How can I kill off two rosebushes and a garden full of mint?

[NoOnesGoingToEatYourEyes]

The people we bought the house from appear to have been keen but hopeless gardeners and 'roses round the door' types to boot.

Unfortunately the roses are causing damp on the walls because they are so close and could possibly damage them further with the roots etc and the mint has been planted in flower beds and boarders and has taken over the entire garden.

We don't have a lawn, just some kind of crazy paved patio that covers most of the garden but which is just sunk into the mud with no concrete between the slabs. You can't see any of this for mint though and the mint grows unbelievably quickly. I had it all weeded out but with all this rain it's back again, bigger and more widespread than ever.

There are no other plants that we would really want to keep, so we were thinking of just weedkillering everything and starting over. Would that work?

And what can we do with the rosebushes to kill them off too?

I don't want to cause any strife as you sound pissed off but it's really unlikely roses are causing damp.

And the mint - kill it when you want to put something in it's place - what plans do you have for the borders?

At least you can have it in Pimms

The roses are right up against the wall, pressing against it and when we had quotes to see what could be done about it both the people who came out said it was because of the rosebushes touching the wall and stopping it from drying out. They may well have been talking out of their behinds but since two of them said it and fixing damp problems was their job I did take them at their words

It was one of those men that told me about the damage the roots could cause because they are right against the house. They are planted in a tiny, gravel covered boarder about ten centimetres wide and then it's a paved and concreted path. I don't think the soil level has been raised there but I have no idea how we will dig them out without digging up the path too. The damp patch is about a foot up from the ground right where a bobbly bit of thick rosebush stem presses against the wall.

The same man said he thought you could get some kind of poison to inject into trees and bushes to stop them growing and then cut them down once you have killed them and know they won't grow back but he wasn't sure. Is there such a thing?

And the mint is everywhere. Not just the boarders but the whole garden is covered, it's growing up between the spaces in the patio paving and I don't want to plant anything else there. I just want it to die but it's more stubborn that the martian red weed in War of the Worlds.

Pimms does sound good in the meantime though.

I forgot, the roses did cause some kind of limescale like stuff to form on the windows when they were big enough for the leaves to touch the glass. We had a few days of wet weather and then a few nice days and I thought it was just leftover moisture or condensation but when I went out to clean it off it was hard and set and I had to scrape it off the glass. That was only where the leaves were touching the glass too and I think they had just stopped that part drying out like the rest of the window and the water had caused it to form.

I agree with everyone else.Rose don't cause damp.If there is damp the damp course is breached or you don't have one at all.Rose roots don't cause problems with foundations or anything else [unlike things like virginia creeper].Get a reputable builder in to tell you what really going on!.

mint is a fecking nightmare. i had a 'garden designer' help me with my garden when i first moved in as i was a bit clueless. she planted 2 pots of mint. i can't get rid of the bloody stuff and don't want to use poison as it's in my herb garden. i hate her right now.

moving on.

when i took it out, i tried very hard to follow up all the roots and pull them out too. i waited until the soil was really dry so i could pull them up easily. and i just kept on repeating ad nauseum. it's much better now but i still get the odd rampant spear which i use for peppermint tea.

so upshot is, despite rambling on for quite a while, i have no solutions and no advice. just chuntering. you have my sympathies.

on the roses front, i have a big rose growing right next to my house with no issues. i wouldn't extrapolate that your rose isn't your problem though.

i'd actually phone up a garden company and pay them to come and dig the lot out. with poison, it's crap for the environment and all the ickle spiders and mice so i wouldn't do that. and who knows how long that stuff hangs around for. it might affect the plants you plant next.

can't believe i'm still going on.

so i think really, just get someone in to rip the lot out.

Dig them out and put them on Freecycle.

I can't dig them out, they are growing right next to/under the house and a paved and concreted path. They're in only about 10cm wide (if that) soil strip and I think the roots have spread further under the path so that would have to be dug up too. Doing that and replacing it would probably cost more than I can afford to pay so I really just want to kill them off and chop them down as much as possible.

I found this but it all sounds very odd.

If you really want to kill them do this:

Buy yourself some SBK Stumpkiller.
www.amazon.co.uk/SBK-Brushwood-Tree-Stump-Killer/dp/B003ZZLUWE/ref=sr_1_fkmr1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1336118162&sr=8-1-fkmr1
Sorry can't do short links.

Make it up as per the instructions. You won't need a lot.
Saw the roses off as low as you can get - a pruning saw is ideal for this as it gets into tight places. Otherwise you could try loppers.
Paint the newly exposed stumps with the SBK. Get as much of it soaking into the stumps as you can. I use an inch wide paintbrush.
If any new shoots arrive, cut them off as close to the ground as you can and reapply SBK.

Good bye roses.
sniff.

CuttedUpPear - I've heard that drilling into the stump to make a little hole to pour the SBK into helps. Do you think it does?

::Grieves for roses::

Yes drilling into the stumps would definitely help if there is space to do so.
I spent several hours syringing SPK into the stem cavities of two unwisely planted specimens of Equisetum (not planted by me!) last autumn. I can happily report that there is no sign of regrowth on either. The blasted thing was appearing in borders several feet away so am keeping an eagle eye on it.

Thank you, I will give that a try.

Btw I love your name eyes - does it come from a conversation with your DCs? I have wondered if it did.

Thanks. It hasn't come from a conversation we've had yet but knowing DS I think it's one we will have sooner or later.

It was my halloween name and comes from a song about zombies called that has the line "We're not unreasonable, I mean no-one's going to eat your eyes". I thought the not unreasonable bit suited MN but it was too long to use in full.

I know why you have yours and it always makes me smile. I've had that conversation many times but usually about a banana