Sprouts – Removing With Patience

Q: I had a paulownia tree in my front yard. I cut the tree down but the trunk remains. Now I am getting hundreds of sprouts throughout my lawn. Some are thirty feet from the trunk! How can I kill them?

A: I’m thinking about bringing to market a sand-filled box called “Garden Patience”. Folks could sprinkle the contents on their problem areas and wait a while to see what happens. For you, I’d prescribe a half-cup of Patience plus your continued mowing of the paulownia sprouts. Removing them consistently will starve the roots and they will die. Alternatively, you could spray the sprouts with any broadleaf weed killer labeled for lawn use. In both cases, the process will be slow but the results will be the same: no more troublesome sprouts.