most people i know have trouble keeping them alive, so i find this humorous to some degree ;)

i would do what you must do with Holly - cut the top of the plant out and dig up the main roots of the plant, one by one, preferrably with a large shovel.

this is not the 'least labor intensive' route, but it is effective and will terminate your fight almost immediately.

it might, unfortunately. i had a fight with some down in Gainesville, FL. landlord planted a row of them in the front yard. these things were like mangroves down along the coast! they made a mesh of roots and shooters all over the place. drove me abeolutely nuts. i was still fighting with them 2 years later when i finally left that place. the ones i dug out of the ground are the only ones that never came back, but a couple of bushes had so many roots and runners i didn't have the energy to dig up the entire yard chasing them.

either way - good luck! i know how bad it can be chasing invasive stuff.

{{gwi:818272}}

Too extreme?

Trim to the ground with loppers then cover all roots with clear plastic for a week. The heat and sun will kill them off. You can rent a chipper at the Depot for about $125 if you have lots of brush left over.

I love the flame thrower idea. Not sure the neighbors would dig it, but I'm almost to that point.

Thanks everyone!

We live in Marietta also. My wife was wondering what color your azalea were? :)

There are a number of different colors in the yard. The bushes near the house are pink and salmon colored. The ones around the big oak trees are Japanese azaleas and are a mix of pink, white, lavendar and salmon. The one beside the house is bright pink and is also Japanese.

Vroomp, I never laughed so hard in my life. I love how beautifully the picture was then understated.

Blessedbe, whereas a flame thrower just might attract some unwanted attention, there's a good stray azalea eating dog around here I'm sure you could borrow. All he seems to go after are those bushes. His taste is rather refined, I'd say.

Here is a link that might be useful: The Corner Yard

Oh no, please no more stray dogs :) I do animal rescue and already have a hard time not corralling and vetting every stray I see. Right now it's either the yard or strays.....only one can have my money! Until the neighbors dump another dog in my backyard I'll concentrate on killing these azaleas and filling in with lovely hostas and coral bells!

If you had deer, they would happily keep them in check for you!

How to kill azaleas?

Easy, just plant them in my yard.

vroomp, LOL!

I've heard there are companies that purchase your grown trees and mature shrubs. Someone told me they come, dig it out, and take it away, plus pay you! Sounds like a deal to me, though I don't know for sure the information is correct.

Put them up on freecycle or craigslist as a 'dig your own'. That's how I got rid of a bunch of overgrown bushes that I didn't want to have to dig myself. Saved me the trouble of feeling guilty, too! :)

Our property has/had overgrown very old azaleas to.My husband cut them to the ground with a chainsaw and we covered the row with black plastic and it has loads of pine straw heaped on top.Its been that way six months so I hope this works.I don't plan to remove the plastic or straw for a couple of years...Debbie

Ha. I am also in Marietta and trying to kill azaleas. What a life we lead here. I may try the plastic bag, tho it does seem a little serial killer'ish. I killed my holly by cutting them down and spraying with roundup... I guess I could try that too. :) good luck fellow azalea killers.

I see that I had posted on this thread back in '09 so thought I'd bring it up to date. The azalea that I was trying to get rid of has not come back. Be persistent in cutting and using Round Up- it worked for me.

You mean its actually possible to kill them? :-)

I cut down a 24 ft radias of Azaleas that were around a pine tree. The Azelas were 30 years old and beautiful but were beggining to die off in ramdom sections. This is way too large for me to dig up. Do you think covering this area with plastic, or 2 or 4 layers of cardboard would kill the shrubs off. If so would this hurt the tree? I planned to cover this with compost and pine straw for the next 5 months till spring. Think the tree will get enough water?

You just responded to a post that is over 4 years old Debra..... I would think those Azaleas are long gone by now......