stumps

any ideas as to how to get rid of tree stumps ive got about 10 to remove,they are about 10 inches across,havnt got the energy to dig them up,is there a way of breaking them down?

 

You can buy crystals that you place into holes drilled into them.

 

If you have the access you could rent a chipper, though they are also hard work and expensive, and only chop stumps down to a few inches below soil.

 

There are products that like Rich suggests will accelerate degradation, but they will take quite a while.
If you don't have close neighbours or adjacent buried plastic gas pipes you could try boring holes and filling them with a mixture of petrol and oil, letting the mixture soak in and then burning the stumps.

 

I have this problem as well.
The best solution I find:
1. drill several holes about 5-10cms in depth in top of stump. Add chemical (Roundup .. Used to kill deep rooted trees/shrubs)

Criss cross top with several sawcuts.

These allow water to penetrate and speed up rotting.
Wait 3 to 5 years depending on how hard wood is (if oak or holly maybe 10 years) for it to rot down. Sycamore and other soft woods decay in 3-4 yuears.

 

But why go to all that expense, trouble and pollution? Ever thought where the noxious liquids go when you pour them into the holes in the stump? They eventually leach out into your soil. Is that what you want?

OK - so you cut down the tree and the stumps sprouts again. Snip off the new shoots with secateurs as soon as they appear. Do it again when a second crop appears. No plant can live if it cannot put out leaves for photosynthesis. Only yew will survive repeated cutting from a stump. Easy.

 

Best way to get rid of a tree stump is to light a hot fire on it, wood will then smoulder for weks and burn out all the roots

 

Hmmm... Didn't work for me. I tried burning a small (4" dia) damson stump. All it did was char the top. Although it killed it I still ended up digging the blighter out.

Really there are only 3 practical methods:

1/ stump grinding - messy and hard work and you still have the main root sytem in situ. You will also probably have the cost of hire.

2/ Let nature take its course which, with a hard wood like oak, could see you in the ground before the stump comes out of it. Meanwhile you use it as a bird table/garden ornament.

3/ Do it the hard way with a spade, pinch bar and axe. Warm work and it will leave quite a crater but once done you have the satisfaction of being shot of the beast.

 

It works best in bigger stumps where the heat in the wood can really build up, and in stumps that are dead wood not freshly cut. Ive used it 3 times now and has worked every time.

 

Most interesting thanks guys