Yank as much off as you can, cut down the rest, and then put down a small piece of board or a few bricks there and then cover that with a few of those decorative rocks I see in your photo -- maybe make a cairn there -- which is a small stack of rocks.

I have read that one can kill weeds by pouring boiling water on them. I've never tried it myself, but it can't hurt, unless you spill on yourself:0)

From what your pictures show it looks like you need a good shovel too loosen as much soil and root around the rose as possible without disturbing the agave too much. Put on some thick leather gloves and pull the plant up and any loose roots you can see.

Repeated sprays with strong vinegar solution will wear out the plants energy, and eventually it will give up. Vinegar is much better for the environment than glyphosate, which I never use.

I'd just dig it out with my drain spade and if necessary, a cordless reciprocating saw with a demolition blade. I wouldn't worry about damaging the agave--it is a very tough plant. We took one out and it kept coming up from bits of the roots for years. Similarly, trees just grow new roots to fill the area.

I'm actually more worried about damaging myself than the agave, they have very nasty thorns. I'd have to cut them back to give myself room to dig up the rose and I don't really want to do that. I think I'll try the cairn idea, I've got plenty of extra rocks and that seems like the least invasive method. Maybe I'll pour some boiling water on it before I cover it up. I've used the boiling water method before and it killed the soft weeds (mainly vinca) but didn't seem to bother the blackberries much. I have a feeling Dr. Huey is a little more like a blackberry than a vinca ;o)

I think Dr. Huey will just grow around the cairn...unless you cover a really big area (like 3 feet in diameter minimum). I'd respectfully suggest that you cut it to the ground and then find paint the stumps with some full-strength Roundup...in other words, the easiest and surest way to get rid of this thing is to get over the broader fear of Roundup and use it judiciously where indicated. I understand the principle of not using herbicides wantonly, but there's no reason to make your life harder.

You can cut the tip-thorns on the Agave off without hurting the Agave. That's a good idea anyway, Dr. Huey or not. Don't cut into the flesh of the leaf, just blunt the tip of the spine. Let the tips drop into a little cup or can so you don't have to touch them.

After pruning off as much rose as you can, you could maybe try agricultural-strength vinegar as an herbicide. If the soil is very dry Dr. H will suck it up, and a few treatments might kill it off. Vinegar is more of an "organic" solution. Use agricultural-strength, because the edible kind isn't strong enough.

Lovely agaves, BTW!

Here's the Texas way to remove it - wrap a chain around it and pull it out with the chain attached to the bumper of a pickup. :) That's how we have pulled up all our big shrubs.

Correction: Not the bumper, but attached underneath to the chassis. Just in case someone didn't know and tried this! :)

I use Fertilome's shrub/stump killer. It is a liquid. Cut the Dr. back to the ground and then just dribble a few drops on each cane. I use this to get rid of all sorts of unwanted weed trees, shrubs, etc. It doesn't get into the soil. Sometimes I'll have to make a second application, especially on massive things like wisteria, but it always works.

EEK! Holley, our local ag extension guy wrote a column two years ago about the importance of CHAIN in that sentence. He used a tow rope & when the stump came out of the ground, the tension snapped back & the stump flew towards his Jeep and shattered his back window.

If you have a good 4x4 or know someone with a winch, it can work this way. You still have to dig around the roots deep enough to get a good holding point for the tow line.

There is a fence preventing vehicles from getting close enough to that rose to pull it out, it would have to be done by something small enough to fit through a 4' gate. And while I'm sure there is something out there that would be small enough to get inside and powerful enough to pull the rose out, I'm not sure I want to go that route.

What landscape fabric? I've heard lots of bad things about it, but for just a small area to get rid of a persistent plant I think it would be fine.

Thanks for all the suggestions!

Using Roundup or stump killer on the exposed tips left after you have cut the rose down to the ground is not a misuse of the product, nor irresponsible and it works. We use the same method to rid ourselves of poison oak and buck brush ... which harbors ticks and creates a fire danger.

I have tried passive methods of getting rid of the Dr. and they never worked. I finally just used a little Roundup and that was the end of the problem.

The reason the good Dr. was used as a rootstock is that it is very, very good at growing roots... and roses.

Smiles,
Lyn

PS.. I prefer to hand weed than to use herbicides, so this is always a last ditch solution.

Dr Huey will grow an entire new rose from any roots left in the soil. Herbicide is designed for plants like that. They deserve one another.

Landscape fabric is a black cloth with vent holes a bit closer and more of them than a screen it's purpose is to help keep (control) weeds from even occurring

Go figure huh ? I also ask wouldn't weeds grow in soil that we toss right back on top of this cloth ? Why pay to drop a cloth on the ground then cover it with soil and mulches to keep weeds from growing ?
At best I've been told it can work for a year or sometimes longer but ..... $$$ need I really say more?

If you want to risk it, burn the roots of Dr but keep in mind fire/high heats don't know the difference from an Agave root or a rose root

Then there's the water drape idea for the Agave to protect what stands (if burning where to work only on Dr roots) you could still burn the Agave at it's base if you decide to go with a low burning fire

This is how Agave(s) could be protected
Only I don't want to be the person who talks you into killing your ( super nice looking Agave(s)) Talk to a plumber who knows how to install a irrigation system ask him how he would use (Yellow Tank) MAP gas to solder a back flow thats nearly flush to Vinyl Siding with out melting it and consider that route to protect the Agave parts with above the ground exposure.

How to protect Agave roots and burn all the Dr Huey roots on the same root burn ? Ummmmm I have no idea, Maybe a shallow trench to expose and sort some of both there roots too ?

Now we know why the Good Dr is used as root stock. "Ya Can't Kill It With a Stick!" Sort of the Energizer Bunny of the rootstock roses!