WARNING: The Ficus Tree and The Booty!

in #gardening7 years ago (edited)

The Ficus Tree – A warning to all!

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Three days ago I started the daunting task of digging out the trunk and root system of two Ficus trees I unknowingly planted. It’s not that I didn’t know they were Ficus’s, I did but they had lived in pots for ten plus years and never really grown much bigger so I figured the same would happen in the ground.

I was very very wrong!

Research First

Don’t do as I did and randomly plant trees in your yard, do some research first. They had been in the ground just over two years and had already managed to crack our driveway and lift the pavers in the backyard. Both warning sign’s I didn’t attribute it to the trees that were flourishing in my garden beds until my boss mentioned how much damage they could do.

Only then did I leap to google to confirm his cautionary words.

Save Yourself

Google could have saved me the pain and tears of having to cut them down. Yes, I cried! They are living things, I was so torn at having to cut them down that I made my husband do it. It could have also saved me the aches and pains of having to dig the root systems out and the linked worry that the roots may have already invaded the pipes.

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Stump number one!

Not to mention the time. I had assumed a few hours at the most and given it was a long weekend I could spare that for some gardening. It started off well with stump number one coming out in just under an hour of digging, you can see my adventure with him here: Good Friday, The Good, The Bad & The Ficus!.

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Stump number two, plus surprise roots as big as the trunk!
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So I assumed that stump number two albeit it slightly bigger would give me similar grief. Again I was wrong, Ficus number two was still not yielding after two hours of solid digging. The main stump had been removed but the roots attached to that were just as big as the original stump and there were four of them protruding deep into the earth.

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A least I found something fun!

Called it a day

Didn't realise it was bleeding until after I wiped dirt in it!



I called it a day as the sun had cut through the clouds and the UV rating in Western Australia is very high even on a cloudy day. That and I was starting to get careless in my frustration, which in my case often leads to injury. This one only minor but annoying all the same. I did find some bounty prior to throwing in the towel, three mini bottles about a meter down but I will tell you more about them below.


Enter day three

Yes, my few hours had dragged out for the entire long weekend. Lucky for me, today my hubby @shai-hulud was up early and on the case. I think he may have had something to prove as he had told me that it was impossible to get the roots out and after my day one’s success and day’s two attempts he decided it may not be impossible just hard.

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Husband jumps to it! Success of a sorts

Soon into it, he hit a pipe and fears crept in. Staying positive I moved onto the mowing and weeding as while the hole was deep, it was only wide enough for one person to work. He traced the roots around the pipes digging deeper as he went, once we were sure they had not pierced the pipes we cut them off low to avoid any interaction with future growth.

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Roots removed, lawned mowed, we did more but I hadn't taken a final photo and was too lazy to put clothes on venture outside to take one. #sorrynotsorry

Don’t forget to poison the roots

The lawn was mowed by this time and the sun was out beating its beautiful rays against our backs, so we retreated to the house. Tomorrow morning we will drill holes into the remaining root stumps and pour kerosene into them to poison them. They are known for their regrowth abilities and I would hate to run into problems in the future if I sprung a Ficus.

Even if you chop it down, those slithering roots may continue to invade for years.

Fun facts about Ficus’s

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  1. There are about 850 species ranging from trees to vines.
  2. They are often collectively called Fig trees
  3. While distinguishing between species can be hard collectively they are known for their aerial root systems.
  4. They are very popular indoor houseplants but are rainforest giants in their natural habitat.
  5. If you were to take that house plant and put it in the garden it could easily grow in excess of 15m (50′) tall x 12-15m (40-50′) wide.
  6. They have been known to break free of their pots and take root into the ground if left unattended.
  7. For this reason, you should always stand your potted fig tree on something to separate it from the pavers or cement.

All evergreen Ficus, or figs, have vigorous, invasive root systems and grow into large trees, making them unsuitable to plant in residential gardens. ... Even in pots, they're remarkable escape artists; unless the pot is elevated, the roots can grow out of the drainage holes and find the soil.

