down to the stump, but what are some options for getting rid of it for good? I'm guessing it has a very extensive root base which is making it hard to kill off as well. Most of the rest of the plants around it are weeds so I'm not too concerned with saving those.

Ryan Elkins
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Once a shrub gets this large, the method for removing and stopping regrowth is the same as that used with trees. You need to cut it right down and bore out the main roots with a stump grinder down to 12-18 inches, or cut it down and drill into every woody stump and large, woody root and poison them with tree stump killer (often listed as brushwood killer).

Using stump killing treatments should stop regrowth and kill the plant completely, but you will be left with woody stumps and roots in the ground until they rot down over time naturally, so if you wanted to replant within 2-5 years, its probably best to bore out the root/stumps instead.

Bamboo
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