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Death to the Stump

Gardening Reference » Gardening in 2006
by LandOfOz on June 21, 2006 04:55 AM
We cut down 3 elm trees in March. My hubby being the ever-quick and efficient man he is, finally put some stump killer on it.... Well, he drilled the holes and I filled them. We used an entire bottle of stump/bush killer on these 3 stumps. The little "shoots" that were coming up from the trees are still looking happy and healthy. What has been your experience with stumps? How long will it take for these to die? Will we need to reapply it later?? We applied the stuff 3 days ago.

Thanks,
Sarah

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Sarah - Zone 5b/6
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by joclyn on June 21, 2006 11:05 AM
i've never actually used the stuff - haven't cut any trees down...yet...

i'd think it would take a lot longer than 3 days tho!! what did the package say about how long it would take the chemicals to work their way through the stump? i'd think the diameter and height of it would make a difference in how long it takes to decompose, too.

you might want to prune off those side shoots.
by Longy on June 21, 2006 12:11 PM
Sarah, what was the stump killers' active ingredient?
When you initially cut the tree down, you needed to apply the poison to the wound immediately. Like within a minute. Just paint it on neat. So your full bottle of poison will possibly have no effect.

As it's too late to do so, it may work for you to allow the sideshoots to grow to a decent size and spray them with glyphosate. However, this will not have any bearing on the time it takes for the tree to decompose, you could be looking at a lifetime for that to happen, depending on the size of the tree. In fact the tree could send out suckers which may also require further attention.
If you want the stump removed, have a stump grinder or a backhoe operator come in and take it out. It'll take an hour or so for each stump and probably cost about $50 an hour for a machine. Then it's done properly and you don't need to pour any more poisons into the soil.

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The secret is the soil.
by Amigatec on June 21, 2006 01:02 PM
You can use full strength Roundup and do the same thing.

Pour it in the holes, and it should work.

Then after it is dead, pour used cooking oil on it set a cheap bad of charcoal on it and burn it.

This has worked well for me.

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One OS to rule them, one OS to find them:
One OS to bring them all and in the darkness bind them
In the Land of Redmond where the shadows lie.
by LandOfOz on June 22, 2006 02:59 AM
The largest stump is about 3.5 diameter, the smallest about 2 feet, and the medium one is probably 4 feet across, with a good 3.5 feet rotted in the center. We had to cut the trees down because their roots were pushing out the concrete in our cellar. And, yes, I know about putting the poison on immediately. My darling hubby said that it wouldn't matter and he'd "get to it". I'm not sure how much trouble we'd get in for burning out a stump--we're still in a pretty good drought here with burn bans in effect. It'd be pretty fun watching them burn though.

We used Bayer Brush Killer Plus, Triclopyr is one of the active ingredients, according to their website (already threw away the bottle).

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Sarah - Zone 5b/6
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by Amigatec on June 22, 2006 10:56 AM
I waited until the burn ban was done before burning it out, and then just let it go out on it's own, so it would burn the roots out as well..

Then I took the tiller and tilled the whole area and raked it out smooth. Can't even tell there was a stump ever there.

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One OS to rule them, one OS to find them:
One OS to bring them all and in the darkness bind them
In the Land of Redmond where the shadows lie.
by LandOfOz on June 22, 2006 12:42 PM
Hmmm.... "took the tiller"? I am the tiller. [Big Grin] Not too sure how much digging I'm gonna feel inclined to do, especially in 3 different areas! [shocked] But we might try that once we get some good rain here. About how long does it take to burn out?

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Sarah - Zone 5b/6
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by Amigatec on June 22, 2006 01:26 PM
Took mine 3 or 4 days. It smelled bad, but there wasn't any fire, just the roots burning.

The stump was mostly rotten.

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One OS to rule them, one OS to find them:
One OS to bring them all and in the darkness bind them
In the Land of Redmond where the shadows lie.
by LandOfOz on June 23, 2006 04:40 AM
Only one tree was rotten--the others were healthy trees that were growing too close to the house and the roots were beginning to push on the foundation. One is only about 3 feet from the house.

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Sarah - Zone 5b/6
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by joclyn on June 23, 2006 06:59 AM
i wouldn't be burning it if it's close to the house/foundation!!

this product will cause the stump to decompose: dexol
by stonethegardener on June 23, 2006 09:34 AM
I would avoid all of these chemical remedies. It's been my experience that after cutting the tree down, I can put a potted plant on the stump. Any sprouts are easily knocked off. This is usually sufficient to kill the tree stump and rot it out in a few years. Meanwhile, I can devote my energies to something else.

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by LandOfOz on June 23, 2006 02:59 PM
I have sprout coming off roots that are up to 8 feet away. I guess I'll just need a real big pot? All of the trees have roots that run near the surface for quite a ways and most of them are sending up shoots.

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Sarah - Zone 5b/6
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by joclyn on June 24, 2006 10:12 AM
sounds like treating the stump is the best way to go...the treatment will eventually work it's way down through all the roots - and those shoots will die off (might help to cut them off tho).

i never realized a tree, like an elm, could send shoots up...always thought they only grew from seeds.
by Karrie on June 25, 2006 04:52 AM
Take an ax chop at that stump, and pour gas on it and burn continue this process and when you get it good and blackened do the charcole thing. It worked for me on a new stump about 5 inches in diameter. I also drilled in to it with a large drill bit....probably half inch bit drilled about 3 to 4 inches down in to the stump and poured the gas in and burned way it took a few days of back and forth with it but its gone now and you can see no evidence of it. Also I drilled many many holes in it probably 20 or so. Hope this helps.

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