Lessons learnt

  1. Do some research before you add trees to your garden.
  2. Not all trees from pots need or should go into the garden.
  3. Nothing is impossible albeit may take more time and effort than you would like to give.
  4. Stay sun smart & look after you, if it takes you three days to do it then take three days, no use killing yourself in one if you can’t enjoy the days after.

Booty found!

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Yes I almost forgot, we found three mini bottles about a meter down, surprisingly only one was chipped and the other two were in pristine condition, although in need of a good wash. One of the three bottles has markings on the bottom and after some research, we found that it was made by a company called Potter & Moore, they started in 1749 making lavender oil, moving into perfumes and smelling salts. They were purchased by Creightons in 1954 and still sell health and beauty products today.

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I was unable to find information on the other bottles but do love the long thin one. Does anyone have any ideas as to what it could have been used for? The last one is slightly broken, which is sad as it is actually quite beautifully made. It was much harder to clean and I am guessing it was used as some sort of an ink pot as it died my hands and sink as I started cleaning it. I will let it soak for the next few days and add a succulent to it before adding it to my new garden bed.

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A work in progress now we have dealt with the errors of times past. I am excited at the possibilities and look forward to keeping you updated with my gardening ventures. Just kidding, I hate gardening and I kill most of what I touch so I am not so much excited as pensive but only time will tell.

Thanks for reading.


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Am I allowed to just sit here and laugh???
I dug up a leylandii hedge in England when I bought my first home there (well after leaving my ex, anyway.) It was NOT fun, though I did manage to rehome some of it.

However, with a man like that at your beck and call (I hope), I'm not sure I would have tried myself, rather just get a cuppa and watch him do the hard part! (Sounds like he had to see you try first though... :-p )

I would be slightly cautious on the bottles as they are intact and could even be some witch's spell bottles. Bathing them in some holy water wouldn't go amiss, just in case! But they are gorgeous jars! I think I'd use the narrow one to root cuttings in.

haha, you can laugh, I am sure it will be funny in a years time as are most painful stories lol. I am actually surprised as to how well I have pulled up from it, the worse muscle pain has been in my fingers from gripping a shovel for hours on end and that is actually a good thing as I love rock climbing and am absailing off a building in the city for charity soon, so stronger finger muscles is better lol.

abseiling... yeah, you can keep that for yourself! Too much of an acrophobe here, lol.
I am glad you're recovering quickly though.

You and your witch spells lol. Now weird shit is happening lol.

lol - but not funny, to be honest. Seriously, find some holy water to bathe them in. Your local catholic church is a good place to start. Otherwise, it's still close enough on the full moon that you could put some water out overnight tonight - with a silver-colored coin in there. That might be enough.

I have some sage too, but some water in them under the moon with a coin could work for all but the little slim one, no coin could fit in that. how about just a piece of silver, could put a chain in there?

Sure - the silver part is the more important part - or put the bottles in a silver-colored bowl and fill with water. Lots of ways to achieve the same thing.
Then, sage them after that - and anywhere the bottles have been, if they've been inside.

What a great use for such an innocent mistake. I am going to be planting a lot of items in my yard over the next few years and this is a good thing to know.

The key then is to find a great spot for it, rather than not plant it at all. The way this tree branches creates such an aesthetic scene.

Thank you for sharing your experience.

If i had a large yard and it they wouldnt have threaterned the houses I would have loved to keep them. They are such stunning trees. Good luck with your gardening. I need to replant in the coming weeks too.

I am exhausted just watching the photos let alone reading, looks like hard work. Love the jars by the way how interesting what a great find. Is hubby enjoying the short hair is he feeling the benefit??

He is loving the short hair. We will keep it short until we go to Thailand to pick up our son in a few months and then will probably grow it again.

Do I spy a pirate??? @tipu send tip to this crazy pirate!!! ☠️

Hi @crazybgadventure! You have received 0.1 SBD tip from @dreemsteem!

