I have a patch of elepant ears that have been growing around an old live oak tree. I no longer want these plants and need to dispose of them. How can you kill elephant ear plants?
I suspect mechanical removal is all that is needed. No need to spray if it isn't absolutely necessary.
Unless you have a half acre of them, a simple dig of the tubers should be all that is required. Subsequent volunteers should be minimal in number and easily disposed of.
How about giving them a second chance at life?! Give them away, advertise for free in your local FreeCycle website or Gardening Club, put up a sign on your front yard saying "Free Plants: Elephant Ears", whatever. Someone might just want those elephants. I placed a Wanted Ad in our local "Surrey Reuses" website asking for plants/cuttings/seeds/seedlings. I invited people to call the "Plant Rescue Squad" (that's me) to rescue plants destined for certain death. I got a response almost right away and just today I went on my first plant rescue mission and came away with a trunk full of great plants & cuttings...spent the rest of the day propagating & planting, still not finished. Bonus: made a new friend and was invited back for spring plant rescuing...and I offered to trim & train some of their straggly bushes into decorative trees. A win-win deal.
Half a dozen wart hogs would do the job in less than a day. They do what Carol, Daniel and Chuck suggested - dig out the tubers.
