Stumps

[tootles]

Before I can get planting this year we need to chop down a few trees, the plot is too shaded and I want to expand. Can anyone recommend something that will kill the stumps??

The trees are mostly oak and some chestnut being about 40cm in girth - so digging them out will be tricky!

Any ideas??

[selfraising]

Hi tootles
I think there's something calle Root Kill for trees and stumps

[SHAZSULL]

we had one at the bottom of the garden took hubby 3 days to get rid of with a hoe,in a really awkward corner,wouldnt let it beat him but he's done nothing since!
i think round up do something in wyevale wish id got it rather than listen to hubbys moaning!!!

[selfraising]

Sorry it's called Deep Root. I have used it successfully in the past. Here is a link but you can get it at garden centres
Deep Root Tree Stump Killer
Hope that helps!

[bobleponge]

Tootles my neighbours here felled about a dozen trees last autumn. They then burnt all the stumps. They drilled bore holes inside, and filled them with something flammable, I'm guessing petrol soaked rags(?) and then left them. Took a couple of days but most of the stump disappeared as well as the roots, and what was left they dug out manually in about half an hour.
Having reread your original post, I realise that you are felling and removing at the same time, whereas these stumps had been given time to dry. May work though??
Good luck.

[tootles]

A bit of googling has also suggested salt might work??

There are some previous stumps too, but they are still trying to grow.

I might give the burny rag thing a go. I want to be able to use the plot this year so will try anything!

[snohare]

Deep Root is just Glyphosate in a form that will sit in a drilled hole and slow release. You may find if you drill a few deep holes and put normal Glyphosate in that this will work just as well, but you want to make sure that you keep the rain off and of course, either form will work better when the tree isn't dormant - ie, not now !

[Tam]

I cut a conifer hedge down three years ago as the roots were getting to close to the house - there were twenty stumps about a foot across. I treated them with "SBK brushwood killer"; which is for tough weeds and tree stumps. You paint on a dilute solution and then give each a waterproof cap - I used bits of old growbags turned inside out, as the black is not so intrusive. I planted cotoneaster seedlings in amongst the stumps immediately and they have grown away quite happily. I got the SBK over the net. There has been no signs of regrowth from any of the stumps.

[Alice]

This link might help you with the burning technique Tootles.
What chemical can I use to rot a tree stump? - Yahoo! Answers

[Snadger]

I've used two things successfully in the past......Creosote, the OLD type! Problem was, someone climbed over the fence, stood on the stump then walked across the lawn. Didn't realise until a few days later when burnt footmarks appeared on the grass!
Second thing was rocksalt, the stuff the council are SUPPOSED to use on the roads in frosty weather (Yeahhh right!) It stops regrowth but stump takes ages to rot away!

[snohare]

So you're the reason the M1 has no rocksalt, eh Snadger ! Advertising council rocksalt to thousands across the land...

[Rocketron]

Aren't there laws about killing trees ?

[BilboWaggins]

Tootles my neighbours here felled about a dozen trees last autumn. They then burnt all the stumps. They drilled bore holes inside, and filled them with something flammable, I'm guessing petrol soaked rags(?) and then left them. Took a couple of days but most of the stump disappeared as well as the roots, and what was left they dug out manually in about half an hour.

Is this for real? In which case, wow and thank you (jumping up and down excitedly!). Flummery can tell you of the tree stumps we ought to remove; the enormity of the task is such that I tend not to think about it most of the time!

We did quite a bit of logging at the weekend and if anyone wants (a) a laugh or (b) to feel MUCH better about their own plot, have a look at the pictures which will show you some of the huge stumps we need to get out.

Up to now we've thought to leave most of them and let the hedges we're going to plant cover them up but the really big stumps (45 foot tall trees that were felled in October) have got to come out and we assumed that would involve a digger and an awful lot of dosh . . .

[Snadger]

Aren't there laws about killing trees ?

Good point Ron!

In this country we have tree preservation orders but not so sure about France?
An Oak or Chestnut with a girth of 40 centimetres will be quite an age.........seems a bit of a shame really!

[snohare]

That's an impressive amount of timber you've shifted there, Bilbo. Judging by the size of the logs, you barely saw daylight in summer when they were all in leaf, yes ?
Great idea about the banks for hedging btw, it's a tradition centuries old !
I know where you are coming from Rocketron, but the legislation is usually just for towns, and not so much for quicker growing conifers and hardwoods. One fast growing tree in the wrong place can turn a garden into a muddy patch with only a few shade-tolerant species; much of my conservation work is spent taking down "the wrong trees" and replanting with the likes of native hedging species.
Makes my back ache just looking at that garden !