That is a lot of work for a pretty little ficus tree! Who knew? I see them all over in Panama and they do get rather large! Wow! Pretty cool little treasures you found as well! It's so crazy you had to dig down so deep. Yea that hubs jumped in to help too! I am not a good gardener either. We have a whole lot of plants in pots waiting for rainy season so we can plant them. I'm sure they won't make it long after that. ;) Ha. Great story!

Thanks for stopping by. My hubby hard gardening more than I do. He would have been content with leaving sand all round if it stopped him from having to do anything in the harder lol. I was grateful for his help after day two.

I'd also be pretty gutted! I have a ficus and now I know to never ever ever plant it outside in the ground! Thank you for the heads up!!!

Glad you managed to get it all out, looks like hard word, you certainly deserve a reward.

Thank you. Yes leave it in the pot. I wish I had as they were such beautiful trees.

What a way to spend a long weekend! I had absolutely no idea they were that invasive...geez what a job! The upside to is all is those cool bottles though:) I'm glad you took the photo with it in your hand because I didn't realize that they were so little; I love the history behind them...that kind of stuff is so fascinating to me; I start to create little stories in my head about how they ended up in the ground like that ;)

look forward to keeping you updated with my gardening ventures. Just kidding, I hate gardening and I kill most of what I touch

hahah after the weekend that you've had, I'd hate it too ;

I guess the other upside, in a way, is that you can skip the gym? :)

Yep no gym required lol. That was a much harder workout but in saying that. Im typing this while at the gym on the treadmill lol.

The bottles were a great find and so tiny too. @viking-ventures mentioned witches and spwlls and although im not a huge believer some whuch stuff has happened since I brought rhem in the house, so I put them outside and then something broke out there. Like magic.... 🤤😱

So weird !!

The spell stuff I mean. Although you on the treadmill, typing away on your phone, after yanking out tree roots all day is also a little weird too haha

Haha very true lol. It is the whole next day though. Lol.

Congrats in getting Curie’d , @insideoutlet.
I can’t help it, but I can’t stop laughing about your story ;0)

Laugh or cry both work haha... Im glad the curie came through on this one, made all the annoying work worth it lol.

Your post really deserved it. So did your work. ;0)
I only wonder: is there really no other way than to poison those roots with, what was it.... kerosine?? Doesn’t it pollute the soil?

There were worse things we could pour on it, we drilled the holes to contain the kero into the root system, I hope we don't damage the soil, we used very little, as I would love my garden to flourish in the future. :)

Are there worse thing? Lol
I hope you will be able to get rid of them :0)

Haha in all honesty I dont know and I think I hope not but either way those roots had to die or my house would have broke. One of us had to lose.

Oh, my goodness, what an ordeal! I had no clue about the ficus trees, and we have one in our back yard which I will have to keep a close eye on! That glassware you found is lovely, though! Thanks for sharing this entertaininng, but tedious, exploit with #steemitbloggers 😊

Hey there @thekittygirl. I love #steemitbloggers they have such a good team and community. They said a good prube could getup the roots stay under control but they are sneaky buggers.

Be a pirate on my sights???? Argggggg! It be!!!! Pirate @tipu send tip to the always ready pirate @thekittygirl

Aye, Cap'n @dreemsteem — we be everywhar! Thanks fer the dubloon!

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Hi @thekittygirl! You have received 0.1 SBD tip from @dreemsteem!

What an adventure! I always hate it when a "small project" turns into an all day or multiple-day event. Congrats on finishing strong.

Thanks if we didnt have our son coming im sure they would have stayed in the ground for a few more months and they would have been even harder. So glad its done although the rest of my tasks went out the window as was so exhausted

Hah, blackberry bushes are a similar pest up here in Oregon. They're not quite as difficult to dig out, but they're a hell of a lot thornier.

I remember making cubby houses in the blackberry bushes on our farm. It was the one our parents couldn't pull us out of with outhurting themselves lol.