How can I get rid of a fir tree?

I don't want to get rid of the fir tree but it was planted 10 years ago as a tiny shoot and no-one imagined it would now be a 6 foot monster.

It's in a triangle of earth in the midst of paving in front of the house and the paving is now cracked and rising, and also some of the porch masonry is now cracked too.

The bottom trunk of the tree is close to a foot thick and I dread to think how thick and deep the roots are.

Does anyone know the best way of getting rid of this tree?
Will the roots continue to undermine after the tree is removed?
How accurate is the rusty nail in the trunk theory?

Any answers gratefully recieved.

 

"Does anyone know the best way of getting rid of this tree?"

A chainsaw, perhaps also a stump grinder

"Will the roots continue to undermine after the tree is removed?"

unlikely on a smallish fir.

"how accurate is the rusty nail in the trunk theory?"

Never heard of it.

 

i recon ur thinking copper nails myself oh an what pro said

 

Copper , not rusty nails do work and they'll do the job on very big trees.
Easiest option is to saw it off as close to the ground as you can OR cut it off about 3 or so feet above ground and turn it into a base for a bird table/climber support or whatever.
Denuded of branches it is very unlikely to regrow and the roots won't spread any further.

 

I like Dave's idea of cutting the thing down and leaving the stump as some kind of talking point or just a natural seat!

Good luck Jane no matter what you decide to do it sounds like hard work but I'm sure it will be worth it in the end.Hel.xxx.

 

Or cut it down to about 2-3 ft and put mushroom cores in and grow your own mushrooms which will rot the tree eventually

 

I'm puzzled how a fir that's only the height of a standard fence panel can have a trunk "close to a foot thick". That's a weird looking fir! Has it been topped before? Firs are shallow rooting and I'd have thought it would be relatively easy to dig the roots out. You'd have to dig up some of the paving anyway in order to get at the stump with a stump grinder.

Dave W

How do copper nails kill trees? I've been told this is an urban (rural?) myth.

 

Flinty, if its an old leylandi thats been regularly clipped and or topped in the past then it could easily have a 1' circumference at ground level, seen quite a few like this before.

 

Thanks for all your replies.

Flinty - I'm sorry you're puzzled! All I can type is what I've seen. The trunk shape isn't conventional. It seems like the branches coming from it are almost merged with the trunk from the base, making a very odd looking trunk shape. I suppose when it is cut, the cross section would be the archetypal "cloud" shape.

I couldn't tell you the exact kind of fir it is. I inherited the house and the fir was planted before then by a younger relative years ago who had originally had it as a small miniature house plant. Ironic that this "minature" is now causing so much damage!