I have had to cut down 2 conifers at the front of my house as part of the conditions of sale of the house. There is now 2 6 inch diameter stumps poking out of the ground about 4 inches high.

I need to finish the stumps off good and proper as I understand they will regrow. People have suggested drilling holes into the stumps and puring diesel into the holes as one method, or another is to knock copper mails into the stumps.

Is there any truth in these ?, and any other reliable suggestions welcomed.

thanks,

mike.

 

Ive heard the copper nails works. Poisons the plant I believe, so its got to be worth a try.

How long before you move out? Ecactly how much will they have grown back? Grab the money and run....

 

Get some of that SBK brush/tree stump killer, and drill a few holes in the stump (around the edge, where the live part of the tree is). Then fill the holes with neat SBK. It's particularly nasty stuff and managed to kill off the stump of the tree I used it on.

Either that, or set a velociraptor onto it.

 

and mix the SBK with waste oil from your car if you've got some - it does say to do this on the tin - because if it rains soon after youve put it on it wont wash off if its mixed with oil

See I DO know SOME things

 

a velociraptor is a firewall made by symantec...



David

 

If its only little 6" trees, why don't you just dig out the stumps?

Conifers have shallow root systems, so not too much effort required. Also less liklihood of someone tripping over the stump...

Dig out between the roots to identify the main bearers, sever these about 1ft away from stump, remove it & fill in hole. That should ensure no re-birth & leave a tidier, quicker end solution. Roots will rot away after a time.

Don't say "too much hard-work" - try a 100yr+ sycamore tree of 3ft diameter - thats hard work

 

naah, too much hard work. ( sorry but it's not my probem anymore!)

thanks peeps, i'll take the poison option.

cheers,

mike.

 

puff, if he's gonna dig out it will be a slog....he only left 4 inches to get some leverage on the stump with...should have left 3ft then digging out with a bit of push and pull would be an easy job. (could tie the stunp to a 4 X 4 even!

T

 

Tiggs

Not too much of a slog but I like the AWD/tractor option

I've done loads in my time & a 6" conifer should take about 10mins max! Does help that I'd access to a nice tool, cross between a pick-axe, an axe & a spade. Bit like an entrenching tool.

Roots are soft on conifers too.

 

Semtex?

 

2 tree stumps only ? Pah, just done 33 in our back garden

Most of the stumps were fruit trees with big and deep roots. Killed them off first by doing the drilling and filling with Stump Killer. Stick it in neat, top up with water, cover with plastic and elastic band. This will stop them growing back in most cases.

Most conifers won't grow back from what our tree surgeon bloke tells me even without this treatment, but we did it anyway to be sure.

Then, "she" changed her mind and we decided to pull all the stumps out. We started with the dig under it and pull on it, but that was hard work.

Went to Hire Centre (HSS do them as well) and got a cable winch for a few quid a day. One end around the biggest stump in the garden, then used the winch to pull out all the others. Almost zero effort but works a treat. Leaves some roots in the ground, but as they were previously killed off with the stump killer, shouldn't be a problem.

Another option is to just grind the stump down. Hire Centre again (or HSS) do what looks a bit like a rotavator, but is specifically designed for grinding out stumps. Haven't tried it, but that was our next course of action if all else failed.

Also like the nuke from orbit option, but we actually wanted to keep the house

Cheers

Ian

[Edited by IWatkins - 9/9/2002 5:34:14 PM]

 

creosote works quite well, and is probably cheaper than special poison.

 

Drill some big holes in it, fill the holes with sodium chlorate weedkiller crystals, pour a little water onto them, cover it up & let it soak in to the stump for a few weeks.

The weedkiller is a powerful oxidant, and if you have left it long enough you can light a little fire on top of the stump and it will burn away to nothing

Slight overkill for a 6in stump but fun anyway

Muf

 

i over estimated it with the 6 inches (dejavou!), ther'e actually nearer to 4" now i look at them.

i'll drill the stumps and create a concoction of my own,jeyes fluid and nitromethane is looking favourite at the moment.

thanks people.

mike

 

Jessie